This post just keeps getting more and more interesting.

I aim to please, buthit a nerve or three.You can't make an omelettewithout breaking some eggs.

This is truly a great thread for junior, or entry-level candidates for trading to read....there is a lot to be learned here!BigBlingin, thank you for that response, can I ask you to go into more detail, about the interviews that went wrong? How did they go wrong? Was it technical or was it a behavioural issue? The reason I ask is not to put you on the spot, but hopefully to learn.Thank you all!

No problem ManGlad I could helpIf you get called for an interview, there'salready a good chance you'll get the job.Almost all of the rejections I gotwere before the interview stage.My worst interviews were the early ones.When I was asked open-ended questions,I struggled with how to organize all of thepoints I wanted to make.In trying not to babble, I erred too much to theother extreme and gave very short answers.For example, when asked what qualitiesI possess that would make me a good trader,I'd say I'm good with numbers, or that I workwell under pressure, etc. and leave it at that.I did not elaborate on anythingand failed to make an impression.What I should have done and didin my successful interviews is giveconcrete examples of events in mylife that show me using those skills.Think back to your best accomplishments.Write a detailed report of the events andexplain how they demonstrate your skills.That way when someone asks you aboutyour skills, you can say "I have X skills, andhere's a great story about how I used them."

something someone mentioned a while back is how important it is tohit it off on a personal level. you will be working long stressful hoursvery close to each other. it doesn't matter how good the interviewee is,if he is arrogant or boring it isn't going to work.also, there is a lot of luck involved. a large proportion of new hires don't make it past six months.

Maybe this is helpful, maybe not.I used to think it would be fun to interview people, but that could not be farther from the truth. It is almost as stressful to interview someone as it is to be interviewed. Typically, I have 30-45 minutes to evaluate someone's skill and knowledge, intelligence, personality, work ethic and motivation, and to answer a few questions about the job. Obviously, if regrettably, it is necessary to fall back on first impressions and very rough judgements in this situation.Usually, I have made a decision within the first five to ten minutes. It may not be fair, but that is the way it works and I know that most of my colleagues operate the same way. The candidates who do the best are not necessarily the ones who can answer a string of technical questions correctly. Someone who listens to what I am saying and can discuss it intelligently will usually get very high marks, but I have found very few people are able to do this. Some people get nervous and freeze up, which is unfortunate in that there is pretty much no way to recover once this happens. Some people are so focused on mentally flipping through the problems that they studied the day before the interview that they fail to properly understand what I am asking them. Some people are so boring, or so abrasive, that I can't concentrate on what they are saying.My advice to anyone interviewing is to really listen to the other person, and try to interact with him a way that will be interesting to him. Writing out your responses to questions in advance will help you say what you want to communicate, but make sure they don't sound like canned responses. As much as possible, talk about things that are either specific to you or specific to the interviewer. And on the technical questions, the most important thing is not to panic. Everyone but the most sadistic interviewer will give you hints to point you in the right direction. Sometimes, admitting you don't know the answer is the best way to go. (although sometimes it's not.)

yes, regarding interviews.the position i work right now had a 2-step interviewing procedure. the first stage was at the head-hunter's who actually decided to fwd my application to the firm. the second was at the firm itself.fortunately the head hunter liked my face [it was merely a personal like-dislike] and it also helped, that i deduced a lot from my past unsuccesses. these came NOT at the interviews, but at the peersonal life - i behaved like a real nerd, a cube headed technocrat, killing all the human feeling, other than "being-happy-on-the-nicely-robust-scheme". i honestly encountered the head hunter on these things and she seemed to admire it. I want to stress, that because of the bad experiences I have gained some "EQ" to be able to answer to the head hunter's question.at the firm, it was a 6-hour interview, where my quant skills as well as personal skills were examined [ie, i fit in the team, etc]. i could see, when to keep silent intelligently, echoing the words of my interviewer [at the right time, of course], when to be critical on the current approach [someone was hesitating to consider correlation between prices or returns for V@r - oh, jezzzuuusss], and when just to nod [that was the hardest ]actually i do not like to interview sg. since here there is a lot of work [we are building out a new engine, i have to think all the time, collect literature, code, write reports, interact with traders, etc] i want to be sure that the colleague fits the structure. having asked some standard questions i ask some technical questions [e.g. prove, that the Doleans Dade exponential is a martingale, derive the general sln for wave eqn, derive fundamental sln for heat eqn, how to hedge positions where there are 2 sources of randomness, etc]. regardless the answers, then i begin asking on personal things [e.g. going out - where, holiday - where, why, memberships - why, is it important]. i have 60 mins [or 55], and i have to judge the applicant within this time. not good.

I never had an interview. But I always thought that if I did, it would be a good idea to bring some fresh-baked cookies.**Is that not a good idea?MP**At least when you don't get the interview, you can drown your sorrows by eating the cookies while driving around aimlessly.

Thanks for all the responses!! Good stuff!

Ok, there was another part of the interview that went real weird...On my resume I put "interest in options" well the head of trading asked about it, and I said, "yeah there is a lot to learn" she then told me, "I hate option traders, they are like flys on a dead animal, they do nothing but add volatility....and SSFs are just another way of bypassing the uptick rule, which will cause more voaltility, option traders are wolves!!" Remember this for a pure equity operations outfit.Well I did not even bother asking anything else, as I did not want to cause an arugment. Although I wanted to say, "I was under the impression that options actually decreased volatility", I can swear that Greenspan, even said that options (or derivatives) as a whole, had reduced volatility in the markets, during his Enron speech...Any thoughts?

Let that be a lesson to you.Tailor your resume for thecompany and the position.