Interview: nothing wrong but we have chosen a candidates with a better resume than you

Hi all,
Some times I have to be rejected for a interview and i asked for feedback, asking maybe something that I did wrong during the interview or something that made him chose the other candidate
every time I was told that I had not done anything wrong but they have chose a candidate with a better resume than you.
given that I'm trying to improve the mistakes made in the past, I did the master in a target universities, I added the top name in the CV even if not in corporate finance, but currently I'm doing a corporate finance experience.
What can I do during the interview to choose me than another candidate with a better CV?
it seems that I do my interview well but not so well
Thank you
Alessio

 

This, honestly, just going off of your post with no other details. It's one thing to have difficulty speaking English, because your speaking ability can be somewhat irrelevant depending on the role (much less important in BO roles), but it's another thing to struggle to write properly, because that matters regardless of being in FO, MO, or BO.

The recruiters were too nice to tell you that your English is poor. Work on improving your English. Best of luck!

 
Thomas Pynchon:

e too nice to tell you that your English is poor.

how are people nice to other people by NOT telling them that they need to improve a certain skill? doesn't that do more harm than good?

people avoid telling others these so called 'hard truths' for their OWN comfort

"i don't want to be the one to tell her/him about this....."

or as @TommyGunn" said

"i was going to say this earlier but couldn't find a way of saying it without sounding like a dick..."

because no one wants to criticize, I can understand that but no one has to, people just need to provide critique (constructive criticism), exactly what FinanceGuy15 did

 

English good or not, that is what youtube is for, there are so many videos to learn/improve/culture/do's and don'ts and add that to your daily routine will work wonders for you.

Want to Lose the body fat, keep the muscles, I can help.
 

but if you are weak when it comes to communicating using a particular language (written or spoken) then it is definitely a reason for a job that requires either one or both types of communication

 
Best Response
alessioto:

Thanks for your reply, anyway i'm trying to improve my english.
However i guarantee you that is not for english.
During my interview they didn't ask me a single thing in english and i did the stock pitch in a good way (he was pleased with me)

Just to be clear - so you're saying that your CV and interview(s) were not in English? If so, that's fair - then English/communication skills definitely was not a factor in the ultimate decision to reject. However, if not - then it of course was part of the decision-making process even if it was not explicitly stated that it was.

Nonetheless, there can be a range of reasons why some decisions are made to a large extent based on CV. For starters, big names (university and past work experience) give you as well as the clients you ultimate serve credibility and comfort. Also, if you happen to be a terrible hire, the guy/girl who recruited you can say "Hey, the guy/girl was from Harvard with amazing credentials, how could I have known?" whilst giving a shot for a non-conventional background person is a bigger personal risk for the person making the decision. Finally, some places are just effective elite members' clubs where HBS background people only want to see HBS people joining and see everybody else as inferior peasants.

 

There are really any number of possibilities spanning everything from your dress, hygiene, body language, attitude, the answers you give to questions, on and on. You didn't say how many interviews you've had so far. Is it 3? 5? 15? Even the best candidates will be rejected a few times. If you've had >10 interviews and your rejection rate is >80% then you need to start digging more deeply.

Ideally, you get somebody inside the firm to tell you what's really going on. Hopefully you have an informal connection such as a recent grad or friend that works there. They can pass along feedback / weaknesses. In the U.S. at least, most firms will not provide any formal feedback for legal reasons.

If you can't get anything from the firms, maybe somebody in your career services office can help. You can learn a lot by doing a practice interview with an experienced interviewer. Good luck. It's definitely frustrating.

 

Thanks again because you gave me useful feedback. The success rate depends on the type of position: For example i obtain financial Analyst role in private equity/special situation but small firm I obtain back/middle office role in top banking but i don't obtain equity research role and asset/wealth management position (Analyst) in any firm and i am aware that in this position the 99% of Analyst is from the first university. I think that the problem is the university and i don't know how to solve this problem...

 

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