Reading02: Jobs

My internship and job interview process has been a little different than a lot of other computer science students, from what I have heard so far.  Personally, I am a little hesitant about working in solely tech and instead wish to use my technical skills and computer science background in the financial field.  More specifically, I would like to apply data analysis and computer science in investment and asset management.  While I am still expected to know the technical side of things as everyone else is, I also have to know at least a little bit about finance and how I can apply computer science and data analysis in investing.  While most of the firms that I have interviewed with will teach me most of the financial know-how after I would start, usually around a third of an interview with these firms is talking about finance and how I would solve different financial problems using my technical background.  The way I prepare for this is by keeping up to date on the financial markets, so that when I have to answer questions such as these, I will be up to date on what is actually happening in the world and can try to incorporate what others in the field are actually doing in my answers.  From feedback and my initial thoughts on my question, I feel that I have been doing well on these types of questions.  What surprises me most about the interview process for me is that most interviewers really don’t care about if you’re able to get the “right” answer when they ask questions, especially when interviewers are asking financial questions to a non-finance major.  Most interviewers simply want to hear your thought process and want to see if you can try and understand concepts outside of your area of expertise.  They want to see if you can learn on the fly and on the job, as I would have to do that with a job in this area as I have already mentioned.  Personally, my overall impression of the interview process is that it is a fair and effective way of identifying the best candidates for whatever job it might be.  While at times I don’t think it is as efficient as it could be, with some firms having 3-4 rounds of phone interviews before even getting an in-person interview on site, I do believe that the interview process that I have seen if effective in its current state.  When speaking to how ethical it is, I believe that the interview process is ethical as of now, but I could see how some people might not believe that it is.  I could see how some might view it as unethical due to the amount of time required to interview, not even to mention the amount of time put in to be able to impress the interviewers and company with your resume.  However, while I see this point of view, I believe that the process is still ethical because when companies are hiring, they should strive to hire the best candidates and putting in this time is one way to show that you are committed to the job and, once hired, will put in every effort to be as successful as possible both for the firm and for yourself.