Not charming...

It's kind of hard to say without knowing you, but maybe you're just too serious? While part of it is letting them know that you know your stuff, maybe you need to step back and make sure you are coming off as someone who would be enjoyable to work with. You don't have to be this super-charming fun guy, but at least smile and act interested in the interviewer. You're going to have to work with a lot of diverse personalities, and you have to recognize what a certain person likes.

Personally, I tend not to like very serious candidates. I want someone who is serious enough to do what it takes to get the job done, but is laid back enough to keep it fun--- someone who I could be stuck working with at 4AM and wouldn't be a pain to talk to.

Also, just watch your interviewer(s) for visual clues. If they look are zoning out, ready to move on to the next question, trying to get out of there, then make sure you pick up on it and follow along

judging from my friends who got offers

smile, talk about the interviewer, not yourself.

One of my friends barely got any technical questions ( the most difficult one was "give me three ways to value a company" ) and he got the offer. Try to be friendly and pretend you are interested in the person ( which most times I know you dont give a f***).

Smile a lot, even if you think you look like an idiot. Talk like you enjoy being there and you're genuinely interested in the questions/interview, be enthusiastic. The hardest part is being sociable when you have a bone dry interviewer. In any case, make sure you smile a lot, exhibit enthusiasm, add some personality to your answers/stories.

Same Dilemma. Extremely serious, nailed the technicals, yet no offer. I was very confused when some dim witted kids got offers over me. But, I'd definitely concur with what everyone else said, it definitely seems likee having a big, shit eating smile on your face is more important than how motivated and qualified you are. Its a load of shit, but pretend like you are acting. No one in their right mind is happy to be on an interview, but at least pretend that you are.

No matter what the question is, no matter how inappropriate you feel it would be, keep a shit-eating grin on your face. If you have to, tell yourself a joke before you go in. People will like you.

i hate it when people use percentages over 100% for things that can't actually go over 100%, but drexel 101% right. you have to learn to be charming, not just for interviews but for life. i used to be somewhat like you and found that it really hurt during my SA session. Once i got to know people they'd say at first they were nervous about approaching me b/c i looked so serious/focused. I'm still as intense as ever on the inside, but now i've learned to project a cool-ass demeanor and trust me, it works.

30% of communication is verbal, remember?

Something I used to do when I first started interviewing, when I would get asked stump question or a pressure question.... I would very quickly dismantle the motivation behind it in my mind and think to myself "you sly fucking bitch, you thought you would pull one over on me," which would obviously amuse me and make me smile; it also helped me feel more confident answering the question.

Just make sure you don't come off as smug.

I always found small talk right before getting down to the serious part to help a lot. As I sat down with the interviewer, I'd always attempt to talk about some unrelated bs to loosen up the situation.

interviews are about being a huge tool. to a large extent, so is working life.

i agree with drexelalum. put that shit eating grin on your face. because you will be eating shit for the next couple years if you take this job. and they want to know that you can smile while doing it.

(also, ibanking at its highest levels is a sales job--which means that the shit eating grinniness is even more important, and so senior people will be adept at this, and will (if only subconsciously) be looking for it. s&t i noticed the people could be a lot more serious and intense than ibanking.)

there are many traits that are important for an IB analyst, and technicals is by far not the most important thing, as moderate intelligence is required to do the job.

people hire people they like, if the interviewer thinks he can't get along with you, it's game over for you. that is why you need to find common interest with the interviewer, try to find out what type of person the interviewer likes and then just try to be that person, of course this is very general, but here are a few non-technical traits that I think are fairly important

a) you have to read people and situations. Meaning you should know what the person is thinking, i.e. you shouldn't go ask questions/bother your associate when he is clear busy with sth. else. You shouldn't talk about things that is clearly sensitive or other people are not interested in. You also have to be proactive in situations and get absolutely necessary (im most cases also painful) things done without anyone asking. this also means that you should read what your interviewer wants to hear/talk about during an interview, and that is not always a technical speech

b) you have to have a good attitude. sounds easy, but hard when people ask you to process comments (sometimes totally unnecessary) on a Saturday morning 5 a.m. after 2 all nighters. that's why you have to show other people that you are practical and work like a dog

c) I need to re-emphasize practical. You have to be practical, because you will get to do a lot of random stuff that is not technical at all. Hence bankers tend to dislike purely academic people (e.g. PhD)that appears incompetent to get some mundane tasks done

there are plenty of other soft skills that are crucial for an IB analyst, and believe it or not, those skills are much harder/important than the 'technical skills"

I agree with the small talk part. They will ask you technical questions when they want to, but you should do your best to talk about the interviewer, interests, etc. I've gone through interviews where we just talked about traveling for 20 minutes, and got the offer with pretty much zero technical questions. Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but often times they see your credentials on your resume, and use the interview to see how personable you are. Small talk doesn't have to be hobbies - it can be asking them about what the job is like, what they like about their group, what motivates you, etc - that way you can seem friendly and motivated at the same time.

Charm is something that you can't fake. I'm not trying to say that it is a purely innate skill that can't be develop, but, it is not going to appear all of a sudden for the purposes of an interview. That being said, I think there are a few things that you can do to present yourself in a better way.

1. Have a good attitude, but don't go overboard. Sometimes less is more. I think it's more important to be consistent in your enthusiasm throughout the interview, than to project it in a very strong manner at any particular point.

2. It's not what you say, but how you say it. Look them straight in the eye. Smile while you answer. Use concise, crisp answers. This is especially important for technicals - answer their question in a very high level manner, using as few words as possible, keep the details in mind but wait for them to ask, imagine how boring it is for bankers to hear the intricacies of a DCF when they know it forwards and backwards.

3. Be strategic. Identify what your strengths are and use them. You say that you lack charm. That's ok. But what are you good at? What makes you distinctive? Think about it this way - as a candidate, what about you is the most attractive? Be a bit more bold, emphasize your best points instead of trying to shore up your weaknesses.

tell them they are your top pick as many times as possible, it worked for me.

I have been through a lot of interviews, and I got my recent offer from telling them they were my top pick every chance I got.

Often times when candidates are too serious it comes off as a lack of enthusiasm. While in the interview, smile more--try to act like you're meeting one of your dad's old college buddies. You want to get to know them while letting them get to know you at the same time. Try to look relaxed (cross your legs, lean back a little but still sit up straight) and most important of all see if you can get a smile out of them at least once in the interview. If you can get them to laugh once or twice and you're nailing the technicals you should do fine.