| Emerging Markets - Fixed Income | Why EM? (Answer: Looking for candidate to express genuine interest in EM, have followed it to some extent (politically, economically) and have a general awareness of general market trends) |
| Emerging Markets - Fixed Income | Why Trading? (Answer: Looking for RISK APPETITE; a common mistake to make here is to point out why one would be less suited to sales and therefore better suited to trading - part of what makes someone a good trader in this environment of ever-tightening bid-offer spreads is also being a good salesperson) |
| Emerging Markets - Fixed Income | If somebody put a gun to your
head now and told you you had to put on a trade, what would it be?
(Answer: This is something you need to
think about if you're going for either a sales or a trading role, but
especially for a trading desk. In the answer, candidate must be able to argue
the rationale for their trade and point out the potential downside risks. An
outstanding candidate would also have thought of profit targets and stop loss
points, and would be aware of the event risks that would change their
decision and cause them to unwind the trade.) |
| Emerging Markets - Fixed Income | For those doing non-traditional
degrees (i.e. the arts): Why banking/finance with an art background? Answer: There is no "right"
answer obviously to such a question, but would look for candidate to show enthusiasm
and a wilingness to learn and welcome the challenges a new working
environment brings. In order to prepare for the question, candidate should
consider the more generic skills they've learned / developed either doing
their degree or from their time at university and think of how they would be
useful or applied to the trading floor. |
| Emerging Markets - Fixed Income | At both the intern and graduate
entry level, it is great if you happen to have a lot of industry specific
knowledge, but this is quite unusual. What is equally great to see is
evidence (from school or university activities) of all the cliche' qualities
one often hears about: team player, eagerness to learn, ability to adapt,
ability to work under pressure, ability to learn from mistakes... what is
important at this stage above and beyond industry knowledge is for candidates
to show that they have potential to shine. All the rest comes from experience
- learning by doing. |
| Equity Research | Put yourself in the position of an equity analyst - What criteria would you look at/ think about when trying to differentiate your view between two different companies? (Answer: This is a deliberately open question designed to see how the candidate can structure an answer and how complete an answer they can give within a very broad selection of eligible responses. Some things to include; competitive situation in the industry, |
| Equity Research | Detail a situation where you knowingly "broke the rules" or did something in a different way from the accepted norm. What were the positive and negative repercussions? When is changing the way of doing something or pushing rules acceptable and when not? (Answer: - Honesty, integrity are tested here as well as knowing when creativity is valuable and when not.) |
| Equity Research | Do you think the performance of airline stocks should be positively or negatively correlated to the oil price? Why? (Answer: 9 times out of 10 the initial answer given is incorrect. That doesn't matter (and this is the same for all questions of this style) What is important is to explain your thought process, why you reach the conclusion that you do. Ask questions if you think you need to. And if you do get the answer wrong, don't be concerned but take on board any extra information given and try to work out backwards why the answer might not be what you first thought. This is all about testing how you approach a problem, not whether you get this particular problem right or not.) |
| Equity Research | Depending on the candidates financial knowledge a more in depth question could be... What does a Price Earnings ratio tell you about a company? Could you explain a situation where a company with a higher P/E ratio would be seen as MORE attractive than a peer with a lower P/E ratio rather than LESS? (Answer: this demonstrates a candidates understanding of valuation metrics and the fact that valuation at any given moment in time must be taken into context of the growth expectations for that company.) |
| Equity Research | Tip: Never claim to know about something you don't know about. I would rather someone say they don't know what a P/E ratio is and I can then explain and see how quickly they can take on and use the concept, than have them claim to understand it and then answer a question that relies on that knowledge poorly. |
| FX Forwards Trading | Can you tell me about a time when you've been challenged by a disagreement in a team? How did you deal with the opposing views and what was your role in it? What did you do to help the situation if anything? |
| FX Forwards Trading | What do you believe to be your 3 main weaknesses? |
| FX Forwards Trading | Tell me about a time you have set to achieve a goal and failed. How did you deal with it? |
| FX Forwards Trading | Tell me about a time when you have been given responsibility. Where, when and how did you deal with it? |
| FX Forwards Trading | Tell me about how you have achieved a goal in a difficult task? |
| FX Forwards Trading | Tip: The elements I would like to see would be confidence in one's abilities, motivation and drive to succeed, acceptance of failing and improving the situation by learning from mistakes, responsibility, ability to deal with people of all levels, taking charge |
