Mock Interviews

Are painful but good. Do not forgo them, o future GSBers. I hate pretending to interview but having done 2 today I can already see the improvement.

Have been struggling with insomnia lately - got only a couple hours of sleep last night so I'm off to bed now. But today was wInterview which I thought was a really really remarkable experience. I came away from the day exhausted but rejuvenated about my job hunting mission and how much I love the GSB. There was a session on bidding for on campus recruiting, a mock interview demo (yours truly having the pleasure to be a demonstrator), a recruiting panel of 2nd years (invaluable), and one on one mock interviews with 2nd years. For lunch, a 2005 graduate spoke who was so outstanding and turns all the stereotypes about the nerdy, socially incompetent GSBer completely on their head. He reminded us that interviews are just conversations, among other bits of wisdom. Sounds simple - but so easy to forget. I hope the class of 2010 has the pleasure of hearing him speak next year.

So now things really heat up. The first round of interview invitations went up on PBS tonight. Happily I got invited to interview with a firm that is one of my top picks. Most IM closed lists won't be finalized for a few weeks but this position is with a bank (on the asset management side) and banks like to move early and quickly. But this means at least I have one shot at a job. Last night, feverishly reworking my stock model, I felt like a complete failure. I felt there was no way I could ever get a position in IM and couldn't remember why I wanted to put myself through all this. The preparation process just felt hard and frustrating and demoralizing. And I felt completely inadequate. But today, sleep deprivation aside, I feel much better about things. I just have to hang on to that feeling.

But I do feel that enthusiasm and sincerity are key going through this process. I only applied to firms that I was really excited about and hopefully that will carry through in the interview. My mock interviews today renewed my self confidence that I could actually pitch a stock convincingly and field tricky macro questions with some aplomb even if I hadn't the faintest clue. I have lots lots lots to work on still but at least I know where I stand. And it's such a relief.

So the moral of the post is to embrace the mock interview and all the prep and just enjoy yourself. Don't let the stress of recruiting overshadow the excitement of the opportunity.

Good night.