There is no better place to begin your career than in sales and trading but getting in can be daunting…
When I interviewed for sales and trading summer analyst positions in 2016 – at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, respectively – I frankly had no idea what I was doing.
…And to be honest, there wasn’t much I could do about that.
As you likely already know, there are no comprehensive courses out there that cover the top sales and trading interview questions or give any kind of clarity as to what sales and trading (S&T) is even all about in practice.
…And because of that every year thousands of promising candidates either don’t get an interview due to poor networking or fail to impress if they do get an interview.
I was lucky to get through the recruiting process and get offers at both Goldman and JPM. But ever since my interviews nearly five years ago I believed that someone needed to create a definitive course that walked you through the entire sales and trading recruiting process, explained how to answer top interview questions, and walked through what desks exist and what they do.
…Since no one had created such a course by 2020, I decided to just do it myself. The result is the Sales and Trading Interview Prep Course, which contains 13 guides and over 300 real-world sales and trading interview questions and answers.
The reason for the course being so large is that I believed a truly comprehensive course needed to cover not only the interview questions you need to prepare for in a sales and trading interview (and there are a lot of them!), but also help build your contextual understanding of what sales and trading really is in practice.
That latter point is important. One of the best ways to both network well and interview well is to understand what S&T actually is in practice, what various desks really do, and what questions you should be asking folks during networking and interviews.
Sales and trading can seem like a complete black box to someone from the outside and what I set out to do is try to shed a little light on sales and trading and help you get your foot in the door.
However, there’s a good reason no one has ever tried to create a definitive sales and trading course before…
The reality is that sales and trading is really just the name of a division of an investment bank that houses dozens of wildly different desks.
Every desk in sales and trading will focus on a different product that is wholly distinct from other products that other desks deal with. This makes getting your arms around everything that occurs in S&T incredibly difficult.
With that being said, the singular best way to stand out in an interview is to show you have a rough understanding of the largest desks on the trading floor and have an idea of what you’re interested in prior to beginning.
…While in most areas of life it’s best to be an expert in a narrow area, when you’re interviewing in sales and trading you want to have an amateur understanding of all the major desks in S&T.
No one expects you to understand exactly what a 2s10s steepener is, what convexity involves, or what CLO coverage tests are. However, showing that you understand where those terms fit in the mosaic of sales and trading puts you miles ahead of the pack.
I started off on this project by asking myself one simple question: if I wanted to teach someone to not only succeed in getting a sales and trading offer, also but excel once they get into the bank, how would I do it?
Ultimately, I decided the project would need to:
1. Provide a comprehensive overview guide that gives you the necessary contextual understanding of what sales and trading is, what folks do day-to-day, and what you should look for in desks
2. Show you how to network properly; including the questions you should be asking folks to really impress them
3. Give you literally hundreds of the most common sales and trading interview questions broken down by category (including one category, Questions to Ask Your Interviewer, which is perhaps the most important and unknown type of question)
4. Provide introductory questions and answers for every major desk within sales and trading so you can get up to speed on the practical basics of everything from mortgage backed securities to municipal bonds quickly and efficiently
I knew that creating something this comprehensive would be a lot of work. But, to be honest, I had no idea just how much work it would take.
…In fact, if I had known how long this would take, and how large this would all become, I probably never would have started.
What I've put together here includes 13 guides, spanning over 200 pages, and includes over 300 questions and answers. Plus, I update the members area each month with my favorite sell-side research from GS, JPM, etc. so that you always stay current with how actual desks are thinking about markets and have excellent interview talking points on the major asset classes.
…Don’t worry though. I break everything down by what you need to know at each stage of the recruiting process to make sure you don’t get overwhelmed.
While creating all of this has taken many months and probably hasn't been the best use of my time, I believe that it has all been worth it, because…
There is no better place to begin your career than in sales and trading and what I’ve created here will put you in the best position to succeed…
Let’s be honest: over the past five to ten years sales and trading has gotten a bit of a bad rap. From new regulations to encroaching technology, people on the outside of sales and trading have become more bearish on it.
The reality is that if you want to work 80-100 hours a week during your twenties – for a bit more pay – then by all means pursue traditional M&A investment banking.
…However, the reality is very clear: there is almost no better place from a work / life balance perspective to build a career in finance than in sales and trading.
If you begin your career at a major bank within S&T, you’ll begin making in excess of $100,000 and by the time you’re around thirty you'll make many multiples of that.
While some areas, like cash equities, have suffered from automation the reality is that automation has always been something that has occurred on the trading floor. The trading floor is continually reinventing itself with new jobs and asset classes coming into being.
