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Ross Finance Club Weekly Breakout Sales, Trading, Research, PCS. November 7, 2004 Zachary Emig MBA Class of 2005. What’s going on?. Q: Where did the S&P close at on Friday? How much did it move for the week?.
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Ross Finance Club Weekly BreakoutSales, Trading, Research, PCS November 7, 2004 Zachary Emig MBA Class of 2005
What’s going on? Q: Where did the S&P close at on Friday? How much did it move for the week? Q: What was the October payroll number and how did it compare to expectations? Was Sept’s revised up or down? Q: What’s happening with the US dollar? Q: What started the recent drop in oil prices? Q: Name one high-profile IPO from the past ten days, and how it did? A: Dreamworks went public on October 28, gaining 38% on it’s first day of trading.
Informational Interviews: Goals Your goals, in order of importance: • Make a good impression • Meet as many people as possible • Learn about the bank and its culture • Learn about different trading desks/products You absolutely want to avoid: • Acting unlikable • Not being abreast of current news • “Blowing up” on a technical question
Informational Interviews: Setup There are two channels for arranging informational interviews: • HR • Some banks’ HR will be happy to create a schedule of people for you to sit with • Some banks’ HR will ask you to go directly to your contacts to set them up • Some banks’ HR will require persistence to get through to. • Bank contacts (alums, WSF, presentations) • Alumni are usually more receptive
Informational Interviews: Setup (2) • Last year, I found it was easier if I first committed to a date range that I’d be in New York, rather than ask the banks when would be best for them. • After all, if they are in the office, most traders/salespeople are at their desk all day long, so probably will be able to meet you. • When contacting alumni, I emailed first and then called a few days later if there was no reply (90% of the time). • Scheduling any more than two banks in a day can be dangerous. • Also keep in mind that, the later in the year, the worse the weather, meaning flight delays/cancellations. Don’t stress yourself out by pushing an overly aggressive schedule.
Informational Interviews: Details • Could meet from anywhere from 1 to 6, 7, 8 people, depending on how much they like you. • Usually won’t spend more than 30~60 minutes with one person. • For S&T, you’ll be sitting in a chair in between two people, as they do their job: Need to pay attention to when they can talk and when they’re too busy. • Of course, where business suit, carry multiple copies of your resume, don’t carry backpack/luggage, collect business cards, etc.
Informational Interviews: Details (2) • Informational interviews: expect anything: • They could ask tons of questions or no questions • They could chat about sports or grill you on hedging derivatives • Sure-thing questions: • Why S&T? Why Michigan? Tell me about you (i.e. your 30 second story)? What stocks do you like (if person is in Equities)? What do you think of the market? What can I tell you about this bank? • Possible questions: • How do you price a bond? What are the inputs to Black-Scholes? What is gamma? What is the spread on AAA corporate bonds? What is the square root of 20?
Informational Interviews: Details (3) • Best advice if you get jammed on a really tough technical question: • Repeat the question to make sure you heard it correctly. • If you don’t know jargon or terminology, ask right away; don’t hem and haw. • If still stuck, try to work through the problem with the interviewer’s help. • Don’t ever give up on a problem—oftentimes they are less interested in what you know coming in and more in how you deal with confusing/new situations. Stay cool, friendly, loose, and work the problem!
Informational Interviews: Follow-up • Be sure to e-mail each of the people you speak with a quick note of appreciation. • Be sure to e-mail HR after each visit to let them know who you spoke with and how much you learned from your visit.
Other Stuff • Do a couple OCD mock interviews before embarking on informationals. • On-campus companies will be forming closed lists in late December. • Budget time in mid to late December to write cover letters; they are required as part of the iMpact resume drop. • Don’t leave these to the last second—iMpact crashed last Dec. 31, the resume deadline, causing a bunch of students to miss the deadline, have to email OCD, beg the companies for mercy, etc.