Wanted to get an updated thread on hardest interview/technical questions so i can gauge where my own technical knowledge is at and practice more (will recruit for 2022 SA). Some threads on this are quite old (like the most extensive thread is 2008?). Help us monkeys out with some tough q's!
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I just interviewed someone from Harvard with 4.0 GPA, previous internships at a top bank and a top MF. He was a varsity captain as well. Why should I hire you over him?
not sure why this got MS (I am not OP). I'm from a lower ivy and I got a similar "there's a Harvard kid waiting outside....why you?" question as well. It was definitely a difficult and memorable question to close the interview that forces you to really advocate for yourself coherently.
"Because I go to Wharton"
.
Yeah - you can't really in terms of of Grades/Extracurriculars...
Maybe spin it, sure he's great on paper, but doesn't mean he will fit into the specific team - or talk about the things you've overcame to get where you are/talk about the things you have that he doesn't. Being honest (i.e. saying that you should hire the Harvard kid) is conceding defeat - might look bad depending on your interviewer.
But if you can indirectly answer the question by showing your strengths, you manager to sell yourself while not answering the " Why should I hire you over him?"
I hope you God you see yourself as more than the product of your academic and work achievements.
"See that wall over there? I'll run through it to make the firm money"
You may not measure up on the resume, but you have the work ethic to compensate.
As someone below said on paper he's good but doesn't fully translate to work and also can maybe play on the fact that you don't have that background but you find yourself in the same process/stage in the interview
Speaking as a non target who didn’t have a perfect GPA and worked in BO out of UG:
Because top Ivy->BB->MF is the perfect linear of a progression. Not to say that candidate didn’t work hard for where he is, however I’d argue that it’s the most risk adverse career path. That’s what they’re expected to do and never had to make a real choice on it. What happens when they get asked to manage risk or have to face the music on important decisions?
Idk it’s a gamble of a response but on the fly I’d spin it to show that a scrappy kid could be a better fit. Obviously backfired If the interviewer did any of the above
delete
Cringe.
Because I have the same stats but it's much harder to get a 4.0 at Princeton than at Harvard. I wish I could give this answer lol
So instead of answering the OP's original question everyone seems to have latched onto this one response, lol.
If you're already in the interview and are not from a target school, this should be a super easy question. In fact, you should pray to be asked this question.
How so? What's the best answer?
.
Edit...I wouldn’t work somewhere that actually asked this question in an interview.
How about this? Ignore the label, I am an An2 in FIG M&A.
“Actually, I think he/she may be able to do the job just as well as I, in fact, as far as going through the motions and executing tasks/instructions is concerned IB is not cognitively taxing, so you could just as well hire someone who hasn’t been to college and possibly pay them less. If anything, the Harvard alumnus outside the door is likely to be brilliant and smart, and more likely to get bored in this job, and given the options available to them, not likely to stay.
I on the other hand offer the perfect middle-ground between the college dropout and a top tier academic. Unless, you want to be spending your time re-recruiting in a few months, go with me”.
im the biggest ass kisser in the world
Because that kid has probably had everything handed to him in his life, once he faces a controversial life event, or any form of adversity, he’ll crumble and melt down because he’s been living a spoon-fed perfect life, compared to others who have been through the struggles and are 10x are going to be able to handle that adversity, and can take criticism
What vegetable are you?
I was once asked what type of animal I would be. And before I could answer, the interviewer qualified the question and added that I could not pick a gorilla or big feline
My grandma
are you an ass guy or a tits guy
That's not a hard question though
Yeah I have both. Covid did me dirty
IU Kelley kids: feet guy
Bump
Why DB?
delete
Answers to the Harvard question: - 4.0 GPA and captain of the team means he has no social life or he never sleeps. I may have a 3.6, but I got to know my peers, sleep, and read XYZ novel about finance/banking.
-Harvard has a lot of students, I got to know my professors at my smaller school, I put three down as my references.
Harvard is expensive, I went to No Name University because being debt-free after undergraduate/graduate was way more important to me than getting a Name-Brand Degree. I think for the long term.
I worked my ass off all throughout high school to get the SAT and ACT, Harvard is notorious for buying your way in. I have the brains and social skills to come from nothing to Harvard. A lot better than daddy's money.
Of course, be more polished, but you get the idea.
Yeah the only problem is - what if the interviewer also went to Harvard
I always ask my interviewers where they went to college and how they joined the firm. If he went to Harvard, I think you can still be charming and say the same things. As a Harvard grad, he knows they are true.
