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Help Me Nail My Interview


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Help Me Nail My Interview

  #1 (permalink)
InvestorsArmy
Newport Beach + CA/US
 
Posts: 7 since Mar 2015
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I know this is potentially the wrong area to post this thread, but I noticed that most of the viewers were in this area.
That being said however my thread does pertain to Futures.

Anyways I have been a retail forex trader for the last three years as well as a member of forexfactory; the problem is my job interview tomorrow... I have any interview to become an apprentice at a managed futures company out of Newport Beach and my interview is tomorrow. My responsibilities would basically be entry-level at first calling investors/ persons of interest/ leads etc... until I pass my Series 3. However I want to wow my interviewer tomorrow who happens to be the managing partner and co-founder. Basically I am looking for any advice you can give a competent forex investor (me) about what I should know / study. Anyone with experience?? They provide services managing a portfolio of CTAs to best match the client with a CTA that meets their objectives/risk. I have dabbled in futures and understand macro econ, however I am nervous that he may ask some futures/options questions or abbreviations that I do not know. Anyways thanks I appreciate any advice you all have & sorry my post is messy I have a bunch of coffee already

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  #3 (permalink)
 
cory's Avatar
 cory 
virginia
 
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Obviously he is not going to impress with your trading knowledge. And since this is a cold calling job wow him with your ability to say a name clearly. I personally hang up on many sale calls as soon as they mispronounce my name.
ps. watch Boiler Room for more tips.

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  #4 (permalink)
Alphachase
Nicosia, Cyprus
 
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It certainly depends on the company, but as a rule of thumb, you don't need to possess any special skills in trading, futures/options expiration or money management to be a successful sales guy. They will probably provide you a training as required. At the entry level, all you need to know is how to sell services to clients. Show them your outstanding skills in sales.

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  #5 (permalink)
InvestorsArmy
Newport Beach + CA/US
 
Posts: 7 since Mar 2015
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Alphachase View Post
It certainly depends on the company, but as a rule of thumb, you don't need to possess any special skills in trading, futures/options expiration or money management to be a successful sales guy. They will probably provide you a training as required. At the entry level, all you need to know is how to sell services to clients. Show them your outstanding skills in sales.

Thank you both, I understand the position and that I will not be trading or managing haha however just I wanted to ensure I am not walking into a vocab test haha. I have created my own businesses in the past so I am no stranger to acquiring clients and building relationships, yet I am weary that the ballgame completely changes when you are trying to find investors with minimum 30k. Anyways thanks and the company is Lido Isle Advisors out of Newport Beach, CA

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  #6 (permalink)
 
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 casey44 
Louisville KY
 
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InvestorsArmy View Post
I know this is potentially the wrong area to post this thread, but I noticed that most of the viewers were in this area.
That being said however my thread does pertain to Futures.

Anyways I have been a retail forex trader for the last three years as well as a member of forexfactory; the problem is my job interview tomorrow... I have any interview to become an apprentice at a managed futures company out of Newport Beach and my interview is tomorrow. My responsibilities would basically be entry-level at first calling investors/ persons of interest/ leads etc... until I pass my Series 3. However I want to wow my interviewer tomorrow who happens to be the managing partner and co-founder. Basically I am looking for any advice you can give a competent forex investor (me) about what I should know / study. Anyone with experience?? They provide services managing a portfolio of CTAs to best match the client with a CTA that meets their objectives/risk. I have dabbled in futures and understand macro econ, however I am nervous that he may ask some futures/options questions or abbreviations that I do not know. Anyways thanks I appreciate any advice you all have & sorry my post is messy I have a bunch of coffee already

I'd think it better to learn all you can about the company and its history rather than brushing up on terminology the night before. Would you want to hire someone who didn't already know more than most about the company you founded/your work?

Depending on how much you really want it, and the topic is selling after all, maybe offer to work at a hefty pay cut and no benefits for an initial period so they can see what you can do. Whether it's a job at the corner store or the mega bucks athlete, neither side really knows how well it's going to work til some time has passed. A new job hire like investing = risk. Maybe it could help if you offer a lower risk trade.

And actively ask questions, interview the interviewer, you might find you don't want to work there after all.

And if you don't get it, but still want it, stay in touch, the one they hire may not work out. And a read of the book What Color if Your Parachute might help before the next attractive job comes along.

Just a stranger's two cents, disregard all this and follow your intuition.

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  #7 (permalink)
 artemiso 
New York, NY
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: Vanguard 401k
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The interview process will vary from firm to firm and it's hard for us to give you specific tips.

But here are some general rules going into a financial interview:

1. You should not try too hard to be someone you're not; be comfortable, personable and genuine. "I don't know but this is something I've been interested to find out/learn more about" is a get-out-of-jail card and any half-decent firm worth your joining wouldn't hold it against you if you used that once or twice.

2. As @casey44 says, read up the company's history and the job requirements as much as you can.

3. Prepare questions based on what you've read up about the company in (2), this is the best way to demonstrate your interest in getting the job.

4. Also, in (3), avoid coming across as a stalker or desperate job-seeker. Examples of questions/comments that you can avoid: (a) "What's the founder's background?" (b) "This is the only job I want, I didn't consider applying elsewhere..."

5. The exception to 4(b) is that you don't want to come across sounding like a douchebag, stating that you're valued by multiple companies and have no problem finding a job is one thing, but no one likes hearing you say bad things about how other firms are beneath you and you're applying to this job because you wanted a better offer.

