Spoke with HR recruiter over the phone for the first round. He gave me all the details about the position and was very friendly/helpful. Second round was with one of the hiring managers over the phone. The interview itself seemed awkward right off the bat as I had to ask several times for the questions to be repeated as I couldn’t hear very well being put on speakerphone. I was asked why I wanted this position and how it fit in with my long term goals. I was upfront about not having experience in fixed income or working with institutional clients (I have worked with retail traders for years on the equity side), however I know that it would be good experience as I want to manage wealth long term. It seems that was not the answer the interviewer was looking for. I believe they are looking for someone with a very specific skill set that will be hard to find if they are not willing to take chances on people that may not fit the exact criteria they have set forth. However if you are a licensed securities professional with some years of experience working with institutional clients and have an MBA/CFA, this might be a good position to look into. The job does involve selling short term fixed income products so you should be comfortable with being able to reach out to clients.
