Bank on Banking

As a follow-up to Interview 101, I am putting out Interview 202, which focuses on some of the more subtle aspects of an interview, which for some reason, are often overlooked, forgotten, or ignored completely. Where 101 covered the broad basics of interviewing, 202 delves into the subtleties of your answers – communicating your responses effectively, how to be ready for various questions, your attitude and so forth. I’ve compiled a list of 8 topics that I think will help interviewees articulate their points in a much clearer manner while still effectively conveying their points and maintaining that genuine quality that interviewers like to see in candidates.

Speak clearly and calmly

Speaking clearly and calmly are qualities that candidates often assume to be a given, yet frequently overlook and even miss. When asked a question, especially if the interviewee happens to be caught off guard by the question or variation of the question, candidates often jumble answers, mumble and combine words, ramble and even rapidly run through their responses like a motor mouth. Keeping your composure, even in the most uncomfortable and/or awkward situations, is definitely something that bankers are looking for in their applicants.

One of the biggest improvements that a candidate can make is in the delivery of his/her answer, and that delivery begins with a clear response and a calm voice and presence. The best way to achieve this is by practicing your responses in both mock interviews and when going through your sample responses out loud. Additionally, this is a skill that you can work on in general – in other words, every time you have a conversation with another student/co-worker/interviewer/stranger, you should be mindful of your speech and your pace. If you feel yourself speeding up and jumbling words, work on slowing yourself down – the more natural a smooth and relaxed pace becomes in normal conversation, the easier it will be to transfer those skills to your interviews.

Watch the “ums, uhs, wells, sort ofs, supposedlys,” stuttering and other filler words

Thinking of the right word/phrase/experience/etc can often be challenging and candidates frequently get nervous by this momentary pause and either consciously, or subconsciously, throw in the “ums, uhs, wells” and so forth to fill this otherwise blank space. For example, instead of saying, “I feel that my experience with Fortune 500 firm X [few seconds] has improved my analytical ability through project X and [few seconds] is therefore directly transferable to this investment banking summer analyst internship,” most interviewees don’t allow themselves the opportunity to develop a statement similar to that, but instead put it together in pieces as follows, “I feel that my experience with Fortune 500 firm X, uhhh, has improved my analytical ability through project X and, umm, is therefore directly transferable to this investment banking summer analyst internship.”

While many candidates don’t see a problem with this, most people will realize that taking a few seconds to compose your response will sound better to the interviewer, and leave a better impression on the interviewer than peppering your response with these filler words and noises. Filler words are exactly that, filler, and your responses do not need fillers do be complete and impressive. While letting a few filler words slip in is not, by any means, a big deal, throwing filler words in every few words as part of every response, is definitely a cause for concern – yes, I have heard this many times throughout my mock interviews. Practice makes perfect, or at least smoother and better responses, so take your time, gather your words, and practice your responses – not to sound mechanical, but just to avoid getting flustered to the point of throwing filler words in every sentence. Confidence is a powerful quality, and composing thoughtful, filler-free responses definitely helps to demonstrate confidence.

No one likes a robot

As I began to touch on at the end of the last point, just as you shouldn’t rush through your responses, you also shouldn’t slow down to the point of boredom, or rehearse your responses so thoroughly that you sound mechanical, like a robot (and not one of those cool cyborgs that look and sound human, more like those old robots from those old Sci Fi shows). Remember, interviewers want to believe that you are really interested in the position and are enthusiastic about the opportunity, not that they are just one of 20 stops on your interview schedule. Therefore, speak with enthusiasm, don’t be a monotone, but on the same note, don’t get so excited and be so focused on delivering an compelling response that you ramble or speed through it. Be enthusiastic and engaging, but don’t forget all of the other conversation points – calm, confident, engaging, etc.

Poise Counts!

Moving past the verbal aspect of articulating your point, every interview comes with the physical aspect as well. No, I am not talking about your clothing, but rather something much simpler – your body language. Maintaining eye contact (note: eye contact does NOT mean staring and/or gaping at your interviewer – that is creepy, not interesting) is important, but so is smiling, good posture, relaxed hands and legs, etc. Body language in general depicts your confidence as much as the very words you speak and the manner in which you speak them. Don’t believe that delivering comfortable responses will take all of the attention away from the fact that you are staring at the ground and slouching in your chair the entire interview – yes it is rare that one aspect would be perfect, the delivery, and another would be awful, the body language, but you should be mindful of all aspects of the interview.

Regarding a few specifics, you should be sitting up in your chair and relaxed; you should be making frequent eye contact and frown-free (you don’t want to stare blankly and you don’t need to smile continuously – it is fine to have a neutral expression, but you don’t want to appear to be sulking or frowning throughout the interview; make it an enjoyable experience). Additionally, your hands and legs should be relaxed – don’t twiddle your fingers or constantly shake your legs like a nervous twitch – be in control of your actions and stay relaxed throughout the interview.

I know that this point doesn’t sound as important as many of the others have and as others will, but everything comes together in an interview and while you can absolutely be successful without mastering everything, having a firm handle on each aspect definitely increases your chances and will allow you to be much more confident in your interviews.

Stock your answers, but think on your feet

Stocking your answers – in other words having your answers to common questions is good, but if you rehearse your answers so much without being able to think on your feet, you could run into problems for 2 reasons: 1) as we already touched on, you run the risk of sounding mechanical and insincere, and 2) you run the risk of being stumped by question variations and tweaks. Since we already touched on point 1, let’s discuss point 2. By question variations and tweaks I mean changing the phrasing of a question, or changing the number of qualities an interviewer is asking for, or putting an unexpected twist on a question, or even coming over the top of your response with off-the-cuff follow-up questions.