6. You could spend some time reading the Investopedia Series 3 glossary ( General Futures Terminology - Series 3 - National Commodities Futures | Investopedia) and chapter 3 on general theory. It's not self-sufficient for the Series 3 but you can go through this in 1-2 hours to familiarize yourself a bit.

7. Try to read about 4 weeks' worth of financial/economic headlines and look out for major events that would catch the attention of your prospective employer. It's quite typical of firms to ask you for your brief comments on these issues, and without knowing whom you're interviewing with, this might help.

8. Be prepared to talk for 1 minute about any single line in your resume, I like rehearsing this in my head but not write down a script for it (for me, it starts to sound too fake if I seem like I'm reading a script off rote-memory, but your mileage depends on your charisma and skill).

9. Craft a follow-up email in your drafts before going into the interview. Ask for your interviewer's contact and name. "Thanks for your time <interviewer's name>, I really enjoyed talking to you," shows that this job matters enough to you. Modify your follow-up email to contain a couple of details about your interview and how it went so it's not like some generic template you send off to everyone. Send the follow-up email 2-3 hours after your interview to the interviewer/HR person who scheduled your interview after you leave. I interview dozens of candidates each year and I don't ever forget the ones who have sent follow-up emails. I do have a very low success rate with candidates who didn't bother following

Hope this helps.

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  #8 (permalink)
InvestorsArmy
Newport Beach + CA/US
 
Posts: 7 since Mar 2015
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artemiso View Post
The interview process will vary from firm to firm and it's hard for us to give you specific tips.

But here are some general rules going into a financial interview:

1. You should not try too hard to be someone you're not; be comfortable, personable and genuine. "I don't know but this is something I've been interested to find out/learn more about" is a get-out-of-jail card and any half-decent firm worth your joining wouldn't hold it against you if you used that once or twice.

2. As @casey33 says, read up the company's history and the job requirements as much as you can.

3. Prepare questions based on what you've read up about the company in (2), this is the best way to demonstrate your interest in getting the job.

4. Also, in (3), avoid coming across as a stalker or desperate job-seeker. Examples of questions/comments that you can avoid: (a) "What's the founder's background?" (b) "This is the only job I want, I didn't consider applying elsewhere..."

5. The exception to 4(b) is that you don't want to come across sounding like a douchebag, stating that you're valued by multiple companies and have no problem finding a job is one thing, but no one likes hearing you say bad things about how other firms are beneath you and you're applying to this job because you wanted a better offer.

6. You could spend some time reading the Investopedia Series 3 glossary General Futures Terminology - Series 3 - National Commodities Futures | and chapter 3 on general theory. It's not self-sufficient for the Series 3 but you can go through this in 1-2 hours to familiarize yourself a bit.

7. Try to read about 4 weeks' worth of financial/economic headlines and look out for major events that would catch the attention of your prospective employer. It's quite typical of firms to ask you for your brief comments on these issues, and without knowing whom you're interviewing with, this might help.

8. Be prepared to talk for 1 minute about any single line in your resume, I like rehearsing this in my head but not write down a script for it (for me, it starts to sound too fake if I seem like I'm reading a script off rote-memory, but your mileage depends on your charisma and skill).

9. Craft a follow-up email in your drafts before going into the interview. Ask for your interviewer's contact and name. "Thanks for your time <interviewer's name>, I really enjoyed talking to you," shows that this job matters enough to you. Modify your follow-up email to contain a couple of details about your interview and how it went so it's not like some generic template you send off to everyone. Send the follow-up email 2-3 hours after your interview to the interviewer/HR person who scheduled your interview after you leave. I interview dozens of candidates each year and I don't ever forget the ones who have sent follow-up emails. I do have a very low success rate with candidates who didn't bother following

Hope this helps.

This is EXACTLY how I feel / what I have done thank you all for the confidence!
One question more I promise...I have interviewed at many prominent and beginner financial advisors in the area and received a couple offers ( I do know that FAs are kinda like real estate agents like a dime a dozen) ...So the question is should I inform him of my process with the FA companies/offers and how I have come to realize that being an FA isn't what I'd like to do.
Another subnote is I don't have a degree so before this I assumed (foolishly) I could not become a broker

Thanks Again

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  #9 (permalink)
 MacroNinja 
Buenos Aires Argentina
 
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Sounds like if the firm is placing funds and matching advisers to clients, you should really have a grasp of how they manage risk and also have basic understanding of the main vocabulary of risk metrics that most of these firms use, e.g. what is beta, what is the Sharpe ratio, etc.

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  #10 (permalink)
 artemiso 
New York, NY
 
Experience: Beginner
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InvestorsArmy View Post
This is EXACTLY how I feel / what I have done thank you all for the confidence!
One question more I promise...I have interviewed at many prominent and beginner financial advisors in the area and received a couple offers ( I do know that FAs are kinda like real estate agents like a dime a dozen) ...So the question is should I inform him of my process with the FA companies/offers and how I have come to realize that being an FA isn't what I'd like to do.
Another subnote is I don't have a degree so before this I assumed (foolishly) I could not become a broker

Thanks Again

It sounds fine. So long as your reason for why "being an FA isn't what I'd like to do" has nothing directly to do with prestige or money. e.g. A decent answer would be, "Based on [what I know about being an FA], I feel an FA's job would not be as intellectually challenging as this one, and I feel that I can contribute more relevantly to this job because of [experience/skill on my resume]."

I would view it positively if you mentioned that this job you're interviewing for now is your first choice although you did apply to a few 'backup' options as alternatives. Can't guarantee the same for all interviewers though.

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Last Updated on March 18, 2015


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