<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>A little late to the party, but I just had my final skype interview with SEO. Hoping I did well! I applied to IB. The recruiters are really nice so if you have yet to interview, my best advice would be to stay calm and realize that they are here to help position you for a great future. best of luck to everyone also waiting to hear back! Hope we all make it!</p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>Does anybody have any insights into what type of questions the phone-call followup to the in-person interview consists of? I just got asked to have one.</p>
<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<p>I had my skype follow-up chat Monday and I was called back yesterday and informed I was accepted into the Investment Banking program. I received the official email this morning. </p>
<p>For those of you who are in the follow-up chat stage, my advice goes along with nopsypoo’s sentiments: stay calm and realize that the recruiters are not only there to help position you for a great future, but also to ensure you are ready for the challenges that lie ahead. From my experience in this process, I can tell you that any advice given to you on what YOUR interview will be like is probably not accurate. The process is different for everyone, but if you are sound on your fit and technical questions then you should be fine. Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>@UMD You’re from UM Dearborn, correct? Any word on anyone else from UM Dearborn/AA/Flint being accepted into SEO? I’m at MSU and as far as I know we have two people going from here, including myself.</p>
<p>Hey guys, just wondering if any of you know of anybody who has been accepted into the Finance/Accounting program?</p>
<p>A friend of mine was accepted last week into the Finance/Accounting program.</p>
<p>Well…that’s not particularly promising…</p>
<p>Don’t look into it too much. The process really is different for everyone, so counting yourself out of it already might be premature. Definitely secure some other options for yourself though.</p>
<p>rtcresolve - Yes, UM-Dearborn. As far as I know, I am the only applicant from UM-Dearborn. As far as FLint and AA, I do not know anyone who has been accepted or who has got an decision yet.</p>
<p>I just did my “in-person” interview (which was actually done via Skype since Nemo prevented travel). I am not sure it went well. The two big things were that I bombed the “mental math” question and also didn’t appear to know exactly what I wanted to get into. </p>
<p>Here’s what I did right. As far as explaining financial statements, I aced it. Cash flow statement…had it down. I did not get the “Why SEO” question, but I did get the “why investment banking” question, which also was great. It was actually quite a personal interview which was better because I am no master of finance. I also explained my past finance experience (was a finance intern before). So to be fair to myself, there’s a lot that I did right. But…</p>
<p>As far as categorization, I indicated that I only knew about investment banking—I did not know of the various subcategories that he mentioned. I told him I talked extensively with an SEO alumnus at my school and he didn’t get specific on that. I did not clearly and correctly indicate the difference between public and private accounting, also—kind of a biggie. So really there’s three, but the main thing I messed up on was the estimation question…estimating the number of cars sold. My answer actually wasn’t too far off (15 million, it’s really about 12 million). The issue was the methodology of it…breaking it down. I did quite poorly. He kept having to walk me through the math. I’m not a math whiz, and my quantitative background was lacking clearly, but if I wasn’t so flustered it probably wouldn’t have been so difficult. He ended the interview by saying, “Sophomore opportunities are competitive…are you familiar with SEO-U? You should consider it as a second option in case things don’t work out.” I don’t know if that’s kind of a spiel they give everyone, but in my case I feel like it’s probably an indication of “probably not”. He also deleted me off of Skype. Again, not sure if it’s just customary since they don’t want a bunch of random interviewees on their list, but I’m not sure. </p>
<p>I tried very hard to prepare for this. It’s the kind of thing essentially where if you aren’t an econ expert or if you haven’t been following econ news very intently (which I have been, actually), you probably won’t make the cut. I don’t want to be a defeatist, but I’m just trying to be a realist. I did say that I preferred the more personal rather than technical format of the interview, but in a sense I would have preferred more technical questions about M&A and synergies and valuations and sizing up competition, since that’s what I studied up on. Mental math is the kind of thing you can’t study up on—it says a lot about aptitude, and in my case more so, aplomb.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck to the rest of you.</p>
<p>SEO asked me on (Feb 1) for my updated resume so that they can float them out to their partner firms. Does anyone know what happens next. Would SEO send you an email about one of their partner firms wanting an interview or would one of partner firms directly contact you for an interview? How long does it take?</p>
<p>Not being able to quote on this forum is really irritating. </p>
<p>@SEO2013-- I’m still a bit confused about what you want to do… are you interviewing for Investment Banking, or Finance/Accouting (Banking)? Either way, don’t worry too much. I was rejected my sophomore year (didn’t even receive a phone interview) but participated in SEO-U and it is an amazing opportunity. Short of getting an IB internship, it’s one of the best things to do with your sophomore summer. Being in SEO-U will not only allow you access to some of the same training used in the SEO Career program, but will also enable you to connect with SEO alumni and recruiters, which will put you in a great spot when you apply for the Career program your junior year. You will also have a more clearly-defined idea of what type of internship and where you want to be in the future. </p>
<p>@er3115ic-- It depends on the internship for which you applied. I’m in the IB program and I was informed that I would NOT have to interview with partner firms. A friend of mine was accepted into the S&T program and he had to interview directly with the partner firms and he was notified of his acceptance via the partner firm as well. The processes vary by the internship you for which you applied.</p>
<p>Ok, that makes sense. I applied to the IB program</p>
<p>Hey All, </p>
<p>I am new to the blog. I was recently invited to join the Finance/Accounting program for Investment Banking with SEO.</p>
<p>Congrats! Where are you from?</p>
<p>Non target NJ school</p>
<p>Hey guys…</p>
<p>I just had my interview and completely screwed up on the mental math portion. Do you think I’m basically denied for sure?</p>
<p>About how long does it usually take for people to hear back by?</p>
<p>Is placement based on your school beneficial? I go to a top 25 school and have a 3.4-3.5, previous finance experience, but completely bombed my mental math portion.</p>
<p>@Wowie… Don’t count yourself out yet. I Initially screwed up the mental math because of nerves, but I just took a deep breath and redid it… Came up with the right answer second time around and was able to explain it well. I don’t think it counted against me that much.</p>
<p>Hello, I applied to the S&T program last year made it to the Assessment Day but didnt an offer. I was pretty bummed out about it. I dont think I looked at or paid attention to the markets for several months following my rejection. I changed course this year and decided to pursue the Consulting Program. I interviewed in December and was contacted recently by SEO to gauge my interest in some back office summer analyst positions with a couple of Banks. So we will how it goes. </p>
<p>Non-Target</p>
<p>Hey guys… I was wondering how long the process takes on average. I interviewed on Friday and I was wondering if I might as well just wait it out for a month or so and forget about it.
My interviewer mentioned that I might have to interview with the firm specifically if I was chosen. Is this common?</p>