Reader questions 2 – Starting a Group, Interview Time Slots and More!
Questions, questions, and more questions. Reader questions part 2 covers some popular topics of recents weeks. As always, if there are any other questions, let me know in an email or using the comment section below. Thanks and keep them coming!
Am I fluent in a language even if I don’t know some technical concept phrasing?
Not knowing technical phrases/words is not the same thing as not knowing how to discuss markets, go through your resume, etc in that language. You don’t need to know how to say WACC in the language to be fluent, but if you are not comfortable holding an entire conversation, going through your resume, etc in the language, then you are not fluent. Forgetting a word or two is not a big deal, but if you stumble the entire time and can’t get through more than 2 sentences without forgetting words, screwing up phrasing, etc – especially if you are speaking to someone who is fluent in the language, I would not advertise your skills in the language as fluent. You can learn some of the technical phrasing or words without a problem, but no one is going to teach someone who claims to be fluent in a language the basics in sentence construction, grammar and every 5th word in a conversation.
I am Starting group X in a month or two – what can I do to prepare?
I think that your best plan of attack will be to just relax and enjoy your time off for the next few weeks. Everything that you need to know about the job will be 1) covered in training and/or 2) covered on the desk in a much more comprehensive and applicable manner than you could hope to do by reading a few articles and such at home. You will be trained in everything that you need to know once you start and there will be ample time to learn it all. The same is true with PowerPoint and Excel – within 2 weeks or so you will have plenty of PPT training and will be good to go in that regard. For Excel, it depends which group you end up in – some groups generally don’t perform much modeling – but either way, again, you will be taught on the job. I understand your interest in getting ahead, but in this case, I would recommend you watch some CNBC and read the FT/WSJ to stay on top of the markets, deals, etc and then just relax – do something that you enjoy non-work/finance/banking related – once you start, you will have more than enough opportunities to do all of the banker tasks. Remember, a few weeks will go by very fast – enjoy them.
What if I haven’t spoken to a few of my contacts in a while, but don’t have anything life changing to share or don’t need any favors at the moment – what if I just want to keep the relationship alive and current?
If you don’t have any pressing or terribly interesting to discuss, question or share, but it has been a fair amount of time since you last spoke, there is nothing wrong with sending a very brief follow-up email just to touch base. If you have absolutely nothing to say, then it might be a bit tougher, but in general, if you are interning, or starting class again, there is nothing wrong with dropping a sentence or two on what’s new or starting with you and then check in to see how they are, how their group is doing and so forth. Keep it to topics previously discussed, and keep it brief. Thank them again for all of their help and close it. These types of letters are not as common, but are still a valuable means of keeping the communication path open until you actually need some help or have questions again. Additionally they act to keep the contact fresh and the person remembering who you are.
Interview question: Is it better to be hard working or smart?
I would treat this question the same way as the “Better follower or better leader” question and take the middle of the road approach. I would lead off by saying that while hard work is absolutely essential, without developing your intellect and putting your “smarts” to work, you will be working incredibly hard without accomplishing much more than the completion of a few projects. Using your smarts allows you to see the bigger picture and multi-task. Essentially, I don’t see them as independent options, but rather, as a necessary combination to succeed in this business and life – hard working, but still thinking and analyzing – having only half of the equation is being only half an analyst.
I was just wondering if there was an advantageous time to interview. For example, if there are 2 dates (Monday/Tuesday), one early and one later, should you pick the early one and think that its a rolling basis and therefore will be easier to fill in spots early? Or perhaps you should pick the later date due to the fact that you will be more “fresh” on their mind?
In terms of days, it doesn’t really matter much – maybe person to person, but not in general. In terms of time of day, early morning is often rough as the interviewer is still shaking the cob webs and may have not even had his/her coffee yet (no, this is not a joke, unfortunately). The very late morning/early afternoon interview is bad as well assuming it is a pre-lunch interview because the interviewer could be hungry, and if anything like me, a bit cranky just before feeding time.
In general, try to stick to mid morning and after lunch through mid afternoon interviews (this of course refers to one interview and not a superday, as a superday is the same schedule for everyone and covers the day). Once you get into late afternoon/evening you run into the interviewer being burnt from interviewing the whole day and either 1) being ready to go home or 2) being eager to get out of there and get back to real work so that he/she could possibly see his/her home sometime that night.
In response to this question: What if I haven’t spoken to a few of my contacts in a while, but don’t have anything life changing to share or don’t need any favors at the moment – what if I just want to keep the relationship alive and current?
How often should we get in touch with our contacts? Should we send them a quick e-mail every couple weeks? Months? At what point do you just become annoying, and at what point do people just start to forget you?
That is perfectly fine as well. I recently got in touch with one of my contacts from an internship essentially just to check in. I wished him a happy Thanksgiving, asked if he was able to pull away from the desk for the long weekend, how things are going with his team, etc. It doesn’t have to be life-changing or terribly important nor do you need to hope for a favor when contacting people from your network. Just to catch them up on what’s been going on with you and ask how they are (maybe a holiday, birthday, etc just passed or is about to come).
Regarding frequency, I usually recommend every 1.5 to 2 months if you don’t have much to say, and just want to “keep in touch.” For more important issues, or when you need a favor, or when recruiting season is looming, is it fine to get in touch once a month or so – I would recommend that you have at least a question or so ready in addition to the pleasantries when recruiting season nears – even if you don’t want the resume drop yet, you don’t want to be saying “how are you” every 4 weeks with a acquaintance at best – if you have a recruiting question or something it provides a more logical reason for reaching out even if your real reason is the resume drop and such in, say, 2 months. Good luck.