Why You Didn’t Land an Offer in Your Final Round Interviews at Morgan Stanley

“Help! I went to my final round interviews but the interviewer didn’t like me from the start and kept harassing me with irrelevant questions. I asked for feedback afterward and they said, “Improve your technical skills.” How can I do that? They didn’t even ask me any technical questions.”

Final rounds are over.

Banks are done giving out offers.

…and you came close, got a few Superdays (or assessment centers), but you didn’t walk away with any offers.

While most of the articles on this site teach you how to improve yourself and land offers, this one has a different message: interviews are random.

Sometimes it’s not your fault if you don’t get an offer.

Weekend Trips: The Best Way to Break Into Investment Banking?

And no, I’m not referring to weekend ski trips, a 3-day gambling spree in Monaco, or your feeble attempt to ask your MD for a vacation 2 months after you started.

These are the weekend trips where you travel to financial centers, meet dozens of bankers in a short period of time, and apply the 80/20 rule to networking.

They might not be as fun as hitting the slopes, but they’re one of the best ways to break into finance – if you play your cards right.

How to Use Investment Banking Informational Interviews to Break In

I’ve referenced informational interviews many times, but have never given a step-by-step tutorial – or even said what exactly an informational interview is.

So let’s change that.

There’s more detail within Breaking Into Wall Street, but I wanted to put this guide out there to answer the most common questions on informational interviews – and show you how to use them to break into investment banking.