Post: #1

Hi guys

I have a job interview coming up for a junior sales role in Bond Fixed Income Sales for an investment bank. It's my dream job...I already work in investment banking but have been waiting for my opportunity to land a job like this.

Can anyone who is familiar in this area give some pointers and advice on how and what to prepare for the interview?

Because I am travelling distance for the role, I am basically having '2 rounds in one.' I.e. the preliminary and main interview.

Also what sort of things do you guys generally tend to say for weaknesses and 5 years time stock questions? I struggle with the weakness one as I don't want to come off as clichéd 'I work too hard' but I find it difficult to pinpoint a weakness than can be spun in a positive light.

Thanks for your help.

Post: #2

(09-15-2011 04:09 PM)dk902 Wrote:  Also what sort of things do you guys generally tend to say for weaknesses

Say, "I have a weakness for beautiful women. And finely tailored Custom Suits. However, I turn it in to a positive, by using it to motivate me to work harder. Now let me see that employment agreement so we can get started."

Post: #3

(09-15-2011 04:09 PM)dk902 Wrote:  Hi guys

I have a job interview coming up for a junior sales role in Bond Fixed Income Sales for an investment bank. It's my dream job...I already work in investment banking but have been waiting for my opportunity to land a job like this.

Can anyone who is familiar in this area give some pointers and advice on how and what to prepare for the interview?

Because I am travelling distance for the role, I am basically having '2 rounds in one.' I.e. the preliminary and main interview.

Also what sort of things do you guys generally tend to say for weaknesses and 5 years time stock questions? I struggle with the weakness one as I don't want to come off as clichéd 'I work too hard' but I find it difficult to pinpoint a weakness than can be spun in a positive light.

Thanks for your help.

Having worked at an investment bank for a while, you need to be able to answer three kinds of questions. The technical...the newsy...and the personal.

The technical...do you know what duration is, what a positively sloping yield curve means, and so on.

The newsy...why did S&P downgrade the USA, what blogs news sources do you read...how up are you on current political events. (Better know about the UBS trader who just lost $2 billion).

The personal...did you play team sports (a lot of houses like guys who have played sports, especially in college)? What are your avocations? How do you relieve stress?

There also going to ask you if you ever sold stuff before. If you haven't tell them about your skills at persuasion; give a concrete example.

I bet no one asks you what your weaknesses are -- it's too cliched a question these days. But if someone does ask you, say something like, "You know the standard interview advice is to answer that question by saying you do too much of a positive thing, like "I work too hard." My biggest weakness is that I make mistakes, but I always try to keep them as small and as innocuous as possible." And if they come back and ask you what your biggest mistake was, tell 'em precisely...but also tell them how you overcame it or got passed it.

Advice? Don't bullshit, especially about the technical stuff.

Post: #4

Ever read a site called Mergers and Inquisitions? Everything you might want to know about ibanking careers. Here's their section on recruiting:

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/recruiting/

Post: #5

Wallstreetoasis.com can give you the answers in the numerous threads started there. That site has seasoned pros, who work in the industry.

Post: #6

Both those sites are good. I also find Wallstreet Oasis to be the yin to the yang of this site.

For the news, go with the financial times, I like it better than the Wallstreet Journal.

Post: #7

Thanks for all the help guys, was really useful.

Post: #8

http://www.amazon.com/Cityboy-Beer-Loath...562&sr=8-4

Btw, "Cityboy" is an interesting read.

Post: #9

Tenderman is SPOT on.

I used this one at my interview for a job in Derivative Sales and I am fairly positive it got me the job above the other applicants. It applies to any career where you're going to be working in team with others.

When asked what I thought was most important thing to achieve when beginning a new job/the greatest challenge (I don't remember the exact wording):

"Creating trust with my colleagues"

This might seem obvious to a lot of people, but in IB there are a lot of asshats with zero emotional intelligence.

So.. if you're working by yourself, for yourself, you don't have bother with stuff as much (except when getting a new client on board). But in a career position where you'll invariably be working with others, this is critical - that your boss can trust you do the job and not fret over you. Think in terms of creating trust, and I am sure the rest will become easier.