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To all the broke business students now hunting for jobs: Congrats! You've practically won the lottery.
September is the height of recruiting season, and you're probably all looking – actually, begging – for a full-time job. For those of you trying to get something in capital markets, accounting, consulting or corporate law, consider yourselves uber lucky, because the boom times are back on Bay Street. So many of your predecessor classes endured the recruiting process when jobs were tough to come by.
But that doesn't mean every single one of you will get a job. You still have to stand out. And Streetwise is here to help you do just that. The people who are about to interview you are already grumbling about having to endure another recruiting season themselves, and you can use what they're saying behind closed doors to your advantage. Here's what you need to know:
Don't be a robot
Here's how recruiting works at an investment bank. One of the juniors is kindly told to handle the process and then he or she pleads with colleagues to show up to the information session and to fan out across Canada for first-round interviews. Pleading is required because a lot of people are reluctant to help out. They already have a lot of work to do, and they likely know the recruiting-season drill backwards and forwards. By now they've heard it all, yet they're being asked to endure 10 more on-campus interviews.
You can use that to your advantage. After you answer the requisite questions about how to value a company, start some other conversation – one about anything other than what you learned in Finance 1. For bonus points, talk about their industry. If you're interviewing in Calgary, for example, you're clearly going to be working in energy. Know about the re-emergence of divcos; be aware of which companies are on the cusp of going public; know which banks served as lead underwriters for the big energy deals this year (PrairieSky, Northern Blizzard).
Read the news. Religiously
You've spent the past few years in classrooms learning how to calculate a weighted average cost of capital and memorizing Porter's five forces. That's cool and all, but you need to show recruiters you know something about the world. Because let me tell you, real life has very little to do with theory. Make sure you're reading business news every single day. There's also a practical reason for this – you might be asked about a current event during an interview. I learned the hard way. The morning of an interview, I was so busy prepping for the standard questions that I didn't read about Jazz Air Income Fund's IPO. When the banker brought it up, I looked dumb. If only he'd asked me about Modigliani-Miller!
No matter what, wear conservative clothes
If you've got a bit of sartorial style, you might feel inclined to rock a skinnier tie, or one with bright colours. Don't do it. You don't want to be singled out as that guy who had the audacity to break with convention. To some people, I'm still remembered as the kid who wore a deep red shirt to a final-round interview, even though I will go to my grave arguing it was an extremely stylish thing in the middle of the last decade. (Can you tell I'm still bitter?)
If you're asked to talk about an investment you like or a company you think is doing interesting things, choose a unique one
At some point, you'll probably be asked about a company you follow. Maybe the interviewer will ask about its strategy, or about its investment potential. It's really easy for everyone to talk about Apple. What'll make you stand out is talking about Constellation Software – the quiet Canadian tech giant. Or talk about Canada's latest poison pill developments and then apply them to a recent proxy battle, such as Talisman's.
Absolutely, positively do not talk about politics
Obviously they can't outright ask you which party you support. But the issue might come up during dinner the night before final-round interviews in a casual way. If so, stay out of the conversation. You might think it's fun to show what you know. Don't be silly. Because then, out of nowhere, you'll have a banker sitting across the table from you, looking at your dessert and asking, "There are raspberries and blueberries on your plate. If you had to choose, which one would you eat first?" (This is a true story.)
Be normal – don't write in what you think is a 'corporate' tone
When writing your cover letter, or when drafting an e-mail to send to your interviewers after meeting with them, you might feel compelled to write something like "I am positive your bank's core values align with mine, and that I can deliver strategic value." Don't you dare do it. Because e-mails like that are currently being sent by students to people all over Bay Street. Cover letters too. Your school's career centre might even be telling you that you should be using that language. Don't. Be straightforward. Otherwise you'll seem like a robot.
You might be a great candidate, but you often need a little luck
All the firms will tell you they hire the best and the brightest. And they really do try. But sometimes you'll be super smart and you won't get hired – and it has absolutely nothing to do with you. There are two reasons for this:
First, the process isn't perfect. Often, right after final-round meetings, all the interviewers will gather in a boardroom and decide who should get jobs. If you interviewed with four people, three of them might like you quite a bit, but one of them really didn't like you, for whatever reason. If that one person is incredibly vocal, and he or she just happens to have more seniority, you're toast.
Second, sometimes "the fix" is in. A real-life example: the son of a client made it to final rounds, and that kid was going to get a job no matter what, for obvious reasons. Except only three of the four interviewers were told that. So when they all gathered in the boardroom at the end of the day, the person who didn't know thought the candidate did a really bad job and had to ask "is there something I'm missing here?" Yes, there was – the fix was in. If it happens to you, do not feel like a failure.
Don't get down on yourself if you don't get a job
You'll never really know why it didn't work out. That said, it's worth keeping in touch with the people who interviewed you. One of their colleagues is bound to quit at some point, and let me tell you, having to search for someone sucks. It might take six months after you graduate, but if they know you're still looking, you'll probably be the first person they think of.
Tim Kiladze