Bulge-Bracket Equity Research, CFA, Series 7 and 63 experience, interviews, structured, important, something

king_kong

Hi guys,
For Equity Research Associate positions at BB (think MS, JPM, UBS) that require something like 1-3 years of financial services experience, how are the interviews structured? Is there just one round of interview with 2-3 people in the team and they extend you offers or can there be several rounds of interviews?
Also, how much does the holding of Series 7, 63 licenses and CFA Level 2-3 candidacy help? Are these more important than just a simple matter of whether they like you or not?
Any insights would be appreciated, thanks!

iteracom

yes licenses and CFA help a lot..
..normally its 8-10 interviews (one or two rounds including HR)

mdfb79

What if the senior analyst didn’t like you that much but you have all these credentials that other people don’t have. Does the firm sort of force the senior analyst to choose this candidate?
Also, my first round was directly with the team so does this bypassing mean that I was a very good candidate and I didn’t need to go through HR?
Thanks in advance.

waldziuchna

HR is normally mandatory..to discuss salary/bonus/background check/visa etc.
senior analyst normally has full discretion is choosing his/her associate..firm might still take you and put you under some other analyst.