I emailed the CIO of a large global asset manager last week to try and arrange a meeting with them or one of the other fund managers and shockingly I got a positive reply from her when she was on holiday! I have emailed a countless number of CIOs and fund managers so I guess it was only a matter of time.
I am currently on an internship with another much smaller firm and once I am finished this I am due to meet with one of the fund managers at this larger firm and discuss my career ambitions and how I should go about achieving them (at least this is what I had requested in my initial email to the CIO).
This firm takes on multiple graduates each year (I finished my undergraduate degree last year) so I know that part of the company culture is to develop graduates with little experience. Ideally I want to become one of those graduates the company takes on and develops into an investment analyst.
I aim to impress this guy during the meeting and have a few ideas of my own on how to prepare for this. I would like to know how others would go about preparing for this meeting though just incase I am missing anything that I could be overlooking.
Make her like you. That is by far the most important objective.
If she likes you, and you’re competent enough for the role, you have a great chance.
If she likes you, and you’re not suitable for the role, she’ll help you find something else. At the very least you would have a made a contact which you can tap into later.
For graduates I tend to value enthusiasm (which also means good background knowledge rather than just being cheery & positive all the time), general sharp mind (can I teach this person new things easily?) and reliability (if I give this person work to do I want to be sure that this person will either get it done or explain why he/she can’t do it).
This goes without saying, but try to read articles about related finance stuff before your meeting. Also, if she likes you, ask if there is someone else you can talk to about micro-topics. The more people you know, the better. Good luck.
Be reading at least one investment book, preferably relevant to the firm’s investment style, so that you can knowledgably discuss it if she mentions what you’re reading or have an opportunity.
Also, a quote to keep in mind during the interview and your first few years out of school:
“If your boss asks you for a red umbrella, don’t bring him a blue one and explain how it’s going to keep him dry. Get him a red umbrella.” - Paul Sonkin, Hummingbird Value Fund.
This quote, more than anything else, sums up the successful people who I have seen transition out of university and into the more demanding jobs in finance (though I’m sure it applies to any career track). Do what people ask of you, do it well, and don’t give pushback - find a way to get. it. done. Eventually, you’ll be able to ask “Hey listen, they’re all out of red umbrellas, what would you think of a blue one?”, but that is not the attitude a recent grad, low-on-the-totem-pole employee should have.
Thanks for this usj2. Could you please elaborate on what you regard as good background knowledge and what sort of questions you would expect such a candidate to be able to answer.
I think the reading of a relevant book is important. I am about to start reading Investment Fables: Exposing the Myths of “Cant Miss” Investment Strategies by Aswath Damodaran. I feel this will help give me a more balanced view of fundamental analysis and point of certian areas of criticism in the CFA syllabus.
As for your quote I completely agree. I think being humble and determined to do what is required to get where I want was a key part in me getting this meetin in the first place if I am honest. Doing what is required and doing it well is a key part of this.
It’s good you are excited, but keep it in check. Don’t seem too overly anxious. Which you obviously are, given the All-Caps title. Like a first date, don’t try to rush the pants. Smooze it
Like dating. If you message a girl, and she actually gives you a reply, it’s not because she saying ‘take me now’
Well of course I am excited, to be honest though iteracom the caps title was more shock that someone in such a high position had replied when they are on holiday. You’d expect them to just delete the message and enjoy their holiday normally.
If there’s actually a position on the table, they’re usually looking for 1) are you capable of the job, 2) do you fit in with the culture, and 3) do you actually want the job. A lot of people forget to do part 3, because they think it comes across as looking desperate; there are ways to sound excited without sounding needy.
If there isn’t a position on the table, then they are looking to get to know you and what you can do. If you are fortunate, they may find a position that you fit, but more likely they are just going to be part of your network and you should try to get suggestions for who else you should talk to and meet.
Definitely do as much research on the firm as possible: trying to get a sense of who the clients are, what the investment style is, what their process is, how fast they’ve grown. It’s ok if you can’t find all that stuff - it gives you things you can ask in the interview - but you should not ask something that is written in plain text on their website or easily found with a google search (at least until you’ve done some). You can ask for clarifications of stuff in plain text, or request more details, or say that you wanted to know what they meant by X. At some point you need to communicate that you’ve at least tried to do some homework on their firm. You don’t even have to be all that successful at the homework: you just have to show that you’ve done some.
Have some stories about finance related things that you’ve done and a story or two about overcoming challenges. You never know which one will come in handy in the interview, but make sure that you have a few in store, just in case.
Interviews are a lot like dating, especially in the US, where dating often feels like interviewing.
I think you should develop some sort of opinions and views about the markets and back them up with evidence. So if she asks you what do you feel about XYZ, you should be able to speak knowledgeably about any important financial topic.
Seeing as how you’re a CFA candidate and hopefully are intrinsically interested in finance, should not be a big deal for you.
Convincing your interviewer that you’re really enthusiastic and into his/her firm is like convincing an athlete that you’re really into his/her sports team. To be convinced, the athlete is going to at the very least expect the candidate to be able to name the current coach, main players, recent purchases, what their last few season performances were, and depending on how hardcore a fan they claim they are, expectations will go higher.
Bringing it back to the interview, know their market performance, key leaders and where they come from, key strengths (i.e. money makers), the background of your interviewer, what areas have they been thinking of going into lately, any recent strategic moves and the analysis behind it, so on. In the age of Google and LinkedIn this is a snap to research. If a candidate doesn’t know these things in an interview I normally assume the candidate carpet-bombed a load of companies until something stuck. Which doesn’t really matter from a practical standpoint, but you can’t let your interviewer think that.
Yeah, he posted this thread all excited because he got, “I am currently out of the office on vacation with limited or no access to e-mail until blahblahblah…I will return whenever.” C’mon dude…I think it’s apparent from his tone that he means he got a legitimate reply.
