Say something about weird interview?

Just had an interview with a major BB. Was told that it would be all fit, but my questions were all technical. Pretty sure I will not be called for 2nd round because people are getting emails about superday already. None of the other interviews gave technical questions. I feel like I should say something. This was NOT FIT as HR said.

 

I think this is one of the "shitty luck" type scenarios. Maybe your interviewer(s) didn't get the memo. Either way, they didn't want to bring you back and now you're out. Not much you can do about it.

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elaine, maybe it was based on the fact that your resume doesnt have IB experience and theirs does or something

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 

In any case, CompBanker is right. You didn't do well in the interview, and if they don't want to bring you back, there's nothing you can do about it now. It's not like you're gonna get another chance if you whine about how unfair your interview was. You're better off spending your time going over what you did wrong in the interview and getting right for the next opportunity.

 

I had a first round interview for a summer associate position at a BB and all the questions (aside "run me thru ur resume")were about why banking and why the firm. It was like my interviewer didn't believe I understand what investment banking is all about. I am very new to the IB world but I think these firms do know what they are doing. I have a "core" engineering background and as at the time I interviewed for the first round, I have only spent 7 weeks in B-School. So why on earth will an interviewer ask me technical questions on a first round? But guess what? A colleague of mine that went in like an hour after I did got technical questions...according to him alot of it. So what is the difference between my profile and his? He has like 5 years of finanicial this and that...bachelors in finance/accounting, some years of financial services consulting. In my own case, I have an engineering bachelors, I have been doing core engineering designs and engineering models for about 4 years etc.

Maybe that explains the differences....just what I think

 

There really is nothing you can do about it. You can call it "unfair" or whatever you want, but you need to realize: even if you didn't get weeded out from the technical questions this first round, you would've been weeded out (if you aren't qualified) at the later round. There's no way you can fake your way through 4 back-to-back interviews during a superday, where they test you on basically everything. If even one person doesn't want you, you're out. I agree that it's more useful to spend this time doing some reflection, instead of griping about it.

Imagine this: I walk into my JP Morgan interview. The guy says, "Hey there. Okay, sit down". I sit down. "Okay, let's get started. What's six cubed? What's seven cubed? What's eight cubed? What's nine cubed?"

...and that was the easy part of the interview. After that he started asking me technical questions about mergers and dilution and whatnot.

Didn't end up getting the position, but I reflected upon it and did much better at later interviews.

 

You really weren't "cheated" out of anything, and you speak as if you somehow "deserve" or are "entitled" to the job. If you don't do well in the interview, then you're not gonna get the job. Doesn't matter how well the other candidates did or if they got "easier" interviews. You need to worry about the things YOU can control, and that's being prepared for every aspect of the interview. If you can't do the technicals, you won't get the job.

 

I got asked why IB and I was interested in S&T. Individual proceeded to ask me more IB related questions, even though I said I was interested in S&T after the first question. It was more of a generalized interview for the bank and the guys being from IB side and not having any clue about S&T didn't help. Bad start, some more self inflicting pain, and I knew I screwed up bad walking out of the room. Hopefully the lesson serves better in future.

 

Don't sweat not getting IBD. S&T is a better job anyway. If you don't believe this now, you will in a few year's time, when your IBD friends are in the office on friday 3am and you are enjoying a night on the town. You will be making more money working less hours doing more exciting work than you would in IBD.

Also, don't expect interviews to be fair. The actual job and the office politics aren't fair either.

 

stabart: Why do people say this? "You will be making more money working less hours..."

It's fine to argue that the hourly pay is higher in S&T. but you can't say that and then add "You'll be making MORE!" It's redundant, if that is in fact your argument.

if you're arguing that he will be making more money, period, in S&T, then you are wrong. it's very hard to make a lot of $ in S&T, and it depends even further on the performance of your entire desk.

let me set one thing straight: the potential in S&T may be higher than for someone who plans to stay in IB for the rest of his life, but actually EARNING that type of money is a different story. why are people impressed if you make $300k in S&T, whereas in IB that's an entry-level salary? simple: because it's hard as shit to do well in S&T.