Stocking your responses is absolutely essential to nailing the interview since so many questions or variations are asked in pretty much every interview. However, by stocking your responses, but failing to think on your feet when it comes to these variations and tweaks, you might end up answering a question that was never asked, and failing to answer the question that was asked. For example, I once asked a candidate to describe what makes him a good leader, and instead I received a response that answered “give me an example of you being a good leader.” In this case I was given a nice little rehearsed scenario of leadership, and had no idea what qualities made him a good leader – I proceeded to follow up with several questions on the specific scenario, which resulted in the interviewee eventually becoming quite tongue-tied and uneasy.

Bottom line: stock your responses to the most common questions, but never forget that the key to a truly successful interview isn’t in your stocked responses, but rather in your ability to think on your feet and answer both question variations and follow-up questions. Interviewers like to push the pace at times and test your limits – if you can think on your feet and deliver solid responses, when it finally comes time to toss in the towel and admit that you are stumped, you will have already proven yourself a capable candidate.

Don’t Get Cocky

Confidence is key, but cockiness is rarely an admirable and redeeming quality. Are there arrogant people in banking – of course (that’s a silly question) – but acting arrogantly during your interview before you’ve even earned a slot is just stupid. Keep your ego in check and remember that everyone you are interviewing with in terms of other candidates are all in the same place as you and have the same opportunity as you, and, of course, everyone that is interviewing you is either where you are hoping to be, or more senior than what you are interviewing for – in other words, there is no reason to be a cocky ass. Once you’ve earned the position you can act however you would like, although, again, you are in the same position as the other analysts and are the junior man, but hey, it’s your life and you’ve earned your spot and your right to act how you want – I think that a little modesty goes a long way, but what do I know.

Being cocky is often not a quality that applicants are eager to convey, but still frequently fail to hide since they don’t realize what appears arrogant. The biggest missteps that interviewees make is in their responses to “rank yourself” questions or leadership questions, or even when describing your past experiences. Candidates that rank themselves as perfect, or “10”s appear arrogant – as if they know it all and cannot improve. Candidates that describe past experiences or leadership activities in which they describe themselves as being inherently better or constantly needing to correct the shortcoming of others in a smug manner show themselves as cocky. In short, before delivering your responses – ideally in practice – imagine how it would sound to someone hearing you – would you sound helpful and inspiring as a leader, or smug, pompous and better than everyone else. If you cannot see the ability better yourself and improve your skills through new experiences, you are arrogant. Keep any arrogance in check, and remember, landing a banking gig is definitely an accomplishment, but until you’ve done it, don’t act like you are better than everyone else on the same page.

Stay Positive

Staying positive is important in 2 capacities. First, staying positive, in other words, keeping a positive state of mind is good both in terms of your confidence and the way in which you deliver your responses to questions. Keeping that positive state of mind will keep you actively searching for opportunities and not too depressed to talk yourself out of even applying or putting a full effort towards potential opportunities. Too many times have I seen capable and talented individuals convince themselves that it is all over and that they will never break into banking (often as a rising senior in U Grad!) because they were passed up for a few opportunities or bombed a few interviews. These things happen and in this competitive market, for these competitive positions, candidates will certainly be passed up and be passed up often, if for no other reason than a lack of available seats. Stay positive, stay the course, and stay in the game.

Moving past this, the second reason staying positive is important is not regarding your attitude, but in delivering your responses during an interview. In this case I am referring to those self-defeating comments interviewees sometimes make when answering questions – those subtle comments that show you as insecure, or at the very least, definitely not confident. For example – instead of saying “well, I’m definitely not the best with Excel, but I think I’m pretty good,” say something like, “although I definitely see my skills in Excel as strong, there is always room for improvement, and I’m sure after spending a year in banking I will be surprised by just how much my current aptitude can improve.” There is no reason to put yourself down before stating a positive about your candidacy or your experiences. Just as you don’t want to sound arrogant and cocky, you don’t want to be self-defeating and sound borderline sad/depressed. Being confident in your skills and the merit of your past experiences is a positive and does not need to be balanced with some subtle or outright negativity, dark humor, or self-defeating quips – save that for your standup routine. For an interview, keep it short, keep it sweet, and keep it positive.

Closing an Interview

The closing of an interview, although not generally a make or break for any interview, should still be done properly. Closing an interview is by no means difficult, but is often overdone. Simply put, ask a question or two of the interviewer if requested of you and if time permits, then, as the response comes to a halt, thank them for their response and ask them if there is anything else that you can answer for them. Thank them for their time and let them know that you look forward the hearing from them (or a decision, depending on the employer and round) soon. I know this sounds simple enough, but too many times candidates feel the need to end with a joke that goes wrong, or sit around and drag out the completion, etc. Just as with everything else, keep it simple. Leave the jokes out and don’t be afraid to ask if they have any other questions before ending the interview. This keeps it moving and, again, shows your confidence with the overall process.

After completing the interview, send the follow-up thank you email (again, probably not going to make or break your candidacy, but it’s easy and nice) later that evening (no later than 8pm since, if they have their email sent to their blackberry, you don’t want to catch them in the middle of the night), or early the next afternoon. Keep the thank you email short and sweet, and feel free to toss in a solid follow-up question to keep it going. Don’t over think this as it won’t make or break your candidacy – again, it is simply a nice gesture and merely showing your willingness to go that extra step.

That about covers it – stay tuned for upcoming articles on a Day in the life, what to do if layoffs are coming, and much more! As always, comments go below and emails can be sent Here.