Hi guys,
I’ve been asked to come in for an interview for an associate’s position. I was told that I’ll have an interview for an hour, and will also be required to research a company while I’m there. It’s my first ever finance interview–I would really appreciate if you could give me any tips regarding what kind of questions I can expect, and what are the essential things that I would need to cover when it comes to a company analysis.
I’d truly appreciate your help!
FYI - I’ve never worked in the finance industry per se, so if Numi or Bromion disagree with me, you should probably listen to them instead. Nonetheless, I think this advice is more or less legit for most industries.
You sound like it’s an entry level job. Just study your Level 2 stuff.
Chances are, if your interviewer is also a CFA Charterholder, then he/she will be looking for you to give textbook answers. If you give good textbook answers, then they’ll know that you’re trainable, and they can teach you what they want you to know.
I suggest you take a look at my four-part interview series from Mergers & Inquisitions about how to prepare for a hedge fund case study. The fact that you’ll need to analyze a company on-site means you’ll have even less time, but similar principles apply.
Having said all of that, I do wonder if you’ll just be be asked basic things about Level I / II CFA stuff; if you’ve never worked in finance before, I don’t know how you would be expected to render a reasonable opinion on a company unless you’ve had experience reading 10-K’s and earnings transcripts before.
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/hedge-fund-case-studies-part-1-overview/
Thank you Greenman and Numi. I’ll definitely go through your interview series numi.
That’s pretty much what I’m wondering too, given that it is an entry-level position. Given that it’s only half-an-hour, I’m guessing they’ll require more of a summary to see the level of understanding?