| FX Forwards Trading | Tip: Be confident and keen to learn. You dont need to know everything about the market as that is what you will learn, but if you are dedicated and motivated and good with people then you will be able to learn and succeed. |
| Sales & Trading | Know which sectors you would and wouldnt invest in and why. |
| Sales & Trading | Know what is involved in the different roles - sales, sales-trading, research , trading etc |
| Sales & Trading | Describe a time when you have been faced with a difficult situation in a team. (The more varied the examples are the better - ie gd to give egs of stuff done as part of extra-curricular activities (eg sports) as well as academic (e.g. projects)) |
| Sales & Trading | Describe a time when you have worked under pressure. (The more varied the examples are the better - ie gd to give egs of stuff done as part of extra-curricular activities (eg sports) as well as academic (e.g. projects)) |
| Sales & Trading | Describe a time when you have had to be persuasive. (The more varied the examples are the better - ie gd to give egs of stuff done as part of extra-curricular activities (eg sports) as well as academic (e.g. projects)) |
| Sales & Trading | Describe a time when you have had to use your own initiative. (The more varied the examples are the better - ie gd to give egs of stuff done as part of extra-curricular activities (eg sports) as well as academic (e.g. projects)) |
| Sales & Trading | Describe a time when you displayed discipline, organisation, strong work ethnic. (The more varied the examples are the better - ie gd to give egs of stuff done as part of extra-curricular activities (eg sports) as well as academic (e.g. projects)) |
| Sales & Trading | Why investment banking? (Especially if your studies are not a related course [eg engineering]) |
| Equity Derivatives Trading | Brainteasers: Most are taken
from "Heard on the Street" by Timothy Falcon Crack. So far all
brainteaser questions I have been asked can be found from Section A of that
book. However, it's a good advice pretend
as if it's the first time one heard the question before, and acts as if one
is impressed by the interviewer on the challenge of the question. - The key element is lateral thinking, and
understand the nature of the problem. - Always break down the problem into few sections, and make simple assumptions to start with. - The bonus point would be able to explain the thought process in a clear manner. |
| Equity Derivatives Trading | Derivatives question: a. What are the factors that affect an option price? b. Are options path dependent? Ans for a: Spot price, strike price, interest rates, dividends, volatility, time to maturity. Ans for b: Options are path dependent due to the changing profile of gamma and vega (capture of volatility). *Most directors/ senior ppl in my dept say that this is one question that can really test the candidates' understanding of derivatives. |
| Equity Derivatives Trading | Let say I am a parent, how would you
convince me to let my son join Scouts? - There is no right answer, but I presume it is similar of other sales based questions, like "Here's a pen, now sell it to me". - Generally, the motivation should be: Why do you want your son to achieve? How would scouts benefit him? What makes it special? - Let the interviewer say what he wants in 'such product' - direct him to where you want him to be. - The key thing is selling the key idea, and what differentiates than saying all the 'features'. |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | What Non Academic things make you different from the rest/ What makes you unique? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | What specific research have you done to find out about the role you going for? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | How long do you see yourselves doing this for and what would you like to do after? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | Who are your role models and people you look up to? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | Have you every done something where you lost a lot of money? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | What do you feel is key to success as an individual? |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | Name times where things didn’t go according to plan. |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | How does a fruit trader make money trading? (Go through logic of how to market make). |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | Key Elements I would look for in someone doing my job: Being very keen; Sharp to all type of logical questions; A willingness to take risk but calculated and disciplined; Evidence of having something other than just academics; Hard working and willingness to research and learn; Confident in themselves; Show they cope well under pressure. So if someone pressuring them the ability to still thing through things logically is key |
| Fixed Income/EurUsd Fwd Trading Desk | n trading its all about having a
view so if you can demonstrate this whether talking about football, the
economy, cars etc this would impress the interviewer even if they don’t agree
with you. However with every view you have to have some logic to back it up
and be confident in talking people through your logic. Try not to sit on the
fence to much as this would imply that you are risk averse. |