List some that you have either used and gotten good responses from, or ones that have been asked to you (as the interviewer) that were good. What is the most memorable deal/experience/project you’ve had since working with XYZ What type of people thrive in your organization?What attributes do you value? What is something you wish were maybe a little different about the culture? What is the structure and management style like at XYZ? If those aren’t good let me know too. LOL
Are you interviewing internal applicants? If yes, you have just been dinged. Why is this position available now? Find out if the last one left because they hated it or there is genuine growth in the department. Read the signals if they infer that the last guy left on bad terms that the team might not be all it is cracked up to be. What are YOUR weaknesses…
I always ask “What are some potential pitfalls or obstacles a new employee may face in this role?” or something along those lines at the end of the interview to show I’m interested in taking advice early on. Also gives you insight into what hasn’t worked in the past and maybe why the position may be open. For instance if they say well, XYZ, you can use this as a final chance to aleve any concerns they may have by differentiating yourself from that employee through examples and such of why you’re not prone to that.
Guys thanks for your feedback I really appreciate it. I have two interviews this week which I think qualify for the work experience of the CFA so wish me luck. If anyone has anymore more feedback advice/tips please share. I will keep you all posted on how these go.
Any time I had an interview, the interviewer always told me about their background. They always said how long they’ve been with the company. I thought a great question to ask if they have been there a while is , “Given that so many people switch companies rather quickly, what has kept you at this one?” Or if they recently moved, “what attracted you to this company”. People love to talk about themselves and it shows you are interested in finding out more about the company than what you can read online.
I wouldn’t ask this “What is something you wish were maybe a little different about the culture?” or anything else about culture. You are basically asking the interviewer to make a negative statement, and this will likely make them uncomfortable and potentially reflect badly on you. Not worth it. I always ask about the challenges I’d face and about the interviewer as mesaregr8 mentions, and also if I am interviewing with my potential new boss, imagine it’s one year from now and we are reviewing what I did this year, what should I have done in that year that would have made it a successful year etc. Also what qualities they ideal candidate would have… what makes THEM successful, what they love about the job etc.
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the answers.
I just passed Level II of the CFA, do you have any questions about the CFA? OBV the best question to ask.
I’ve always asked “what keeps you up at night?” – it gets the interviewer to cite an organizational pain point or stress source and allows you to relate how your experience and skill set can help mitigate it.
DoubleDip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wouldn’t ask this “What is something you wish > were maybe a little different about the culture?” > or anything else about culture. You are basically > asking the interviewer to make a negative > statement, and this will likely make them > uncomfortable and potentially reflect badly on > you. Not worth it. I always ask about the > challenges I’d face and about the interviewer as > mesaregr8 mentions, and also if I am interviewing > with my potential new boss, imagine it’s one year > from now and we are reviewing what I did this > year, what should I have done in that year that > would have made it a successful year etc. Also > what qualities they ideal candidate would have… > what makes THEM successful, what they love about > the job etc. Agreed, quick Black Swan Interview 101 Guide: Avoiding Negative Statements Avoid ever making even the hint of a negative statement in interviews. For example, if they ask you what you’d change at your current place, find a way to phrase it as various positives and move on. They’re fishing to see if you’ve had past workplace conflicts (which is a big flag). As one example of “fishing for conflict”, sometimes they’ll say describe a manager you had who’s style you didn’t agree with or something along those lines. In this situation, one approach is to change the question (approach A): “I’ve been very fortunate to have managers I’ve always looked up to, I think that’s partly because a successful work environment is often more about generating a dynamic that is tailored to the team members than taking a one size fits all approach. We all have strengths and weaknesses, so you try to identify how you can best operate within the team, much like building an offense around a quarterback’s style if you watch football. Often times getting good results is more about finding that team rhythm than necessarily getting individuals that fit within one mold or another.” Alternately you can use the age old “so a friend I have was wondering…” approach (Approach B) of masking your experience by attributing it to an anonymous friend. In this approach you still keep it positive by using words like “less effective” rather than “bad” and keeping things professional and somewhat non-committal. If you go into a spitting tirade, they’re gonna see through your ruse and think you’re a boss hating nut job: “I’ve been very fortunate to have managers I’ve always looked up to, but I have noticed examples in other departments through coworkers where the managers style may not have been a very effective fit for the environment. For instance, back at XYZ…” Lastly, in fast paced finance positions, particularly those with long hours and close working quarters such as ER (where you’re with them more than their spouse) or IB (same) or most positions in NYC, they want to know you have a thick skin and know how to absorb a potential heated situation without an emotional breakdown or a halt in the work flow while you call your mother. So in questions like the one above, it’s often helpful to tag on a final disclaimer at the end that 1) shows you have thick skin and 2) suggests you’re being honest and not completely sugar coating your past experiences, something like: “But sometimes of course in close quarters during earnings season understandably there’ll be the occasional heated comment, but in those situations it’s always served me well to keep it in context and maintain a focus on professionalism and getting the job done.” As a final point, be careful not to hammer on approach A too much in interviews. You need to quickly identify which type of question it is, generally, they’re hoping to either hear a certain answer or hoping to not hear a red flag answer. If you use approach A too much and change the question you will come across as dodgy, and if it’s a question where they’re seeking a set answer you’ll be disadvantaging yourself. But if it’s a question where they’re hoping you avoid red flags, then approach A is fine.
