How to prepare for crazy interview questions

Is there a way to prepare for ridiculous interview questions? I have an interview coming up that I know will have some of these questions. Some examples that I've heard from people who have interviewed are "what is one thing you believe that no one else does", or "tell me about a time you offended someone".

 
Best Response

john1659, to properly answer these questions, you need to be both level headed and knowledgeable about what the interviewing is really asking. These questions are giving you an opportunity to really stand out, so you also need to take advantage of that. Sorry for the long response, but when I was in undergrad, someone gave me this advice once, and it really was a game changer for me.

First, you need to understand what the question actually is. No, the interviewer doesn't really care what strange things you believe in or how you've offended people. What the interviewer is really trying to do is to see how you can handle questions (assignments) that you were not necessarily told to prepare for, but should be prepared for anyway. Are you going to be that analyst that only does exactly what his/her senior bankers ask? Or are you going to be that rockstar that has enough foresight to know what the senior banker will expect next and have it prepared well in advance? For example, if Mark the MD asks you to print out two copies of the DCF and meet him in his office in ten minutes, are you printing out just the DCF, or are you going to print of the football field just in case Mark the MD wants to compare the DCF valuation to the comps analysis? Which analyst are you?

Second, you need to answer the question. The easiest way to do this is by having a few of stories that you can apply to numerous questions in the back of your mind. Say, for example, you had a class project in undergrad where everyone in the team except for Fred the Foreign Student performed well. You talked to Fred the Foreign Student, but because of cultural differences, you offended him. This story can answer your present "tell me about a time you offended someone", but you can also twist it to answer the "tell me about a time when you took a leadership position", "tell me about a time when you worked in a group setting", "tell me about a time when you achieved something", etc. stories. You just leave out some of the details or add more.

Finally, you need to take this opportunity and go above and beyond other interviewees. Sure, you can tell me about how you offended Fred the Foreign Student and then patched things up with him, but that is BORING. Why would I hire you? You're going to be that analyst whose hand I will always have to hold. You're going to get me counting down the seconds until I can officially ding you. When asked a question like this, you need to include some way you solved a problem or achieved something. For example, not only should you tell me how you offended Fred the Foreign Student, but tell me how you worked to understand the cultural differences between both of you too. Maybe you joined some foreign club at your school after this encounter, maybe you learned his mother tongue down the road, maybe this inspired you to study abroad, whatever.

If you can do the above three things, you will be golden. You'll have shown me, the interviewer, that you can not only answer my question and understand what I was really asking, but you will have demonstrated to me that you are the type of person who goes above and beyond of what you are asked for. That is the analyst I want working with me.

 
  1. You just answered your own question. You "handle" being wrong by accepting that you were wrong and moving on. However, I probably wouldn't say exactly that. I would say that you acknowledge it and incorporate it into your future decisions, because being wrong is just another lesson learned. Don't just say you forget about it-- that's immature.

  2. Do not bring up religion, ESPECIALLY a negative spin on religion. That could backfire so easily. I don't know your life, so I can't suggest anything specific. Worst case, make up something. But I'm sure if you seriously thought about this, there have been one or two times you haven't been squeaky clean.

  3. If your main focus is to interact with clients, why would you say you're bad at interacting with clients? Think of a different weakness that wouldn't directly interfere with your job. It doesn't have to be your biggest weakness, just a weakness.

Good luck

 
aassddff:

1. You just answered your own question. You "handle" being wrong by accepting that you were wrong and moving on. However, I probably wouldn't say exactly that. I would say that you acknowledge it and incorporate it into your future decisions, because being wrong is just another lesson learned. Don't just say you forget about it-- that's immature.

2. Do not bring up religion, ESPECIALLY a negative spin on religion. That could backfire so easily. I don't know your life, so I can't suggest anything specific. Worst case, make up something. But I'm sure if you seriously thought about this, there have been one or two times you haven't been squeaky clean.

3. If your main focus is to interact with clients, why would you say you're bad at interacting with clients? Think of a different weakness that wouldn't directly interfere with your job. It doesn't have to be your biggest weakness, just a weakness.

Good luck

Thanks, but for number 3 what I want to do is trading, not sales. Perhaps options market making. I don't know if that should make a difference in my approach. Another weakness of my mine I guess is I'm a little messy. It can make things difficult for other people to find stuff they need, but I'm usually in control of my mess. I'm finding it very difficult for number 2. I'm trying to think of a way to spin this question without saying something that will hurt me or make it seem like I think I'm perfect. Last October I ate all the Halloween candy except for the stuff I didn't like so all the kids in my neighborhood were left with the crappy candies like Almond Joy. I think I just have to hope I don't get asked this one.

