Hey everyone - As some of you may know, I’ve been pursuing a position in the IB arena. Recently, a boutique IB in the greater NYC area sent me an e-mail saying I passed the initial screening process. The next step in their process involves satisfying a couple requests. The requests include providing my unofficial transcripts and a writing sample. Does anyone have experience with an interview process like this one? If so, what should I provide for a writing sample?? Thanks!
Just give them the AF URL and your User Name. That should suffice.
In all seriousness, I’d call them and discuss what would be appropriate and sufficient.
I was asked that same question in an interview last week. I don’t write anything at work that I could publicly share. so I wrote an equity research report on a stock that I follow and sent it to them. They said it was a great idea, so maybe try that?
CFAvsMBA - LOL you know what I’m saying. The firm asked me to send a business writing sample, but it can’t be something I’ve written with other people. The writing sample should reflect my own work within a business context. So, my question was more strategic than anything. I understand what is asked of me, but I’m not sure what writing sample is the best one to provide.
ER reports are good if you are interviewing for an ER gig, but I don’t know how much that will help me. I’m thinking about pulling a grad paper I wrote in one of my finance courses and sending it to them, but I’m still trying to figure it out. I just don’t want to send the wrong sample.
My interview was for an IB boutique too and the ER report moved me on to the next round. If your writing has improved a lot since that college class then pulling an old writing sample could be a poor reflection of your skills.
My only experience with a writing sample was so that they could compare it to the ransom note.
Fortunately, they didn’t match.
s2000 with some top-notch dad humor
It would surprising if your job involves writing and company doesn’t ask for writing sample. It is like hiring developers without looking at how they write code… oh wait…
Many engineers have jobs in which they have to write to a great extent (e.g., writing reports of their findings). My wife used to work for an engineering firm and was appalled at the (general lack of) quality of the writing; she spent countless hours revising reports to make them comprehensible.
Similarly, many finance-types have to write a fair amount, and the lion’s share of them are abysmal at writing. Personally, I wouldn’t be averse to requiring a writing course or two for business majors; they couldn’t help but benefit from them.
In many positions, I’m asked to write more than I’m asked to run analyses, make forecasts, or code. It’s true that my writing tends to be long blocs, but people who pay for a product seem to prefer that over the randomly puked gibberish that makes up most people’s reports. For routine documentation, gibberish is fine for “check the box, did it” type work, but if it’s something others are going to have to think about and evaluate, my bosses tend to put me on the job.
Sometimes people enjoy the colorful metaphors too, a bit like eating Froot Loops before drinking way too much beer.