Plus, the potential upside of sales and trading – if you properly prepare and land on the right desk – is still unbeatable compared to other areas of finance as well.
Not only that, but the actual work itself is interesting! Unlike in other areas of finance where you feel like a cog in an impersonal machine, in sales and trading you are connected to the market, always dealing with something novel, and generally doing things that are intellectually stimulating.
…I created all of this because I found sales and trading to be incredibly rewarding (intellectually and monetarily) and want others interested in the field to have the best possible chance of breaking in. I also just like writing about all of this, so this has been a lot of fun to put together.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of all the sales and trading guides created as part of the Sales and Trading Interview Prep Course…
You can think of the course as containing two distinct groups of guides: The Primary Guides and The Desk Guides.
The Primary Guides cover everything you need to know about getting the interview (if you haven’t already) and the questions you need to be able to answer in a sales and trading interview.
I don't provide one-line answers to the Q&A. I dive in deep and often write multiple paragraphs so you understand why the answer I provide will be impressive in an interview.
The Sales and Trading Primary Guides
Sales and Trading Interview Overview Guide
The Sales and Trading Interview Overview Guide sets the stage for the rest of the course. It's 51-pages describing the layout of the trading floor, how to think about various roles within S&T, compensation and exit opportunities, how to approach your S&T recruiting, get prepared for interviews, and much more.
This guide provides the contextual understanding you need about what sales and trading really is all about in practice.
Sales and Trading Interview Q&A Guide
This guide contains 202 sales and trading interview questions and goes over what you need to know for first-round interviews and superdays along with interview do's and don't's.
I break down the interview questions (while showing which are most likely at each stage of the interview process) into: behavioral-based questions, market-based questions, investment-based questions, questions to ask your interviewer, and product-specific questions.
Sales and Trading Networking Guide
Networking is essential in sales and trading. Not only prior to your interviews, but also on the job. Here I detail my system for effective, efficient networking. Including my do's and don't's of networking, how to find targets to contact, exact e-mail templates, and 15 impressive questions to ask on a networking call or in-person.
S&T CV and Cover Letter Guide
With the rise of HireVue for first-round interviews, your CV and cover letter have never been less important for getting your foot in the door. How you perform in interviews makes all the difference (which is partly why I created this!). However, you still need to make sure your CV and cover letter conform to S&T standards and that's what I briefly cover here.
Some Sell-Side Research Reports
Since markets are constantly changing, I can't possibly keep all the market-based answers in the S&T Q&A guide completely up-to-date. So, in the members area I provide a few recent sell-side research reports to give you a behind-the-scenes look how at banks like GS, JPM, etc. are currently thinking about markets. I always try to pick reports that cover more general market themes in detail and provide good explanations.
The Desk Guides go a step further. They break down the major desks you’ll find within sales and trading and cover the basics of what you need to know, what I believe the future of those desks are, and what kind of people would be best suited to join them.
Every Desk Guide follows the same structure:
✔ An introduction to the product and how it's traded
✔ An introduction to the desks that trade the product and how they're structured on the trading floor
✔ What the future of these desks are likely to be (if I'm personally bullish or bearish on them)
✔ Questions and answers I've developed that get you up to speed on the practical basics of the product (knowing these Q&A will really impress people)
✔ At the end of every Desk Guide I attach the top industry primers - developed by investment banks - in case you want to dive even deeper into the product (these are often 30-100 pages long and very in-depth)
Whether you’re in a rotational sales and trading program or are being placed directly on a desk, you need to take control of the process as early as possible and narrow in where you want to end up.
That’s because you could be very well suited to rates trading, but if you don’t know anything about rates trading prior to beginning then you may end up being pigeonholed on another desk you’ll perform poorly on.
…Because of the huge diversity of desks within any sales and trading division, you need to make sure you end up on the right one as it will entirely shape the trajectory of your career.
Also, almost nothing makes someone stand out more in an interview or during networking than having a basic grasp of the diversity of desks within sales and trading and where they think they’d like to end up.
…These guides are meant to help you quickly figure out what areas of the floor are going to be right for you so that you end up exactly where you need to be to succeed.
The Sales and Trading Desk Guides
Credit 101 Guide
The credit trading guide contains 35 questions and answers on the basics of corporate bonds, credit spreads, and credit default swaps that you need to know prior to joining an investment grade, high yield, or distressed desk.
Rates 101 Guide
The rates guide contains 45 questions and answers on all the major products traded on a rates desk; from treasuries, to swaps, to TIPS, to futures, and what economic news moves them all.
FX 101 Guide
The FX guide contains 27 questions and answers running through the fundamentals of FX terminology, differences in FX desks, forwards, and FX crosses.