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 
Best Response

Don't call HR and complain, that's only going to piss them off more. If you have not heard yet either way, you could be on the bubble and might yet get another interview with them. I guarantee if you call and whine "my interviewers were tougher!" then they will drop you like a bad habit and not forget.

The fact that you were surprised an IB interview would have technical questions is ridiculous. I don't care WHAT they tell you, every interview I've had with an IBD has involved technical questions. Being surprised shows you were unprepared and probably reflected as poorly as getting an answer wrong would. Tech questions are more about finding out how you think than the actual answer you get.

Too bad you got tough questions; be more prepared next time.

 

Elaine,

You are an idiot if you call HR. Let it go. You're not getting an offer for that division.

You are doing nothing but pissing people off. If you screw around, you're putting your S&T offer in jeopardy. LET IT F$CKING GO.

When you get into an interview, you should be prepared for every possible scenario. Clearly you were not and have now been weeded out.

Get over it. Life sucks.

 

If you really really wanted to, you could always send them a little note saying "thank you for taking the time out to interview me. I would be honored to work at XYZ corporation" etc...thank you note type thing. But that should've been done within the 24 hours of your interview.

DO NOT call up and ask "Hey, I just wanted to know why I didn't get the job. Is it because you asked me a million technical questions that I didn't know the answer to? I think that's really unfair since you didn't ask so and so the same questions. I feel as though that was an unfair situation."

That's like having some guy you don't like call you up and ask why you didn't want to date him. Creepy right? That's what they are going to think about you.

********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********

********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********
 

elaine, if you're going to call hr, say "while i was obviously disappointed to not advance to a second round, i was hoping that you might be able to give me some feedback, so i can improve in future interviews." then let them talk, and they'll probably say you screwed up technicals, didn't have ib experience, etc. if you really feel you need to mention being misled about first round interview questions, you can say, "yeah, i was under the impression that the first round more fit-based, and so i was a bit blind-sided by some of the technical questions..." and see if they bite. i mean, the thing is, you should always expect fit and technical questions in any interview, regardless of what round it is. some people don't really care about fit, some people only care about fit, others will move on to fit once they see you know the technical stuff, etc. but, if you're hell-bent on calling them, make sure you approach it as an appeal for constructive criticism; it will be much better received.

 

but unfair interviews always happen. In the end, i think you (we all) need to suck it up and hope for the best. Definitely ask for feedback nicely. But like other posters have said, as interviewees, we are not entitled to any job or any sort of particular interview like others. Each interviewer has different styles, and you were probably unlucky.

 

Elaine, don't worry about it. You obviously wouldnt have passed the fit questions either. No one in their right mind would want to work with someone as whiny and annoying as you. If you think life is about being fair, move to an island and build your own little utopia. Seriously, grow up and get over yourself. YOU messed up the interview. They don't owe you anything. They could sit there and ask you questions about aeronautical engineering despite it having nothing to do with the job and then say, sorry you aren't want we are looking for when you answer wrong. Is that fair? NO. But since when did interviewers have to follow fairness rules? You are unbelievable. GET OVER YOURSELF. Wow, I would be surprised if you are even able to find any job in IB. Are you going to go cry to an MD when you are there til 4am doing comps when the guy next to you left at 2am because he wasnt given as much work. That isnt fair. My God, I have never been more annoyed than by reading your thread.

 

i agree with mergermania - life isnt fair. yea they said it was a fit interview and you got asked technical questions, so what? what if they said it was a technical interview and then asked you fit questions? would you still be unprepared and whine that the bad people at the bank lied to you? seriously, where is this sense of entitlement you have coming from? you are basically asking these people to hire you, they arent there begging you to work for them.

also, i hope you didnt call, although I have a sneaking suspicion that you did. calling only magnifies your inability to deal with adverse situations. As an analyst you deal with all kinds of crappy situations which arent fair yet you suck it up and move on. Are you going to complain to your staffer about unfair situations and then wind up working on comps for 2 years.

 

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