A lot of people forget point 3. They are so afraid of appearing desperate for a job that they overcompensate, coming across as if they couldn’t care less about being employed there. It’s not a bad thing to communicate hunger for the job, but make it come across as hunger for *that* job, not hunger for *any* job. Usually that comes across in discussions about how the job fits into what you imagine your career to be like if you get the job, but it is also about how you have enjoyed doing similar types of things (to the extent that you can realistically say this) and want to do more.
As for point 2, it can be a bit of a crap-shoot. If you know people at a firm, you can get a sense of what the culture is like and see what aspects of it seem to line up with your personality. Or sometimes you can find reviews on glassdoor.com and the like. Usually, there’s some aspects that fit well, and others that don’t so much. At that point, your goal in the interview is to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative…
There is a difference between being different and violating social norms (i.e. rude). Soft skills are very important – being aware of these little rules, like BChad discussed for expressing thanks and engaging with advice, wil help you a lot.
No one has answered my question yet (that i have seen) about proper protocol of calling the people you interview with by Mr./Ms. XYZ or by their first name. What are everyone’s thoughts on this? I could see it going both ways. First name shows confidence and relaxation, but not a lot of respect. while mr/ms is more respectful but kind of subservient and perhaps overly formal.
^ Ok. I trust your opinion. I will do that then. I was afraid it seemed meek and like I wasn’t big time enough. Like I thought that experienced professionals interviewing for C-level roles probably called people by first name
You AREN’T big time enough. I think it’s entirely dependent on your role. If you’re looking for an entry level job, Mr./Mrs. is appropriate until told otherwise. Obviously how someone interviewing for a C-level position acts should be quite different than how someone interviewing for an entry level role acts. In that scenario, it is much more likely to be an interview of peers rather than an interview of a senior person/more experienced person interviewing someone with little to no experience. As such, the way that you address your interviewer should also be different.
This is very different in the UK. The HR guys normally say “you are meeting with Joe Smith, Managing Director, on X date at X address”. Usually the interviewer will introduce themselves as “Joe” and we go on a first-name basis from there. Even in a 2nd or 3rd round interview, I have referred to the previous interviewer by their first name and not had a problem.
BTW OP, I agreed with the previous resume points. I just didn’t want to repeat the same points. I think everyone has given you good advice. My key point was that you need to demonstrate you have knowledge/skill. Anyone can say they valued a stock, or valued an option, or built a DCF. But without results, you have no idea if they actually did it well/right. And you have to be careful about the results you put, because too good and people will think you are lying/exagerating. It’s a balance.
And I agree 100% with the observations about the Bloomberg test and other bits. That stuff is very bad first impression, but I was trying to avoid the abrasive stuff in my initial posts since you had enough. Are you proficient with the Bloomberg terminal or is it just a finance test? If the former, you should include that like someone else suggested
Agreed with this in general. However, my personal advice is never to use their name. With all the funky names out there today, you might mispronounce or otherwise screw up, which is suicide. I can’t think of a situation where you MUST use a name. “Thank you, sir, I look forward to meeting you again soon,” is as good as “thank you Rjantandan Vesupapulopolis,” and carries less risk.
A lot of this is reading the ambiance of the room. In general, I’ll begin with the more formal address, and almost always, the person will say “It’s fine to call me ‘Joe’” and we’ll take it from there. But the truth is that it’s pretty rare that I actually need to use a person’s name in an interview situation, except perhaps as you are leaving, and occasionally if you are being interviewed by more than one person in the same room. Most of the time, I’ll simply say “you.”
The question does come up more often in a follow-on letter/email. Emails do tend to be more informal, and so saying “Dear Joe” is tempting. I typically make an estimate about the reporting order. Meaning that if the person is going to be my supervisor (which is typical) and I felt like I established a good rapport in the interview, I’ll go ahead and use the first name. If the person is higher up in the organization (as sometimes happens), I’ll use a more formal introduction, unless there was a strong feeling of rapport or the guy says “call me X”.
If I haven’t been interviewed yet, and it’s a communication out of the blue, I’ll use the formal introductions.
So it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. It requires reading the vibe of the room.
I’m just catching up on this cluster-F, but this right here tells me everything I need to know. You’re unemployed and didn’t go for an interview. I’ve got hacksaws propping up other hacksaws all over my resume. I’d take a vacation day to compliment the all around greatness of a portfolio managers golf course farts, and I already have a decent job. I get that credit analysis or real estate finance aren’t what you want, but every opportunity to get your face in front of a hiring manager in finance is an opportunity worth taking. I’ve got an interview on Monday for my same role at another company. I’m 99% sure I don’t want to jump, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to listen, learn and react. Without a great job or education history, I’m the 3rd string QB. I get very few reps and I can’t afford to make mistakes. Taking every interview I can is my career equivalent of the 3rd string QB sitting in an empty room verbalizing his play calls, cadence and audibles. He looks like an idiot half the time, it’s probably not going to make a difference, but it’s the only thing he can control. He can’t control the health or effectiveness of the people in front of him, he can’t change the coach and GM that make the decisions, but he can be as prepared as possible to make the absolute most out of the limited opportunities he’s going to get.
Thanks. I would love to try to demonstrate the quality of the knowledge and skill, and have thought long and hard on how to do so. I just don’t really know how I can.
The selected project was an academic project so there is no way to know how it turned out after the fact since it’s just a theoretical and hypothetical scenario. At my internship I was not given enough responsibility to actually make bottom-line affecting decisions. I would love to add testaments to the quality, but I’m not sure what tangible facts I can add besides my test scores and GPAs. The only thing I could potentially add I think is that 94% of my tutors would reccomend me to other students. What else can I really add since I am so limited on actual real, important experience?