A great setback to my dreams!! - interview feedback

priyankalva · Post by **priyankalva** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:47 pm

Hi everyone, I was interviewed today for the position of Derivatives trader at GHF. Although most candidates went through one round of interview (out of the 8 others, 1 got selected), I had two interview which made me think that they might be unsure if they wanted to reject me out-rightly. I am an engineering major in the field of manufacturing from a tier-I college in India with a minor in finance. The position was that of a interest rate derivatives trader in India.

In the first interview I was asked why I wanted to join trading which I was able to convince them by telling them about my personal portfolio (which I mentioned I did not trade intraday but was more focused on fundamentals) and the relevant coursework I had done (security analysis and portfolio management , financial engineering, money banking & financial markets). But they seemed disinterested since the nature of the job demanded taking risk (for which I demonstrated examples, but again did not meet expectations). They asked me a estimation and a puzzle which I was able to crack. The panel also asked me to calculate cube of 14 in 30 seconds which I did in around 45.

The second interview was the the head of trading of that region. He grilled me with family background questions to which I explained that I came from a traditional risk averse family but this fact had been a major motivator for me to take risk in my portfolio which has had annual returns of around ~30% (not bad for a full-time engineering grad eh). He also inquired about my strengths (which happened to be not being emotional, not getting angry easily, and hardworking since I had 3 PPO's from my previous internships) and weaknesses (which was being judgmental and being impatient about results). He then asked me the cube root of 14 to be answered in 10 seconds to which I replied 2.5 (clearly the amount of stress and rejection had taken its toll over my mind) and he said my answer was wrong ( the correct answer is 2.4...). At the beginning of the interview he asked me to memorize a 17 digit alphanumeric sequence after looking at it for 30 seconds and to repeat it at the end of the interview.

Finally after the two rounds I was told that I had not been selected. Another guy who had no background in finance and literally did not know the difference between equities and bonds) was selected because he got the sequence right. When I asked the head of trading for a feedback he said that knowing about finance was not an edge over other candidates, one actually learns that once he is trained for around 6 months.

Can someone give me an honest feedback about what went wrong. I was told by someone in the firm to be brutally honest to the interview or else I would piss him of. I did as directed, and am now repenting looking at the consequences.

Please ignore any typos or incorrect use of grammar... I a drunk and sad at same time Cry

aickley · Post by **aickley** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:16 pm

If you can make 30% p.a. why do yo you care? Do you really want to work for people who think that calculating a cube root of 14 is more relevant?

Peerless · Post by **Peerless** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:03 am

Drunk and sad. So much for someone who's not emotional ^^

Just apply somewhere else and get over it. Good luck

katastrofa · Post by **katastrofa** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:33 am

I think you were lucky to avoid being hired by a bunch of idiots.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:36 am

Yeah - bunch of idiots.

quantz · Post by **quantz** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:40 am

Ah India ...

priyankalva · Post by **priyankalva** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:32 am

What does one do after being rejected outrightly by one of the few trading firms present in his/her country. Should I start searching for trading research or support roles. I am also dissapointed that I am over confident and probably lack depth in knowledge. Does anyone know any recruiting agencies or recruiters in Southeast Asia or Middle East??

priyankalva · Post by **priyankalva** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:12 am

@peerless: My first ever reject in the job market. I have been successful in other interviews, but then I did not take their offers as they were non market related roles

rogueman · Post by **rogueman** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:33 pm

Don't focus on getting more educated regarding trading/finance As the interviewer said, they will teach you that.

During the interview, make sure you are confident, even though you do not know all the answers. Calculating cubic roots sounds like a ridiculous question to me, and could really have been about trying to make you stress. Which it did.

If you feel your number-memory or mental math needs brushing off, then just practise. You can really practise those things. Back in the days these qualities were crucial to becoming a good trader. But nowadays, I think 80% of calculation is done by the computer, so personally I think it is a waste of time. But hey, if 100 guys want the same job, they all have a good degree, but one is an excellent mental mathematician then of course you choose that one.

Ergo, just keep trying. Bank after bank after fund after fund.

granchio · Post by **granchio** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:37 am

May I also suggest: if you want to be a trader, learn to live with failure, rejection and stress. As rogueman said, many interview questions are often just a way to test reaction to stress, uncertainty, errors