正文
I recently took an offer and I am grateful for the help I got from here, especially 梅影. I would like to share my story.
I am a master in financial engineering. Upon graduation, I have been working in a big company as an intern for 6 month full time. I actually did not look for a job at the beginning as I got an offer from my boss. But things change. Before taking the offer, I talked to another group to see if there is any opportunity in the group as I am more interested in what they do there. My boss, for some reason, knew that, and asked the HR to talk to me. According to the HR’s word, “we want to officially retract your offer”. Well, this is the first time I've ever heard about this sentence, but that is what happened to me. Thus, I started looking for a job at the end of October and I am graduating in December!
I was under a lot of stress then as I need to have my job settled by March the latest for the H1b. I literally applied for every job that is relevant to me on eFinancialCareers.com (BTW, this is a very good site for finance industry. Do not use Monster, this does not help us.). Other than my FE master, I used to have another master in computation and half way through my PhD in business school before I dropped and move to this financial engineering program. Too much education but too little experience gave me a weird situation in the job searching process. I have such a lot of areas that I could apply, but imagine how nervous I am before an interview for a quant developer position as you could guess how much C++ I have left after 4 years of not using it? How much preparation I need to do before I take an interview which is relevant to both Finance and my previous half PhD? Furthermore, I am still a breastfeeding mother and I have to take pump to onsite interview!
Now, I got 3 offers and I have signed one. (None of them is ideal but I am too tired and I am done with it)
I would like to share what I have in mind about job hunting:
1. Work on your resume, continuously. I think it is not enough to adjust only your cover letter. For different positions, you may want to adjust the layout of your resume as well. Highlight the ones that are most relevant in your resume.
2. Work on your network. By the time I started searching for a job, I pretty much let everyone around me know it. Many of my colleagues in my current intern company helped me. They gave me recruiters they worked with, their friends’ contact info, etc.. Actually, recruiters do not like people with H1b needs, but their help and support are still helpful. For the competitive market, imagine how many resumes for a position per day? Network at least help them to take more time screening your resume.
3. Be open to behavioral questions. I read through all the questions 梅影 had listed. I am grateful for her help, but I did not plan my answers according to the solution there. I think most companies are open to various answers and they generally want to know you better by these questions instead of asking for a “correct” answer. You could be talkative or quiet, you could enjoy long hours or not, and you could have teamwork experience or just do not know if you will fit to a group as you have never worked in a group. I think none of these answers hurt me. I was very open when answering these questions. I even met a guy asking me if you win a lottery of $1b, what will you do? I said, I will buy this firm to be your boss. Well, at this interview, I have already had another offer. That’s why I was so free to say anything. But even with this said, I still got the position. So, be free and act yourself.
4. Be prepared for the technical part! Even if you do not have enough time, still glimpse through the relevant topics so that you could at least talk about the area and show them you “knew” it and will be able to pick it up. That’s exactly what I did when I was asked about C++ questions and my old PhD knowledge. Without the preparation, the part about C++ and my PhD major in my resume would be just exaggerated or simply a lie.
Another suggestion which may not be very relevant to most of you: do not think of changing a group before signing the offer… after I lost my offer, I got to know that my boss lost 80% of his team in the last 2 years, and thus changing group is his taboo… that’s why I lost it…
Last thing, which is easy to say but hard to do, is: think positively and be persistent even when you are miserable! Next time when you are miserable, think about me: losing an offer for some stupid reason, in need of H1b sponsorship, looking for a finance job in a financial crisis environment, taking a pump to interview, and got a fever of 39.5 degree for 2 or 3 days (mastitis) each time after onsite interview… Do you think it is easier for you to think positively?
I am a master in financial engineering. Upon graduation, I have been working in a big company as an intern for 6 month full time. I actually did not look for a job at the beginning as I got an offer from my boss. But things change. Before taking the offer, I talked to another group to see if there is any opportunity in the group as I am more interested in what they do there. My boss, for some reason, knew that, and asked the HR to talk to me. According to the HR’s word, “we want to officially retract your offer”. Well, this is the first time I've ever heard about this sentence, but that is what happened to me. Thus, I started looking for a job at the end of October and I am graduating in December!
I was under a lot of stress then as I need to have my job settled by March the latest for the H1b. I literally applied for every job that is relevant to me on eFinancialCareers.com (BTW, this is a very good site for finance industry. Do not use Monster, this does not help us.). Other than my FE master, I used to have another master in computation and half way through my PhD in business school before I dropped and move to this financial engineering program. Too much education but too little experience gave me a weird situation in the job searching process. I have such a lot of areas that I could apply, but imagine how nervous I am before an interview for a quant developer position as you could guess how much C++ I have left after 4 years of not using it? How much preparation I need to do before I take an interview which is relevant to both Finance and my previous half PhD? Furthermore, I am still a breastfeeding mother and I have to take pump to onsite interview!
Now, I got 3 offers and I have signed one. (None of them is ideal but I am too tired and I am done with it)
I would like to share what I have in mind about job hunting:
1. Work on your resume, continuously. I think it is not enough to adjust only your cover letter. For different positions, you may want to adjust the layout of your resume as well. Highlight the ones that are most relevant in your resume.
2. Work on your network. By the time I started searching for a job, I pretty much let everyone around me know it. Many of my colleagues in my current intern company helped me. They gave me recruiters they worked with, their friends’ contact info, etc.. Actually, recruiters do not like people with H1b needs, but their help and support are still helpful. For the competitive market, imagine how many resumes for a position per day? Network at least help them to take more time screening your resume.
3. Be open to behavioral questions. I read through all the questions 梅影 had listed. I am grateful for her help, but I did not plan my answers according to the solution there. I think most companies are open to various answers and they generally want to know you better by these questions instead of asking for a “correct” answer. You could be talkative or quiet, you could enjoy long hours or not, and you could have teamwork experience or just do not know if you will fit to a group as you have never worked in a group. I think none of these answers hurt me. I was very open when answering these questions. I even met a guy asking me if you win a lottery of $1b, what will you do? I said, I will buy this firm to be your boss. Well, at this interview, I have already had another offer. That’s why I was so free to say anything. But even with this said, I still got the position. So, be free and act yourself.
4. Be prepared for the technical part! Even if you do not have enough time, still glimpse through the relevant topics so that you could at least talk about the area and show them you “knew” it and will be able to pick it up. That’s exactly what I did when I was asked about C++ questions and my old PhD knowledge. Without the preparation, the part about C++ and my PhD major in my resume would be just exaggerated or simply a lie.
Another suggestion which may not be very relevant to most of you: do not think of changing a group before signing the offer… after I lost my offer, I got to know that my boss lost 80% of his team in the last 2 years, and thus changing group is his taboo… that’s why I lost it…
Last thing, which is easy to say but hard to do, is: think positively and be persistent even when you are miserable! Next time when you are miserable, think about me: losing an offer for some stupid reason, in need of H1b sponsorship, looking for a finance job in a financial crisis environment, taking a pump to interview, and got a fever of 39.5 degree for 2 or 3 days (mastitis) each time after onsite interview… Do you think it is easier for you to think positively?
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