Superday Format and Survival Tips
Generally, some interviews will focus on the technical, others on the behavioral, and then some that mixing it up and keep you guessing. The key to the interview process is to make the same positive impact in your first interview straight through the last interview.
It usually takes several hours, with a break somewhere in between, and by the end many candidates find themselves worn out, and sloppily stumble through the last interview or two - which often results in getting rejected. The marathon nature of these interviews is what makes it difficult, but if you know your answers and can keep your energy up you should be in good shape.
About 70-90% of the offers coming from these events are given in the same day or within 24 hours, but there are cases when an offer can also come weeks later if you are a borderline candidate and they are trying to get a feel for class size and yield from their first round of offers. The fastest way to get a response is to let HR of the bank know that you have another offer at another bank.
Superday Advice from an Investment Banking Associate
Here’s some insider advice from a fellow WSO member. To get the full breakdown, read the discussion in our forum. To see a more detailed breakdown of the final process at Goldman Sachs, reference this article.
Having been on the 'other' side of the table for many super day interviews over the last few years, I can tell you that 'perfect' answers sometimes are required and sometimes are a turn-off. It all depends, to be honest. The super days are somewhat of a crapshoot for candidates, so in order to get yourself an offer, you need to make the effort to attend as many of them as you can. Truth be told, getting a Bulge Bracket IBD offer is all about throwing a wide net.
To get you into the mind of an interviewer on a super day, specifically an associate or VP, you need to realize a few things:
- These bankers usually have a bunch of other things going on professionally over the course of the day
- It is usually on a Friday and they are all looking at getting out at a decent hour
- After a banker interview their slot of 4-6 candidates, there is usually an internal conference call between all the interviewers. Sometimes directors and MDs are too busy to attend, but the associates and VPs will always be there and usually participate the most
As an interviewee, what you have to do is get one or two of the folks who interview you to bring you up as a strong candidate during this call. If several other bankers respond with an "oh yeah, I liked that guy/gal quite a bit too," then you are well on your way to making the short list of who gets offers.
Usually, HR will be on this call as well and they will more-or-less run the call's overall structure but the associates and VPs have most of the say on who gets offers and who stays on the shortlist of those who may get offers should the first set of candidates pass.
One thing to note about HR is that they will almost always start the call out with how the female and minority candidates did in the interview process. If any of them did well, there will be a full-court press to get the offers and get them to accept the offers. The other candidates may get one or two initial offers between them but most likely may have to wait a few weeks before hearing anything definite back as they have effectively been pushed to the side for the time being. I have seen this happen countless times with some of the strongest candidates around who we really wanted to give offers right out of the gate.
My advice post-Superday is to reach out to an interviewer you believe you made a solid connection with and stay on him or her over the next few weeks and months. What I have seen happen many times is that a month or two after the interviews, HR comes back with "We have an additional spot we need to fill quickly or we lose it to another group." If you are on the shortlist and have stayed in touch with someone who can be your advocate, you can often pick one of these spots up very quickly.
The above also happens quite a bit with regional offices, so if you are not dead set on NYC this is also a good way to pick up a spot. A bit of a warning for recruiting in regional offices is that sometimes these spots are harder to get than the NYC spots. Sometimes a candidate with credentials that match the office more effectively (i.e. tech, healthcare, oil & gas) may win over a theoretically stronger candidate. Also, connections to the particular region (Midwest, West Coast, Texas/Louisiana/OK) will also work in a particular candidate's favor.
