Equity Research Analyst

Applied to the firm on my University's job application portal. Within one week, I received an email directing me to take an online personality test (took about 15 minutes). Two weeks after that, I received an email from HR informing me that I was selected for a first round interview. Two weeks after this email, the interview took place in NYC in a hotel suite. It consisted of two back-to-back interviews, each lasting about 45 minutes. Both interviews were conducted by analysts at the firm, and were highly behavioral/fit. One of the interviewers asked me for a stock pitch, which lasted about 2 minutes. He asked about 2-3 high level questions about it, then we moved on to behavioral questions for the rest of the interview. This firm desires analysts who are perfectionists and contrarian independent thinkers. Be prepared for questions like "What is the one thing you believe that no one else believes?" and "What fundamental belief have you had that you've changed your mind about?" The interview process is extremely personal. They want to know how you grew up, what your parents were like, what major decisions you've made throughout your life and why. This can be a very painful interview if you are introverted or aren't prepared to talk deeply about this. The interviewers will dig for the information they want so that they know how you think and why. I didn't get a second round with this firm, but their format for a second round is to give you one week to research a stock that they give you, then they fly you out to SF and you present it to the entire office (analysts and PMs). They will pick it apart and you have to defend your thesis. The PM will meet with you while you are there, and then you leave and wait for weeks to hear back from them about an offer. This is a great firm, but they are very, very specific about who they want. Know your strengths and weaknesses, and be able to talk in detail about them. Also, their personality test is very accurate, and they expect you to agree/disagree with it and discuss reasons why.