#10. Wear the Right Clothes – Wear a dark suit (charcoal or dark blue), coupled with a clean pressed shirt and tie. Purple is a great tie/shirt color if you wan’t to stand out without being too obnoxious.
#9. Get the Facts Right – It’s not necessary to memorize the details, but basic knowledge is expected e.g. know how to pronounce the CEO’s name; how to spell the firm’s name correctly.
#8. Know the Recruiters – There are two types of recruiters: professional recruiters from the HR department, as well as banker representatives. Your questions to each of them should be quite different.
#7. Eye Contact – Eye contact is huge. Don’t stare the interviewer down, but don’t wander into space either.
#6. Ask Intelligent Questions – Don’t ask the yes and no questions because they are conversation killers. Think of something smart to ask.
#5. Carry on the Conversation – Small talk sucks but it’s how you build rapport. If the interviewer gives you an opening to chat about last nights game, talk about it! If you didn’t watch it, mention that football isn’t your sport but you’re a big baseball fan.
#4. Bring a Pen and Paper – You’l need something to write notes and information from the interviewer. Write down key takeaways from the interview that you can mention again in the follow-up thank you email.
#3. Bring Your Resume – Come on.
#2. Ask For Business Card – You need the interviewer’s email address to send him a thank you letter.
#1. Be Cool – Finance isn’t difficult. Interviewers test to see if you have a reasonable level of intelligence and finance knowledge, but after that they are just looking to see if you can get along well with the people that work at the firm. If you’re interviewing with a banker, they’re more interested in seeing if you’re cool enough to sit next to on a plane for 5 hours more than if you can pick apart Black-Scholes.
