buy side equity analyst interview

Have an interview coming with a buy side firm, this is new grad level. Though it says that analysts are able to give recommendations. From the job description all it says: “solid understanding of capital markets and strong finance background. Able to make sound investment recommendations.” So besides coming up with some good stock pitches and reasons behind them, and studying the overall equity style and how the firm chooses their portfolios. Should I be prepared for anything else? Would they ask some tough technical questions or something?

  1. Be prepared to speak in grammatically correct sentences, so not like how you wrote this post. 2) A lot of what’s important for HF managers when hiring less experienced people is enthusiasm for the job and personality fit for a small firm. At my first hedge fund job I was just 2 years out of college and didn’t know a whole lot about fundamental analysis, but I was able to speak intelligently about the stock that they asked me to analyze, and I told a good story about how it was always my dream (for the last two years at least) to work for a hedge fund and learn from the best and brightest investors in the world. It may sound cliche and obvious to say that people want to hire someone with a good personality and enthusiasm but truth of the matter is I speak to a lot of managers who complain about how hard it is to find candidates with the right personality for the job.

Noted, my grammar is horrendous on here at times.

hey guys what is the best way to network??

No two firms do things in exactly the same way. If some guy who has a job similar to mine in a different firm came to interview here, I might not know about half the things he talks about, and vice versa. The key is to make plausible and intelligent-sounding comments, and to come across as someone who is not a DB. Interviews are acting tests, and not necessarily knowledge tests.

Quick bump here. Made it to second rounds. Should I have different stock recommendations planned for the second round? Since I used a specific strategy and firm in the first round, will they want more ideas/different ones this time around?

Enthusiasm counts for a lot - differentiate yourself.

Come up with one new idea but otherwise if you’re interviewing with different people you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. P.S. It took a month for them to get back to you??

adehbone - Congrats on making it to round 2. Keep us posted and good luck.

Related question: what kind of ‘stock analysis’ is expected in an interview like this? Not a business grad, have yet to start studying the CFA (writing level 1 in june). Getting a related job will be a ways off, but I’d like to know more about what to expect.

hey adebone did they as you any technical questions in the interview ? If not they probably will in round 2 . Depending on what kind of shop this is they might ask you basics of DCF and other valuation relation questions .

go to the firm’s website and look at their holdings. You should be able to figure out what type of investor they are (small, mid, large cap, value, growth, balanced). Then pick a stock that will fit their portfolio to pitch during the interview. I think for a new grad they’ll just ask you to analyze margins and debt leverage. Possibly some SWOT analysis of the business. Also be prepared for these “walk me through the 3 financial statement” type questions. Lastly, be NICE TO EVERYONE, especially if its a small firm. Last thing you want is for the receptionist to say you’re a douche when she’s delivering coffee to the managing partner once your interview is done. Not getting a job from weak interview is ok…not getting a job due to fit within the firm because you were a d-bag to the receptionist sucks. Are you interviewing with a different group of people in the 2nd round? When I was interviewing the first “round” was technical based then the 2nd round was mostly behavioral/fit based. One partner just sat there and we talked sports for 10 minutes.

Thanks again everyone, 1st round was mainly about how you invest, the pick i chose, models I have made. So yes I guess second round should expect more technicals, been through sell-side interviews so I think I should be good there. The firm’s holdings are not public on their site, just their strategy, I tired to push for that info in the first round but all the PM would say is they hold 50-70 names, are a smaller fund (6 billion AUM), etc. Their mandates though are on their site so will focus on that again. They are a small shop, so fit is very important the PM mentioned. I have learned to be humble and treat everyone nice after working on the trade floor, and seeing the egos some people have with support staff. They called me about a week ago to confirm second rounds. But yes 1 month between first and second rounds, the PM’s excuse has been its a busy time of the year etc… Either way its still an employer’s market, so have to live with it.

Just an update. Had the interview today. It was all buyside style questions again. My resume, past models I worked on, how I invest, what famous investors/styles I look up to. Seems like a really cool place, like’d both PMs and the work definitely sounds interesting. I feel like I did real well, and the PM gave me a run down after that I have a strong resume, am well spoken, etc… Now the tricky part, another firm I am interviewing with the Trader left me a message saying “he has good news”. I think they are finally ready to give me an offer after 2 months (yes that firm was just as fast as these guys). The firm today told me they can not let me know till first week of November earliest. I do not think I could hold off the first firm for 2 weeks. So what would be the polite way to end things off? Should I call them once I have an offer in hand, and see if any chance they can speed up their process? Or should I simply say I am out of the running and move on? Any advice from senior people would be great.

Once you get a written offer, call the other firm and let them know that you got an offer so they can expedite the process.

your taking an entry level job 2 years out of college?

NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Once you get a written offer, call the other firm > and let them know that you got an offer so they > can expedite the process. exactly

goldenboy09 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > your taking an entry level job 2 years out of > college? Gotta start somewhere if you’re transitioning to ER. Not everyone has Fidelity on their resume.

lol

They’ll tell you in 2 - 3 weeks? Sounds like they’re waiting for someone else to respond first.