Ask the interviewer if he went to Harvard. Regardless of the answer, you could say "then you know why you want to hire me instead of the Harvard guy"
A bit risky, but turns the question back on him to reflect why he should not be hiring someone he tried to prop up against you
Guys, guys, guys... your answer should not focus at all on that candidate or Harvard. You should be answering like a politician, don't you dare try to directly answer the question or literally compare yourself to this hypothetical candidate.
Just go back into your wheelhouse, "What you are getting when you hire me is A, B, and C. I had great conversations with people on this team while doing informational interviews and can see myself succeeding here over the long term. I'm humble, persistent and hardworking..." If you've already gone through strengths and weaknesses, you can throw in "I acknowledge that I have some room to grow and develop in some of the areas we have discussed but I am making great progress there and I am confident that I would make a positive addition to the team."
This is the same shit that banks have to do on bakeoffs when the client says "We just heard from Goldman. Why should we hire you [BAML]?" You don't really think the higher prestige option always wins out? Why? Because of specific fit to this situation, personal connections, social fit, or other reasons... same as in recruiting as in pitches. Talking directly about Harvard or Goldman would be giving them headspace and you want to completely gloss over it as if the interviewer didn't even mention it. If they really care about it, they will ask you again and more directly.
This question is purely to make you uncomfortable and see how confident you are in yourself.
If they really press you, and sometimes senior bankers get really cheeky ("No, really, the guy is in the waiting room. Why not the Harvard varsity captain?"). This is situational but if you have nothing to lose... throw a Hail Mary right back, "Brad? He's a great guy, we've gotten on well together at the Starbucks before we came in today. Hire us both, we each bring a very different and complementary life experience to the team, and I would look forward to working together with him"
Love the twist at the end
Bingo. Synergy_or_Syzygy If you read nothing else on this thread, that’s the answer.
Ha, no.
Cringe.
Odds this guy even came close to a perfect SAT score? 1 in 10,000,000?
Absolutely do NOT say that you "sleep more than a Harvard guy."
that is fucking hilarious
What did you say as a weakness lol? If it wasn't incredibly retarded, that's extremely unprofessional of that associate and I would consider just walking out
That associate has the absolute nerve to flex. Extremely unprofessional as I would have shook the other associates hand and walked out the door. Can’t tolerate that behavior as they don’t care enough about their rep. Just cuz their in PE don’t think they runnin shit. Not hatin just keep that little dick machismo behavior in the analyst stint hey day..
"how is your father" ? - asked by MD
"who is your father?"
is that a qn or a statement? Bit racist from the MD saying that to the asian analyst...
I got this question from PWP, "what have you learned from your interactions with bankers"?
If an interviewer asked you to pick a topic in finance and explain it to me, what kind of topic would you pick? Like LBO, M&A, interest rates?
Got the question "Why do you want to work for HSBC?"
This one is real tough
Yeah I got asked why Nomura? rip... harder than the LBO questions
What’s the square root of 9,000?
The heck, is this meant to test mental math skills or what
See if you're smart enough not to say 300, and make a reasonable guess. E.g. 100^2=10,000 and 90^2=8,100 so it must be around 95...
“Why do you look like that”
For S&T - asked me to define forward rates but luckily I had read that somewhere in a textbook. Then asked me how to calculate the forward rate and I didn't have anything to say after that lol.
Hahahah this made my day
"find me the radius of Saturn using a telescope and stopwatch". no cap I got asked this
If you can make a couple of assumptions, then this is doable.
First point the telescope towards the center of Saturn, and record the amount of time it takes, A.
Then point it towards any observable edge of Saturn, and record the time it takes, B.
Given speed of light is constant S.
Let R be the radius you're solving for.
Imagine a triangle with sides of length BS, AS + R, R.
You know that your vision line to the edge of Saturn is perpendicular to the center of Saturn's core, so you have a right triangle. BS and R are the legs, AS + R is the hypotenuse. Solve for R.
(BS)^2 + R^2 = (AS)^2 + 2ASR + R^2 R = [(BS)^2 - (AS)^2] / (2AS)
This mans is really saying just stop light
Assumption 1 is insane bro
edit - realized I’m just repeating the fella above me. I SBd...
F = M x A
Force = Money x Ass
That's solid. Just reword assumptions of light travel and you're fine. Comprehensive and complete, given assumption of light travel staying constant. If you wanted to attempt light travel it would have to incorporate distance from sun to Saturn to earth divided by speed of light or something along those lines?
wtf lol what did u interview for? NASA?
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