Frustrated prospective - Need Advice!
Hey Forum Readers,
I really need everyone's advice on this. I have been looking for a job since May 2012 and I have had close to 10 interviews now. So far, I still haven't gotten an offer yet. I have gotten into the final round for some of the jobs; in the end, they all decided to go with someone else. Just to give you a better idea of my background; I graduated from university about 5 months ago; I have had a couple of internships in PE & advisory side and I am currently looking for an entry-level position in investments/IBD.
I think for me, the problem initially was b/c of behavioral questions. I spent more time preparing for technical questions and I found that I had to really wing it for some of the behavioral questions. Since then, I have adjusted my approach and my feedback have gone a lot better. But still, I can't get an offer. I have networked extensively and always try to cater my experiences to the job I am applying for. The comments I get from most interviewers are: you have really impressive experiences, insightful answers (esp. for an undergrad), good knowledge of our company and industry, but we decided to go with someone with a little bit more experience who can hit the ground running from day 1. If experience was a factor, why did you decide to interview me in the first place?
I was recently interviewed for an analyst position in a fairly sizable REPE shop (through networking and referrals) and I had a good conversation with all the interviewers. After getting rejected for the job, I spoke with one of the interviewers: he mentioned that they really liked me as a candidate. I had a good sense of humor, was able to give very insightful answers to the questions and had a good understanding of the industry & company. But there were concerns that I wouldn't be challenged at this job and I would get bored and might want to switch afterwards; and they want someone who will stick around. I asked them if there is something I said that might have given him that impression; he said no, it's purely based on my experiences.
I don't know what I am doing wrong guys? I definitely took the time to prepare for the behavioral (why this position/firm/strengths & weaknesses) and commitment (see myself in 5-10) questions and try to cater it to the firm & position? Should I dumb down some of my experiences? I do feel like I have a bit of an overpowering personality, do you think I might have come across as too aggressive in my interview process sometimes? I am curious if there is anyone who is in the same position as me?
I really want to get improve on this, so any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much guys!
How are you finding the positions? Networking, online, cold emails? I could give you a more specific answer as to possible reasons.
Best chance at securing something right now is just networking and only networking, regardless of openings etc. The market is brutal and it largely comes down to luck in getting interviews unless you network like a BOSS. From my perspective, you seem to have the necessary qualities for a position but maybe need to be MORE aggressive. You said you think you are overaggressive yet they gave you feedback that you didn't seem like you would stick around. In my opinion, it sounds like you were not overaggressive because you did not show your desire for the position and that you wanted to do THAT work.
If you have had 10 interviews, you should by now know your behavior and technical questions down pat, so stop worrying about that, its not the issue. It sounds like your attitude and demeanor during the interviews, are you asking questions and being curious?
Thanks for your insight! I have received most of the interviews through networking and referrals. I think you are right about the attitude and demeanor part..these are probably two areas I need to work on. It's just hard to strike a balance between being interested in a job vs. being desperate for a job.
Also, what are these jobs that you've had interviews at? Are they the type of places that interview 20 people for 1 spot?
If what you say is true, your best bet right now is likely to find any job you can, whether that's the type of job you actually want. But your resume gap is only getting worse and that will hurt you more and more the longer you are out of work. Continue to network hard, but you may want to widen your search just to break into the industry at all. I took a CF job, despite not wanting to be in CF, and the number of interviews i've gotten when applying to ER/AM roles now has increased greatly from the number before I took this role.
I am afraid so..
I have definitely expanded my search to include to other areas than are relevant (note the REPE job I mentioned in my post) and even areas I didn't consider before (financial analyst, consulting, corporate finance) just for the sake of getting a job. I found it's one thing to try to sell your experiences on paper, but its entirely another to sell your experiences in an interview setting...
You must have a nice network :P
and yeah make it clear this is the job you want! Even if its not! Have you tried to push for internships with people that have said they dont have full time openings?
At the end of the day, they are going to make a decision in their best interests and want to find someone who the think will stick around.... My question is how to convince the interviewers that this is what you want to do, even though your experiences say otherwise? eg. how did you convince the CF interviewer to hire you? This question might be a little personal, but please feel free to PM me...Thanks
Do you act normal in interviews or are you weird?
That's the thing I don't get...I am not weird or anything. I consider myself as a pretty outgoing and sociable person and I try to exude that through my interview. I think I am a pretty likeable person and other people have commented on that too...the only thing is I was a little nervous during a couple of my initial interviews, but I have been pretty confident for the recent ones
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