"We may need an analyst. Please let me know if you will be in NY, and we can plan to meet."

Take a bus or share a ride through craigslist. You really don't sound like you'd kill for the job.

Try something along the lines of: “Hi X, Thank you for the job/internship opportunity. I am currently based in Chicago and would be glad to come to NY for a meeting. Would there be any day that is convenient for you between X and X?”

That way he’ll know you will actually be doing the trip for the meeting, and if it is nothing serious yet might reply something like “Fine, we’ll give you a call if the opening is confirmed to plan an interview”.

Just be sure to answer that you are interested and would be happy to do the trip if there is an opportunity.

..

Well, I responded the EuropeanBob way, suggesting some dates I could fly up there: "I don't want you to make a special trip to NY. If you plan to be in town, however, I'd be pleased to meet you. The week of the 17th looks good at this point." (via blackberry)

Not to sound paranoid here, but he's not trying to gauge my interest, is he? I thought I made it obvious that I didn't already have plans to be in NY. Seems like he should just offer to chat on the phone.

This sucks, I apologize. I had to fly out for CS interviews on my dollar and I'm a college kid with no money.

If you really want the job you have to weigh the risk/reward and make your decision based off that.

If you're confident you aren't qualified for the job then it sounds like you've set your self already for failure.

Put all the pros and cons on a piece of paper and balance them out; then make your decision. He is Def. trying to gauge your interest, but interest doesn't mean anything for these places at the end of the day....everyone that is applying is interested.

If I wanted the job I'd say "no pb, I'll be there the week of the 17th" without hesitation. You can always find a cheaper way than flying there if you don't work and have some time (take the bus as tandaradei said). If you won't go there to meet him I'm sure there are plenty of kids on WSO that would kill to go there in your place.

Have you thought about trying to set up other interviews, even informational, while there? If you did that then it would a more productive use of your time.

IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN UNEMPLOYED AND BEG ON THE STREET, THEN DON'T GO.

Listen to me, if you can get an interview, it's ALL about personality/likability and whether you know your stuff. I don't know why you're being so self deprecating. I can also guarantee you he'd much rather hire a solid kid who he likes rather than waste his time recruiting for an official position.

i don't know how to say this without coming off like an asshole, but if you have to ask this question then you don't want the job bad enough. i've been in your exact same shoes and i can tell you why its worth it, but from my experience with people who i've given advise to in the past...if you have to ask, then anything worth saying will fall on deaf ears

^ agree with above.

I'm someone who's currently in the same position as you but who is from Canada(hence not many down here from McGill!).

If you have to ask, you really don't have the drive/determination/passion to make it in this industry.

Move on to something else.

^Also, PM me with the fund name!

A WORD TO THE WISE: this was a stupendous waste of time and money. Super-nice guy, but one of the first things he said when we sat down was that they're not hiring. It was almost as if he had never said "we may need an analyst."

Like I said, cool guy, he didn't even want to talk about himself or his company, he just wanted to help me with a game plan for finding an analyst job. He was complimenting me on my perserverance, and I explained, "Well, you had mentioned you may need an analyst, so it'd be silly for me not to at least come in and talk to you." And he said, "yep," and looked right through me.

Chapter 2: Why does this keep happening?
Cold-called an alum who's pretty senior at his firm, looking for leads. He said, "You should definitely talk to Joe @ XYZ here, they'd be a good place to get experience. Also, I'll forward your resume to our person in charge of analyst recruiting."

He emails me the contact info for Joe @ XYZ, I write back that I am definitely contacting them and will follow up. All he writes back to me is, "If/when you come to DC, I want to introduce you to our head of analysts. " Why would I be in DC? I'm 99% sure I won't get an interview with XYZ, I've dealt with them before.

I appreciate everyone's input, and I've always expressed gratitude to any alumni or friends who have helped me so far, so please don't assume I'm ungrateful or lazy. I'm not going to tell my whole story, but I've interviewed so many times, more than once been burned by the "we may need someone if/when" response, I have to be realistic about my chances. Worst case scenario, I go back to grad school and start over with a decent GPA for once.

As nice a guy he may be for talking to you and all, that was a super dick move. "We need an analyst" implies we are actually applying and if you show up and we like you, we'll interview you. Not - hey come down to XYZ city from your ABC location and we'll have a nice chat. If that's all he wanted to do, he should have said 'hold off on the travel, let's just do this by phone'

did he atleast take you out for beers or food?