Ex-JPMorgan & BlackRock Portfolio Manager’s Insider Tips on Aceing Interviews
We invited Dominic Pegler who shared what he looks for during candidate interviews to find the “right fit”. He is specialised in international bond portfolio management and also is the Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics, HKUST.
Students (esp. Y1 and Y2) who want to crack AM roles can take away several tips to build your CV!
🎯Market View - You can't show up for interviews without having read that day’s news. Prepare about how factors like inflation can impact investment decisions. Think as an investor, what should I be doing to either to protect my clients' money, or increasing it. Along with technical questions, prepare the industry’s big trends and future prospects.
🎯Unpacking the “soft skills” - Hiring managers rely a lot on some key personality traits and behaviour instead of just grades. Since the #IB and #AM hours are gruelling, they’ll assess if you're easy to work with as no one wants to be stuck with a difficult teammate (much less a tedious intern). How do they determine that?
1️⃣Track record of hard work/excellence: Strong grades and internships in the CV are one way to reflect that but not everything. Engaging in extracurriculars like sports, student society, and volunteering are great ways to show how you’ve groomed a well-rounded personality. Workplace examples of using Excel or Python for process automation and efficiency is another way to show how you can add value.
2️⃣Active Listening and Empathy: Client-focused roles require strong empathy and communication skills. It means being a great listener to comprehend what the client needs. Listen carefully to your interviewer’s question, and paraphrase to interpret correctly and develop your answer (“That’s a good question. May I clarify if you mean XXX?”). Besides volunteer work is highly valued by firms as it shows your empathy and ability to create larger value.
3️⃣Resilience to high pressure: Typically, interviewers may ask you about a time when you failed at something. Prepare 1-2 specific examples of how you overcame a difficulty. Do you have it in yourself to rise above your mistakes, learn, and continue to stay productive?
4️⃣Motivation: Show your deep interest in the field (like managing a personal portfolio, additional trainings, sharing your investment views). Have something to say about what's happening in the world. Although asset management is all about making big money, firms shy away from hiring people who're only motivated by money. It can make for reckless asset managers and you don’t want that impression.
Hit 👍 and scroll to the comments to get a link to the full interview!
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