 

Maybe I can make my answer more general and say something like, "Sometimes I just go along with others and agree with them even if I don't really believe in what they're saying. For example, if somebody says something political that I don't agree with, sometimes it's just easier to agree rather than start an argument that most likely won't go anywhere." If they ask for specifics I could say what actually happened the last 2 days I guess. One of my professors is very far left, bashed the GOP like he does everyday, and said the minimum wage is too low. I said, "yeah, I wouldn't want to work for that wage" even though I think the market should decide wages. On the other side, yesterday somebody was telling me how Obama was a Muslim from Kenya, and I was just like "Yeah, there's a lot of questions unanswered about him" even though I don't agree with that either. So essentially, I let these people talk, agree with them, and hold back my opinions to make things easier.

 

Maybe I would say that, because you pick and choose your battles, sometimes you don't speak up when you disagree with something, but believe in honesty (and lying by omission can make you uncomfortable). However, you understand that you cannot win every argument/disagreement, so you try to efficiently choose your times to speak up.

Do you think that could work?

 

I agree with what was been said about #1 and #2.

Personally, I think question #3 is a bad question used by inexperienced interviewers. I think the best strategy is to deflect the question. I normally answer the question by naming something I have struggled with in the past but have since over come. Like "You know, I actually used to really struggle with weakness, but now I'm actually pretty good at it."

However, I'm at a Big 4 firm and not in investment banking. Our interviews aren't nearly as rigorous.

 

So you're also leaving that community college part out on your resume? Do employers have access to this type of information when they do their background checks and look at your transcript?

Just wondering...because there may not be any point in trying to hide/avoid it. Is this just a matter of not wanting to discuss it with alumni?

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 
Flake:
So you're also leaving that community college part out on your resume?

Correct, although now the other posts in this thread have me thinking about it. I did some searching on here previously and saw that most people advised against including something like that and I figured in such a high-prestige industry it would be heavily looked down upon.

If it matters for resume purposes, I had a 4.0 at the CC while working part-time ~25-30 hours a week at a standard teenager kind of job. The school I transferred to is a Bucknell/Colgate/Villanova tier school with only a little recruiting but decent alumni network in finance.

 

Yeah, I'd like to know why you'd have to hide this...

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 

Why would that make them think less of you?

"I started in community college because I could not ask my parents to assist with my schooling, so I took classes at XYZ Community College and then transferred to Elite University so that I could complete my goal of a top education without overly indebting myself."

Boom. Only the most fiercely assholish of interviewers would fault that. It shows responsibility (fiscal and personal), drive to a goal, and most importantly achievement of that goal.

 
NorthEastIdiot:
Why would that make them think less of you?

"I started in community college because I could not ask my parents to assist with my schooling, so I took classes at XYZ Community College and then transferred to Elite University so that I could complete my goal of a top education without overly indebting myself."

Boom. Only the most fiercely assholish of interviewers would fault that. It shows responsibility (fiscal and personal), drive to a goal, and most importantly achievement of that goal.

this is perfect. makes what could be perceived as a negative into a big positive imo

 

Fuck it dude, don't be ashamed of the hard work you've put in to transfer. If anything I'd like to mention that aspect of your character.

Some people will look down on it, others (the more normal) will see it as a positive and product of a driven individual.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

I wouldn't advertise it, but I wouldn't be ashamed of it either. You went to school close to home because you couldn't afford it. Then you transferred, now you've made it all the way from the poorhouse to a strong candidate for banking. I would be ready with your post-transfer GPA and make sure it's at least 1 standard deviation above average for your major.

You will have better luck in S&T than IBD if that comes out. S&T may even consider it a bit of a plus if it gets brought up accidentally. IBD cares a bit more about pedigree and S&T cares a bit more about results.

 

Hmm I never even considered that I could actually try to spin this as a positive - I thought avoiding it like the plague would've been most recommended. When I get a chance this week I'll post a resume here for you guys to critique.

While I have you all here to ask my dumb questions, if I did list the CC on my resume would it be worth it to list my SAT as well? I was in the 2000-2100 range and was under the impression you should only list 2100+ but would a 2k+ score help to show that I'm not completely dumb and went to a CC out of academic necessity?

Also if anybody else has any feelings on the question in the OP or list/not listing community college, please chime in.

 

Illini said not to advertise so I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you probably shouldn't...?

I dunno, I got a lil bit til I have to worry about this since I also went to a cc

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 

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