Genre and Sub Genre — Customary Folklore: Interview Practices, Behavior

Language: English

Country where Item is from: United States

 

Informant Data: Caroline Hsu is a senior at Dartmouth College studying Economics. Caroline is from Middletown, New Jersey, where her father is an engineer and her mother is a nurse. Similar to many other seniors going into finance, she has done multiple corporate recruiting rounds and received internships in Investment Banking. After graduation, Caroline will most likely go into consulting. On campus, Caroline works as a Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Associate, an Undergraduate Advisor, and a sister in Kappa Delta.

 

Social Context: Given the stakes involved in Finance interviews, aspiring Finance professionals are often antsy about how it is they ought to behave in an interview. And so much like the case in the other folklore collected here, more junior undergraduates will reach out to those who have done Finance interviews in order to get a better sense of how they ought to behave. And so the customary folklore in question here is shared among males and females, those generally pursuing business related degrees, and between those who are more junior and those more senior in their academic careers.

 

Cultural Context: Given that people who work in Finance share a set of common beliefs and practices, they themselves constitute a folk group, a folk group to which one is seeking entry when one recruits for a job in Finance. In light of this fact, one has to exhibit certain behaviors and characteristics that someone already in the sought-after capacity might display. In order to explore what exactly constitutes the “right behavior”, one of our collectors, Joseph Wang interviewed Caroline Hsu one-on-one in a study room in the library in order to get a better sense of the behaviors in question.

 

Item: Caroline Hsu noted that one must appear confident and convicted in one’s responses because Finance professionals tend to be very confident. She also noted that one should have good posture and that one should be aware of nonverbal cues. She said one must also demonstrate knowledge of Finance and that one should exhibit their interest in the company they’re interviewing with. She said one must also be conscious of who the interviewer in particular is and must be careful not to offend them.

 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Relevant Portion: 4:32 — 5:07

Transcript of Associated File:

• Joseph: What kind of behavior would you exhibit in an interview … ?

 

• Caroline: In terms of behavior.. Uh.. it’s a difficult line between maintaining professionalism and also connecting with the interviewers… so I think that’s always a very ambiguous area to navigate and I think for me… I try to be aware of how I am perceived and I consider like what can I say that will allow  me to connect on a more personal level with my interviewer without saying anything offensive or that’s too personal

 

• Joseph: Okay…awesome.. Can you kind of talk about a behavior you would try to avoid ?

 

• Caroline: Bad behavior… would be umm .. a few things…  ah.. Saying anything like that shows you don’t care about the firm.. Specifically.. I think during a lot of interviews you are asked why x or why z firm.. It’s important you demonstrate strong interest in the firm… uhh another thing to avoid is showing a lack of knowledge. This is specific to technical questions…. You should show that you’re prepared for any kind of job you’re applying to … from a qualitative standpoint.. I always try to avoid something that might offend the interviewer.. This depends on the type of person your interviewer is…

 

• Joseph Wang: That was great! Can you touch a little bit more kind of.. On the nonverbal cues you would try to avoid during an the interview ?

 

• It is always important to project confidence.. I always try to sit up very straight and try to imitate the body language of my interviewer. If they are sitting very rigidly.. I would not be slouching and vice versa.. And maintaining eye contact for sure….at least for me, I never break eye contact. … I think it shows engagement and confidence

 

Collector’s Comments:

• Caroline’s relation reflects her profound level of introspection on the nature of folklore and it’s real-life implications

General Comments:

• Virtually universal and uniform findings here. No meaningful variances noted in what was discerned.

Collector’s Name:

• Joseph Wang

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Interview Behavior, Verbal and nonverbal cues