MissCleo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I just passed Level II of the CFA… Ha, you wish!
samakh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > MissCleo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I just passed Level II of the CFA… > > Ha, you wish! Thanks dick, yes I failed Level II, this was in reference to the Carlyle thread.
I know about your reference… but that guy passed level II and you are in no position to make jokes.
Well I know enough after failing Level II to not ask completely idiotic questions… so jokes on him.
MissCleo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well I know enough after failing Level II to not > ask completely idiotic questions… so jokes on > him. Not quite, he wasted 1 hour interviewing, you wasted 1 year of studying. He has plenty of time to ask idiotic questions to catch up to you.
Having recently had the misfortune of gettings tuck with the hiring duties of the firm I work for, my advice would be to avoid asking too many questions during the first and second interview. It’s annoying when people keep interrupting to ask many questions about the fund – I view it that as the interviewer, I am the higher value entity and will do the questioning. If the candidate is worth continuing with, they will have a chance to ask questions. I’ve dinged people for not selling themselves well and/or asking obnoxiously detailed questions about fund structure and payouts during early interviews. The purpose of the first few interviews is for you to convince me that I should give you a job, not the other way around. You want to go in and address 1) your fit with the firm, and 2) your ability level and how you would contribute, and how you could grow with the firm over time. Your initial questions should relate to those topics. Good questions along those lines might be: “What sort of personality would fit well within this team?” “If I were to join your firm and proved myself as a contributor, what kind of growth trajectory could I expect over the next 3 or 4 years?” “What do you expect the mix of my job duties will be on a daily basis” (i.e., 90% research, 5% admin, 5% meetings or whatever they say) “What did the last 2 or 3 people to hold this job go on to do after they left (or were promoted, etc.)?” ANNOYING questions include: “Who are your LPs?” “Does the fund charge 2 and 20 % and how is that distributed among the team? How much will I get?” “If I join, how soon can I start managing money?” You would be surprised at how many retarded people there are when it comes to interviewing, including people from so called top schools. Try to avoid shooting yourself in the foot, if possible. If you have any doubts, just remember there are a million of you, and only a handful of jobs that you would probably actually want to have in this industry. That should keep things in perspective. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, BE HONEST, BE POSITIVE, AND BE LIKEABLE. There are plenty of d-bags out there and they are extremely transparent to anyone with a modicum of intelligence. You should assume that everyone in the business is smart and will see through you, as that is usually the case.
MCalamari Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > MissCleo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Well I know enough after failing Level II to > not > > ask completely idiotic questions… so jokes on > > him. > > > Not quite, he wasted 1 hour interviewing, you > wasted 1 year of studying. He has plenty of time > to ask idiotic questions to catch up to you. Not quite, since I finished the CAIA L II in March and didn’t crack a CFA II book until the end of April…
You didn’t start L2 study till end of April and you were devastated that you didn’t pass? Would you say it was possible that you didn’t treat L2 with enough respect?
Is it really necessary to heckle MissCleo about L2? Plenty of smart people fail to pass L2 the first time. And if MissCleo didn’t treat the exam with enough respect, well, there will be another chance to fix that. You don’t want to be caught suggesting that holding the Charter or passing these exams indicates anything about your general intelligence or ability to manage portfolios, right? That would be a violation. :-p
I’m always skeptical when people fail and then say, ‘oh I didn’t take it seriously/didn’t study’. People generally don’t feel comfortable saying “yes I studied my a** off and failed” Apparently MissCleo has failed L2 twice now. MissCleo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 3rd time here chief