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that you'll get fired at any time.
losing your friends, family, health, appearance, and all semblance of reality.
Say that you fear that you'd "have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust."
That you fear "Something horrible is happening inside of" you and you "don't know why."
That you fear your "nightly bloodlust has overflown into" your days.
That you fear you'd "feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy."
That you fear and think your "mask of sanity is about to slip."
Frightening
That your building will get bombed by terrorists.
Just my 2c.
i didn't know it coming in, but now my worst fear is being alone (lost the girlfriend, no time to date). how pathetic is that?
Everyone says retarded shit like "emotions" or "feelings" or "life satisfaction" that only wusses who like that soft stuff care about. What you should really fear is fucking eye problems. I guarantee you you're gonna be more myopic after banking. Almost certain you're going to get the "banker twitch".
If you have spectacles that are above 6 degrees of correction, I'd advise you to steer clear of banking.
I would say that my biggest fear is that there will be no deals to work on. That would be my interview answer. My real answer would be that inside banks are beehives (I have an irrational fear of bee hives)
I hate it when these posts start with "My friend"...
What was your answer citysophisticate?
Nope, that part was true. I am a junior going into recruiting season and still trying to figure out what the eff my answer to that question would be. Probably something along the lines of being more jaded, cynical, and bitter than I think I already am.
On completely different note, I am amused when my topics get posted to the front page. How do the front page topics get chosen?
Obama
I think one answer that shows you've done your homework/understand what you're getting into is this:
"I think it could get frustrating, knowing that sometimes an analyst might work on something for a client, and that all those hours of ensuring perfection in every deliverable could sometimes be for nothing. That is definitely something I might be afraid of, because I know it will happen quite often. But I also understand that it is the nature of the business, that our clients hire and keep us because we give them perfection, along with all the bells and whistles. So even if they never look at a model justifying a merger, they know that if they asked for it, it's all there and available and ready."
Something to that effect. I think that shows that you realize that a lot of your hard work may go unnoticed sometimes, but that it's part of the experience and you're still learning. Anyone that challenged that feeling would definitely be an asshole: it's one of those undeniable truths. I think it shows some maturity as well, because other analysts let these things piss them off and forget that it comes with the territory.
You shouldn't ever go into a job like finance fearing something. Maybe if you're a Navy SEAL or a cardiologist doing his first surgery; those are legitimate reasons to have some fear about what lies ahead. Nothing about banking is scary, unless you are fearful of getting fired, in which case I suggest you go find a job with the government, whose budget never contracts.
Um, yeah, thats a great interview answer.
As with all interview questions, if you anticipated and prepared for it, every question is exactly what you want them to ask. The hard part is when they throw curveball questions you weren't expecting.
I think its just a spin on the greatest weakness question, but alphaholic seemed to have neutralized it pretty well.
As for gomes, a fear doesn't have to be for your life or for someone else's life. Everyone is afraid of making the decision, where this choice may lead, will it be fruitful in the long run, how will you adapt to lifestyles sacrifices, will some of the people really be as bad as the stereotype(abrasive, over aggressive, etc...).
thats steering clear of saying anything negative about banking, and its a legitimate concern (bankers are good at picking up BS, because they generate so much BS themselves)
say you are worried that you will lose your health, maybe take up chain smoking or just eat shit from seamless all the time (all of the above happened to me)........
I think it will resonate with the interviewer because in all likelihood, especially he is a A>VP or something like that, he has lost his health to some extent too.
Impending government nationalization if someone doesn't stop these clowns in office.
well your answer in an interview would be different from your real fears i would think
in an interview, i would say stuff along the lines of alphaholics...
but in real life, my biggest fear was having to work with brutal, annoying, obnoxious people, who don't give two shits about you. at the bank i did my sa at, this was pretty much the case for everyone above 2nd yr associate - everyone was super bitter, MDs brought in very little business, and it was clear that the analysts were not getting a good experience
i was lucky to interview and get an offer from a firm that was the complete opposite, where the MDs were actually cool, down to earth people, the founders actually cared about the analyst's experience, and on top of it all, they have decent deal flow and a growing reputation (positive) on wall st. just my 0.02
I was only asked this once, and I said that I was concerned I'd become overweight from all the take-out food I'd inevitably be eating, but perhaps the upside was that it would be my "wake-up call" to be more cognizant of my nutrition, and not eat fried foods or potato chips indiscriminately anymore. My interviewer thought that was pretty funny; he and I were both college athletes so we could relate to the importance of eating healthy and trying to avoid becoming tubs of lard like most of our colleagues.
Try, carpal tunnel syndrome myopic sight PTSD Depression
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