Surprise! phone interview!
Got an email at 2am to arrange a phone interview from HK. Fair enough, I gave the person my availability and agreed on a set interview time. He also mentioned that another colleague will also be interviewing me at a different time and will contact me arrange that. So I went back to sleep soon after that.
Phone rang at 6am, barely woke up and picked up the phone, turns out it was the other banker who was supposed to set up an interview. Person immediately said:
"Hi there I'm calling from Bank A, can I interview you now?"
"Umm I wasn't told about the interview being at this time"
"Yeah, it's OK don't worry about it, it's only going to be half an hour"
"Uh sure"
...
Of course, I proceeded to bomb the interview afterwards. I'd like to believe that I didn't fully kill off my chance since I still have one more phone interview coming up but that was just bad IMO. It was all fit, but I was way too sleepy, so I rambled a couple of times and mentioned the wrong group (eg. mentioned I prefer M&A when the coverage guy was calling)
Seriously, WTF is this normal?
No. You need to think on your feet. Should have said I have a midterm in 15 mins bye.
Considered that option, but no college holds a midterm at 6am in the morning
got this one before.
Then they proceeded to have 3 other bankers interviews one after one..an unexpected call turned into 2 hour long interview
easy solution... don't answer your phone at 6am from unknown numbers.
this sounds like Credit Suisse amirite?
not CS, at least my experience with CS has been pretty positive. but some other europe-based BB
BNP hahahaha those french
could to turn off ur cell phone to avoid this craziness?
Had this happen to me - fortunately they were aware it was 6am and I managed to make it to the next round.
If I was you, I definitely would've mentioned the fact that it was 6 in the morning where you were. Might've made you sound like a bitch, though, so maybe it's better that you didn't mention it...
zero chance I would have woken up for that.
I would have made up some excuse. Something like you're actually running to a sports practice, or you've got an exam in an hour or you've got some sort of volunteering/club event you woke up for, etc. Get their number, ask them what's a good time to call back, and then call back later when you're not caught off guard.
Dude don't fucking pick up. Simple as that. I never pick up my phone when I'm woken up from sleeping, especially not from an unknown number.
Out of habit since family overseas sometimes do call me early morning if there's anything urgent, but no use crying over spilt milk I guess. I'll just leave the phone off next time whenever I sleep
next time just say sorry you are a hospital its a real bad time. theyll feel bad and pass you onto the superday
How did you handle surprise phone screens? (Originally Posted: 02/11/2011)
I submitted resume and cover letter for a SA IDB position with a MM. The same week I got a call from an analyst at the bank and asked to do a phone screen with me. Although getting an interview was good, I could have done better if I knew it was coming. Does anyone have similar experience? How did you handle situations like this?
You could just say that you were in the middle of something and reschedule for 15-20 minutes later. It won't let you study, but you can take a quick breather.
Don't answer random phone calls, research the number and then call back when you have your CAPM forumla handy.
Let it go to voicemail, especially if you don't recognize the number and it's from a specific area code (212 - New York, 617 - Boston, etc.).
Let it go to voicemail, especially if you don't recognize the number and it's from a specific area code (212 - New York, 617 - Boston, etc.).
Answer the phone and say, "I'm not gonna tell you again bitch, It's not my baby and I got tested, now stop fucking calling me."
I've had this happen a couple of times, kind of throws you off. Why would they not at least email ahead of time?
Honestly, I've gotten a couple of these and I think doing it on the spot is a great call. Lets the interviewer know you are always ready to go.
Ah, this happened with a friend of mine. She got a call from MS who asked her the most inane questions like What is your favourite book and which course do you enjoy the most and why? She was totally caught off-guard and her reply to the favourite book question was Harry Potter! They still invited her to the first round though..
+1 don't pick up the phone when interviewing. You can always call back and say you were in class -- assuming you're in still in school. It will also give you time to prepare company-specific questions. If you DO pick up, don't just say you're "tied up" and you have to reschedule... give a good reason and ASK to reschedule... especially if it's a Analyst (vp, md, whatever) and not HR. They are busy. The don't want to get the impression that you are putting the call off just so you can prepare. It's annoying. When you call back, say, "I apologize I missed your call/ had to reschedule... I was [insert excuse]... but I appreciate you contacting me" then let the guy/girl talk. Manners go a long way, and you'd be surprised at how you recognize it when you're sitting on the other side of the table.
all great comments! the thought of saying i was on my way to class and needed to reschedule slipped through my mind for a nanosecond. but somehow i decided to proceed w/ the interview. wouldn't it be annoying if say the analyst decided to spend the morning interviewing 8 candidates but 5 of them either let it go straight to voicemail or asked to reschedule? anyway, im hoping that i left him a good impression by picking up the phone on the spot.
