GUEST COMMENT: The four personality types to expect in an M&A interview
If you want to get a job in M&A you'll have to get inside the sociopathic heads of your potential interviewers. Having sat on both sides of the chair in the shiny mahogany-laden interview rooms of several investment banks I can say that there are 4 personality types you should expect to meet, and they are all as likely as the other to leave you a quivering moaning wreck, demoralised and ready for a career in accountancy or consulting. Know your enemy, and you too could achieve your goal of six years of all-nighters and a lack of anything vaguely resembling a social life.
Type One: The Old School Banker
Charles remembers what it was like when you could walk into the offices of any City firm and, as long as you were wearing the right tie or signet ring, you could bag a job in less time that it takes to drink a yard of ale in an Oxford college bar on a post-rugby booze-up. He's impeccably dressed and despite not being the brightest chap, knows just enough about valuation to be dangerous. Don't drop your haitches and do name-drop your Oxbridge college, if you can.
Type Two: The Power Woman
Probably has a unisex name like Jamie or Robin and looks a bit like Carol Vorderman after a rough night on the tiles. Don't stare too long at her bulging Adam's apple, Botox ravaged wrinkles or padded shoulder pads. Getting on with androgenous Andy requires charm, political correctness and a solid knowledge of sport (geezer-birds make it their business to know more about football and rugby than their male counterparts). Being successful in finance as a woman is tough so any evidence you have of overcoming tough odds needs to be drawn out of your CV at the first opportunity.
Type Three: The Ex-Equity Research Analyst
Will come across as the academic type with ruffled hair, wonky glasses and an unironed shirt. Has a chip on their shoulder because they spent their junior years in sleepy research rather than the typical 9AM to 5AM experience most M&A analysts suffer. Will feel a need to prove themselves to you during the interview. Expect someone with far more insight into your sector than even the most senior M&A lifers. If it's a tech sector team you'll be quizzed on microchip architecture, retail sector roles will involve detailed supply-chain analysis. If you happen to be an expert in this sector you'll do very well.
Type Four: The Ex-Management Consultant
A dangerous combination. With almost as pathological a love of PowerPoint than any banker and the same chip on their shoulder as Type Three, Andre desperately wants to prove himself to you. He's happy now that he's escaped the salary doldrums of consulting and yet he may still hit you with the consulting case study from hell. Try to stay calm and remember that more than even the other three types, he needs a thorough ego massage. If you ask him at the end how being a banker is different to his previous role, be ready for a cathartic tirade.
