I had a phone interview with a senior analyst about two weeks ago for an associate ER position. The analyst recently joined a new bank and is in the process of initiating coverage on names he covered at his previous bank. The bank is a MM firm located in NYC. The intial phone interview was informal with him asking me why I wanted to work in ER, what I do in my current job, my past work experience, etc. I though the initial interview went well. He also asked me to send a work sample so I emailed him a valuation model and write up of a publicly traded company. After not hearing anything from him in the week following the interview, I placed a follow-up phone call last week (one week ago). He was very cordial and told me that he recieved the work samples I sent and that he was still in the process of reviewing all the applicants. He said quite a few folks have applied. I don’t want to bother the guy but I am thinking I should follow up with him again. It has been two weeks since the intial interview. How long does this process normally take? I know I am competing with many other folks for this position, but I figure he would have told me when I spoke with him last week if I was out of the running. Should I call him again or just wait and see what happens?
too early to follow up again. he is probly reviewing them still. i f you dont hear anything in a month its definately worth following up. this isnt to see if he is interested (as you most likely wouldnt be successful if its taken a month), more to get feedback on what you did wrong or how your model could be improved. it would be extremely useful for you to know that.
Thanks. Any other thoughts… It’s been two weeks since I had the initial interview. Should I just assume that I have no shot since I have not heard anything or do these things typicaly take some time?
2 weeks is nothing, especially in this market. sit back and relax. Keep looking for jobs, don’t ever bank on something until you have an offer in hand. My last job took about 2 months for them to contact me and give me an offer.
It’s been two weeks since the interview but it’s been a week since your follow-up… I’d say wait another week at least and then make another follow-up call and ask about the application status - whether it is still under review.
How likely is it that an ER associate interview will have them asking for a valuation model before/after the interview? Very or somewhat? When they ask for a model, I’m assuming they want you to create a full model from scratch, including 10 years’ historical data and forecasts out to 2012/13, plus DDM or multiple valuation models? Just wondering if I need to get started on one asap (as well, do they generally ask for a model related to the sector you’re interviewing for, or will models for other sectors suffice)?
I am an ER associate and did not provide any samples. Haven’t heard of too many others who have either.
I was just thinking about this last night. What constitutes a rejection from a potential employer? I came to the intermediate conclusion that if you’ve gone on the interview and they say, “If you don’t hear back from us within 2 weeks, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of the running. We just might be still reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates,” then that means the answer is no. I’ve received that answer twice after interviews and one time, I actually received a letter in the mail, hand-signed, saying I am not the right fit, and the other time I never got a response.