You must always answer the phone. You could be in a situation where they need to get their shit sorted and are on a tight deadline. If you pussy out and don't answer the phone, then the next guy will and he'll get called in. He'll get the interview because his balls are bigger than yours.
It's a tactic I've seen before to: a) differentiate between the guys who KNOW the WSO Interview guide and the guys who learn it the night before; and b) to see how you think on your feet.
This is exactly correct. Few internship resumes have key differentiators and as a result there are many viable candidates and a fixed number of interview slots. If you do not answer the phone the next person gets called.
Clarkey -- agree to disagree then. Many of the "guys who answer the phone" are unprepared and are not given any slack because they "had the balls" to pick up. Nothing to do with being a pussy. Some applied to so many jobs that they can't possibly be prepared to ask intelligent company-specific questions on the fly to any random 212 (or any area code for that matter) number that calls. That said, do call back sooner rather than later.
Bottom line: If you answer, you'd better be prepared and not in a setting with annoying background noise.
After superdays 212 numbers got my dick hard.... until it was HR dinging me...
dont ever pick up a random phone call...Bankers are sometimes to lazy to schedule an interview so we just call you when we are free and find any reason to ding you and feel like "we did our job" when there are 10,000 candidates out there who have the same resumes.
Surprise group phone interview for summer analyst IB recruitment? (Originally Posted: 08/23/2014)
So I've been in talks with a VP of a top IB group for about two months now and every time I've spoken to him it has been through his cell number, but just today he gave me a call and told me to ring him on his work line, a number I didn't know of until I was told this morning, on an inflexible, specific date and time next week. He told me that it was important that I call him from a quiet place that allows for a strong signal, which led me to ask if I should expect an interview to which he then responded, "No, it's nothing like that but you never know." I tried to get him to clarify his answer but I kept getting vague responses. I have a good relationship with him so I called him out for trying to screw with me, he responded by saying that he was preparing me for the full time work environment...
This latest interaction with him has led me to believe that I'm about to be given a group interview considering his demeanor and request for a call on a strict time and date through his company line, which I presume other members of his team will be on. I've talked to a few friends who have gone through full time recruitment and summer analyst recruitment, and they said that I should just be prepared as if it were a normal interview, although none of them have heard of anything like my situation. I have not even submitted my resume yet nor has this VP seen it. Also, summer recruitment for this firm does not start until November. There is a high chance that I'm getting fucked with by said VP, but I want to be prepared anyway.
Given the information above, what can I expect for what I guess might be an unusual first round interview/phone screen for a summer analyst position? Has anyone else faced a similar situation?
Update: I received an email from the VP this morning saying that I shouldn't be too worried because he is just briefly introducing me to his MD. He said that the call probably won't turn into an interview due to time constraints but that he was serious when he said that he wasn't sure and that I should be fine with my current base of knowledge if the MD does in fact lead the call into a full-blown interview. In other words, I should to be prepared for a quasi-phone screen.
If it is an interview, it will most likely be like any other regular phone interview
That's super strange... Let us know how it pans out.
I, and many others, have learned that until you have the job, everything is an interview. You're always being evaluated. Don't believe for a second that a phone call with a random stranger isn't an interview. Now, whether that interview makes or breaks your situation is a different matter.
I agree and I have every intention of leaving the best impression I can--that's why I was trying to get a handle on how prepared I should be given that I have so little time.
I hope it didnt work out for oyu
EB First Round Surprise Phone Interview? (Originally Posted: 08/11/2015)
Junior in college here - I sent my resume to an EB for a Fall part-time position and suddenly yesterday without warning I get a call from someone there, while I am having lunch at a KFC.
Dude starts asking me to walk me through my resume, which I didn't have in front of me (but knew it cold anyway thank God), and asking me why I want to join the firm, why I want to do banking, how do I estimate WACC for a private company, etc all the typical questions. Don't know how it went, but holy shit was I caught off guard.
Has anyone had this happen to them? I think this is pretty cruel honestly. I could've been taking a dump, I could've been driving, etc.
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