I would like to share a few key tips...

**note**

1. I am presuming you have read some guides from the careers office or other career publications and articles about interviews – they give a rough idea of the possible questions, how to prepare etc.

2. This article is more towards investment banking – because I am writing from experience.

1) An interview is a conversation
An interview is a 2 way process, you want to know more about the employer, and they want to know more about you. Aside from answering typical interview questions - ask questions. Find click points to make it into a conversation.

It can be experience about sports, or things you have read, work experience in different countries etc. Use what they have said to ask more questions – it shows you are a good listener.

People like to talk about themselves especially, make them feel good by asking relevant questions. If it's really interesting, make a point to take notes – you are a beginner, and you want to learn from all these experts!

2) Internships are all about learning
Why do investment banks want to hire interns, and pay them a fat salary, even though the real job contribution will not amount to much?

The reason is: "thirst for talent".

What they are looking for, is someone who has the character and skills that fits into the team, but most importantly – have the enthusiasm and passion to learn. The key motivation is:

No matter how good you are, there is always more to learn, and always show courage to learn.

As mentioned earlier - ask questions, show interests: When being approach by people in the industry at any opportunity, make an effort to ask questions, but be genuinely passionate about the conversation. Additionally, you will be able to pick up expert opinions, and able to use it to impress interviewers when given a chance.

Questions can be personal – about the interviewers job experience, or even opinions about current issues , so long you can have a link in between. It can even be a reverse-question, for example – when asked about "what are the key strengths that makes you stand out for this role?", upon answering – you can follow up with a question: "I see you (the interviewer) had 20 years of experience, what are the key strengths that make a person successful in your field of business?"

The generic idea is "I'm pretty new, and I am still learning, how would you approach this, can you guide me – I want to learn." However, at best this has to come whole heartedly, as it reflects from good preparation, and being able to relate general trends and ideas with the interviewer's conversation from your prior initiatives.

3) Answer the question, and make it special.

An interviewer probably won't remember you, unless you have give him a few special points. Generally, there are a few kind of interview questions:

• Competency based question (E.g. Tell me a time you demonstrated "teamwork"?)
  Here are a list of possible questions: click here
• Knowing yourself question (E.g. What are your strengths and weakness? What makes you stand out?) >> Make your answer stand out and think in a matured and positive manner.
• Get-to-know-you-better question (E.g. Can you tell me more about your teaching experience in China?) >> This is your best opportunity to sell yourself, but put it in an interesting context.
• Economic, IQ based questions (there are few guides out there, your careers office should have some!)

There are few key approaches to answering questions:

Firstly, it is to clearly identify what the employers are looking for, we call this the skills hit list. It varies according to different roles. For example, in communication – the key emphasis are:

1. getting messages across, verbally and in writing, to individuals or groups – report in clear and legitimate manner.

2. Listening effectively

3. Understanding body language.

4. Creating a logical argument.

5. Being sensitive to the needs and level of knowledge of your audience.

Secondly, the answers you give should reflect these key points. Also, explain situational answers with a proper structure, called STAR.

Situation: Introduce the situation.

Task: State what is your task.

Action: How did you overcome it?

Response: What was the result?

Thirdly, note that people have a maximum attention span of 1minute 30 seconds (1 minute to be safe), make your answers concise – and use conversation fillers if necessary. E.g. "Would you like to hear an example about this? / Do you want to hear more about this?"

Finally, be specific - people like to hear figures beause it is more concrete. For example: "It was a successful event with a huge crowd" don't sound as impressive as "We had standing ovation from 600 person audience."

Then, how do you make your answers special?

People like to hear interesting stories, everybody has a special story to tell!

What do you mean by special? Let's take this example of teamwork

CASE 1: Group project – working on a group project or field work, doing collaborations etc.

CASE 2: I have a fairly large family and I was the youngest, my brothers and I always go for camps – since young, I learned the importance of teamwork by learning to take responsibility. It started by washing dishes, later I learn to take more responsibility, and also became a good motivator through...

How about key strengths?

A lot of people will say that their key strength is being analytical, able to compute fast, able to communicate well, able to work with people – but the thing is, you have already spoken enough from your CV.

The key point here is to sell things that are not possible to see directly from your CV. Speak to people who have worked many years in the industry, and you will be able to identify a few of this, and there are certainly few you can relate very well with. Among them are determination, hardwork, perseverance, discipline, ethical, etc...and you have to be able to explain them well on the basis of your experience.

4) Have a SUPER selling package story.

What is a selling package story? This depends very much on you. I have a friend who is an Indonesian, and came to Malaysia to study in 1998. Immediately, we identified that as the best story one could possibly have!

"It was during the financial crisis, it was a chaos, I was only 14 and decided to take the opportunity to seek opportunities in Malaysia. I had to learn chinese pretty much from scratch, and I put in a lot of hardwork and determination. I never look back since. Til today, I have learned that giving my best and seeking the best opportunity is the most important, and I seek to improve and sharpen my skills."

Then if it happens you have an opportunity to sell further...
"I want to learn as much as possible from XXX company..."

My friend got an offer within his first Investment banking interview too.

Package your story such that it reflects the best in you.

5) Leave with a mark
You are hungry to learn, you want the opportunity. How do you show this?

A hungry person will probably say...

"Thank you for this opportunity, it has really been an opportunity of a lifetime. I wish to be given a learning experience from the XXX (a quote reflecting the reputation/ standard of the company), XXX (company)."

6) Of course, continue your learning experience!

Stay connected with the interviewers, send them a thank you email – state what you have learned and thank you them – and ask more questions, and make an effort to expand your network. After all, every part of it is a great learning opportunity!

Finally...

All the best, and don't give up. I have another friend who had interviews with 7 firms, with 4 of them in final round over the course of 1 year (summer internships and then full-time job) – and then eventually landing into a dream job! Give it your best, and practice and practice!

Help each other, and seek help from others – you never know what you are going to learn (even if you are on the giving side)!

Written by Jia Hong Tan

Jia Hong has 100% success in interviews, and have attained several internship offers from bulge bracket investment banks and SEO.

Comments

Written by alice6 on 2006-04-12 03:44:36 i'm an aspiring investment banker n i've applied for Internships at couple of well established investment banks. Jian hong has provided extremely useful tips on hw to prepare and tackle d interviews.I'm certain tat the information provided would help me crack d interview...cheers

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