Intern Chronicles | Apurv Gaurav | Blackrock
1) Could you briefly explain to us about your company’s field? What motivated you to pursue this domain?
Blackrock is the largest asset management company in the world. It has a lot of businesses under it which include asset management, business management, and portfolio analysis. Since my childhood, I was quite familiar with finance as my father used to invest money in the stock market and I also used to learn about finance and the stock market from him. After coming to college I understood that there is not only theoretical finance but also quantitative finance which engineers can pursue. That’s the major reason I chose this domain as my career option.
2) What was the exact selection procedure for your company? Can you brief us about the type of questions asked in each round?
Initially, we had a CV shortlisting. About twenty to twenty-five people were shortlisted. After that, we had around three rounds of interviews. In the first round we were asked questions based on financial concepts and projects done basically CV grilling was done. I had projects on time series modeling and portfolio optimization. So I was asked about the different models of portfolio optimization like the mean variance determining model. I was also given puzzles and riddles to solve. The second round was also a technical round in which theoretical and quantitative questions based on the nature of the job that is on portfolio analysis were asked. Mainly the questions related to risk modeling and value at risk were asked. The third round was the HR round which was more than a formality round it just lasted for about five minutes and very general questions like What are your hobbies? What job location do you prefer? etc where asked.
3) What skills are required to work in this domain? How did you acquire those skills? (Mention both academic and extracurricular)
As per my analysis of the interview and job profile, they look for candidates with quantitative aptitude and good temperament. Apart from theoretical finance one has to be smart with quantitative finance, risk modeling, and probability and statistics. Having knowledge of stochastic processes and calculus is also important. It is also important that the candidate has a good knowledge of time series modeling and machine learning as it comes in handy in this job profile. As macroeconomics is also an integral part of finance I got its knowledge from the course present in the institute curriculum. Being a student with M.tech in financial engineering I got to learn about time series modeling from the regression and time series modeling course present in the institute itself. This helped me to become aware of time series forecasting and methods of regression. Apart from this, I gathered resources from the curriculum of exams like CFA and FRM. Being an applicant for a finance company one should be aware of at least five to six important papers from ten papers of the CFA exam because having basic knowledge about them is quite necessary as most companies ask questions based on it.
4) When did you start preparing for your internship? Could you give a rough sketch of your timetable?
I didn’t have any outlined timetable for the CDC preparation for this profile. I have been very interested in finance since my first year so I was acquainted with the topics related to finance profile from the very beginning. I majorly prepared for the CDC during my summer vacation in which I mostly covered the areas that were common for a profile I was preparing for like riddle and puzzle solving and probability and statistics. I also brushed up on my concepts of macroeconomics as macroeconomics gives one the basic intuition to solve any financial problem.
5) What is the general influence of (a) CGPA (b) Projects (c) Interns (d) PORs in the selection procedure?
According to me having a CGPA of 8.5 or above is a safe bid. As CGPA plays a vital role in the shortlisting process after that I don’t think CGPA has any role in the further part of the selection process. In finance quality of your projects is very important. I had one of my projects with the professor at the Rural Development Center and also had two self-projects based on portfolio optimization. I also had an internship with an investment banking firm. The most important thing about projects and interns is that one should be quite well versed with the work which they did at that time because rather than having big names on your CV having done meaningful work which could provide transferable skills for the job is important. POR can act as a plus point during the selection process.
6) Give some general do’s and don’ts during CDC season.
The Do’s:
- Try to prepare for multiple profiles rather than putting all your hard work into a single profile and ignoring others as preparing for multiple profiles will keep you ready with a backup always and further you can go in your best interest.
The Don’ts:
- Don’t get depressed or panic during the CDC.
7) What factors do you think are necessary for making an impressive CV for your company?
For making an impressive CV specifically for companies like Blackrock or other finance companies is important to have good projects because having projects relevant to the industry is important. Most companies expect projects on portfolio optimization and risk management as most of their work revolves around the same. Also, the companies that are coming to the IIT KGP campus expect students to have quantitative aptitude in finance which means that projects are part simulation or mathematical calculation.
8) Can you suggest some valuable resources that will be helpful during CDC preparations?
Topics like derivatives, equity, financial statements, and portfolio management can be covered through the CFA curriculum. Apart from this one can also refer to YouTube videos by channels like StatQuest which could give you the basic foundation of analytics this could be a very helpful resource if one is applying for job profiles that are based on analytics and finance.
9) Any parting advice you would like to give to the students who would be facing the upcoming CDC season?
My advice for those who will be facing the upcoming CDC season is don’t bank upon a single profile, diversify your efforts specifically for those who are preparing for finance profiles to be thorough with their project work as ones the interviewer finds that you are not well versed with the projects that you have done will think of you as a very irresponsible candidate. So be thorough with your CV and all the best.
Thank You!!