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CMU MSCF R1 WL AD (附Gwen面经)

[日期:2017-05-08] 来源:ChaseDream论坛 作者:nero2351 [字体: ]

May 1st 收到的email,2nd才看到。收到Decision Email的时候在一脸淡定的定机票思考怎么从NYC去Cornell方便,sign in后一个大大的Congratulations Video加上迷之喜感的音乐吓得我直接关了网页(捂脸。冷静过来后就开始跟Cornell写信revoke然后转去CMU了。 这两天终于把很多事情settle了,想一想自己在CD上潜水了这么久,与Gwen的interview也在CD的帮助下非常顺利,所以写个总结帖,希望r2的小伙伴一切顺利!

背景总结

  • 美本LAC,Math&Econ double,毕业一年,CFA II candidate。Internship零零散散做了不少,没有BB banks。LAC finance roots不深,有大牛,但connection还是偏弱。之前的前辈也基本很少MFE这个route,所以现在进了MSCF也算是终于进了target pool。
  • GRE:V: 162 Q: 169 W: 5
  • GPA: 3.7
  • Other ADs:Cornell MFE

Interview with Gwen

具体问题参照之前的精华帖,完全没有区别。顺序都完全一样。。 https://forum.chasedream.com/thread-1241049-1-1.html
以下讲一些想法。纯个人经验总结,大家挑拣着有用的就好,one thing never fits all。

**Overall Suggestions **

  1. Know your stuff, 明确简历上的highlight,知道如何修饰你的weakness
  2. You need a story. An interview is a sales process, during which you sell your story to your interviewer/recruiter. 这个story可以是a person with strong devotion to quant trading, 或者是a person considering a change in his life, from science to the world of finance. 围绕这个story的核心构建你的回答。3. Principle Structure of "tell me about a situation" "tell about a time when you..." questions -- 3S理论:situation – solution – success (reference:自一个大牛学姐的整理)
    Situation: 讲清楚目标或者项目和问题是什么
    Solution: 你怎么解决的这个问题
    Success: 得到什么样的效果,策略有效吗etc

Walk me through your resume

强烈推荐Mergers & Inquisitions 的帖子。这个问题sets the tone of your entire interview。核心在于flow与highlight。

For example,我的flow是how I explored through the world of finance from sell-side to buy-side (highlight: multiple internships), and eventually located my interest in quantitative finance (highlight: key internships)

围绕这个flow建立两点

  1. What I have done to pursue my goal (quantitative finance)? 围绕MSCF的三点:Math,CS,Finance
  2. What I want to become in the future (don't have to talk too much, since you will be given this question anyway). Point: Show your research and prove your understanding about quantitative finance. Things to know: Where do people go after MSCF? What is a quant? sell-side vs. buyside? pricing vs. investing?

Reference
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-tell-your-story-investment-banking-interviews/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/walk-me-through-your-resume-top-mistakes/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/walk-through-resume/

Interactions

  1. Practice is key. 语气坚定,速度不能太快,保持微笑。我曾经喜欢在句尾吞音(声音变小),其实会显得很不自信,现在也在不断提醒自己改掉毛病。
  2. Raise your voice (be natural) when talking about your highlights。
  3. Pause between each minor parts. 跟中文的断句一样,同时allow for interviewer to make minor comments。Gwen在resume期间跟我聊了聊我的Leadership experience,还有一些club activities。
  4. Always remind yourself what your interviewer wants。作为一个academic program,Gwen想要的是contribution to the program and the CMU society。Contribution的定义不仅仅是你的personal success,还有community。我在interview中提到自己弹电吉他时,特意提到自己在本科的时候组了乐队,喜欢在学校的festival表演,并说到If I'm lucky enough to join the CMU community,I'll surely contribute to the community diversity and motivate the spirit of rock and Chinese music in the campus。那时她的response非常正面,也给我增添了不少信心。

Strengths & Weaknesses (Overall Suggestions 第3点)

准备好一个丰满的例子去支撑Strengths(最好的例子就是一次性体现2-3个strengths, which is the maximum amount),我提到了自己在CSA中一起host New Year的经历。Weaknesses反倒不需要很丰满的例子,重点在于如何改进。我自己提到的weakness是Tendency to over-stress myself。不讲具体改进的method,免得把大家思路卡死了。

Ethical Dilemma

这个问题一直觉得很tricky,我用的老套路,就是friends ask you for benefits (cheating, plagiarism)。3S理论,其中一定要clearly state out your decision and action。然后之前的面经提到过,考了CFA的朋友肯定顺便提一提CFA 对 ethics 的 emphasis~

Teamwork / Leadership Experience

结合strength说我觉得是最舒服也是最稳妥的,毕竟所谓teamwork一大重点就是know your strength and fit people in their best roles。同3S理论。

现下大概想到这么多吧。有想到的会陆续补充。
R2的朋友们加油!顺便给Pitts campus拉拉人气~

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原文引自:
https://forum.chasedream.com/thread-1299285-1-1.html

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