CLOs 101 Guide
The CLO guide contains just 15 questions and answers, but they're long (some answers stretch almost an entire page). CLOs are an incredibly interesting product and a great desk to get exposure to.
Municipal Bonds 101 Guide
The muni bond guide contains 31 questions and answers. Munis are a sleepy area of the trading floor, but offer one of the best work / life / compensation profiles on the trading floor with a diverse set of exit ops.
Money Markets 101 Guide
The money markets (short term interest rates) guide contains 28 questions and answers. Money markets are the best desk to be on if you love monetary policy and diving into the details of how the financial system really operates.
Equity Derivatives 101 Guide
The equity derivatives guide contains 112 questions and answers. Equity derivatives are complicated and that's why their traders are paid so well. I try my best to break things down as simply as possible and have provided a great primer from Citi to augment the Q&A.
MBS 101 Guide
The MBS guide contains 31 questions and answers. If you like complexity, while still dealing with flow trading, then the MBS desk could be right for you. I cover what you need to know about what makes this product so unique.
Regulation, Economics, and Corporate Finance 101 Guide
This guide contains 31 questions and answers that fill in the gaps not discussed in any of the other guides; explaining important regulations, risk measures, economic indicators, accounting and valuations basics, etc.
In total, the Sales and Trading Interview Prep Course contains 13 guides stretching hundreds of pages with over 300 real-world interview questions and answers.
…Now you can see why this is the most comprehensive, definitive sales and trading course ever put together (and why no one has been stupid enough to ever try to create something like this before).
I thought long and hard about what to include and not include. I also made sure to balance ensuring you had the full picture of sales and trading while not getting bogged down in too many technical details as those can be learned on the job.
Here’s who this course is (and is not) for…
This course was created first and foremost for those looking to break into sales and trading as a summer analyst or full-time hire at a major investment bank.
…Ultimately, this course is the course I wish I had when I went through my own interviews and began in sales and trading.
Those who go through the course generally fall into three buckets:
✔ Undergraduate or graduate students looking to break into sales and trading via the summer analyst or full-time program (who haven’t started networking or applied yet)
✔ Undergraduate or graduate students who have summer analyst or full-time interviews already lined up and want to get prepared right away
✔ Those with internships already lined up, but who are looking for some practical introductory overviews of desks and may want my opinion on where they are likely to fit best on the trading floor
If you’re serious about breaking into sales and trading I'm confident that what I’ve created here is the best set of resources you’ll find anywhere. Period.
…Plus, I really like talking to those who go through the course! Once you’re in the members area you’ll get access to my e-mail address and can always feel free to ask for my opinion or get my perspective on something.
With all that said, there are some people this course is not right for.
✘ If you already are coming into a specific sales and trading desk full-time – for example, doing interest rate swap trading – then this course isn’t for you. I don’t dive that deeply into every desk as that would require literally thousands of pages to do and I obviously am not an expert on every desk within sales and trading.
✘ If you are looking for a pure quant role – or are entering into a summer analyst or full-time program as a pure quant – then this course isn’t for you. I'm not a quant and thus can’t speak to exactly what’s important for those roles.
✘ If you are looking for interview prep materials for a prop trading role – at a place like TwoSigma or Jane Street – then this course isn’t for you. The nature of a prop role is fundamentally distinct from traditional sales and trading roles today in 2024.
This course is catered towards those looking to break into the “traditional” sales and trading programs at investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citi, Bank of America, etc.
Of course, there are technical areas within sales and trading like equity derivatives where having some knowledge of math, statistics, and computer science can absolutely be beneficial.
…However, summer analysts come through the same sales and trading interview process as all others in S&T, so the interview process is identical (even if you’re a computer science major, you should not expect any computer science technical like you would for a tech interview!).
Where Students Have Landed
If the course sounds right for you, here are your options…
As you likely know, traditional investment banking interview prep courses cost an absurd amount of money. Most courses cost at least $200-300.
…Of course, it makes sense that they cost so much. An introductory investment banking job – like a sales and trading job – will pay in the low six figures during the first year so spending $200-300 on prep materials is potentially a great investment.
However, I have never had any intention of charging that much money for what I’ve created here. Although I think there’s more than enough value here to justify that kind of cost given that there are 13 guides and over 300 Q&A from real-world sales and trading interviews in this course.
…At the end of the day, I'm not looking to make much off of this. The creation of this course was a passion project and hearing the feedback of those who have gone through the course always makes my day.
I've found putting the course out there to be incredibly rewarding and want to make it as accessible as possible to the widest audience.
…I’ve thought of a few different options for structuring the course but ultimately decided to do just one option, costing just $29, gets you access to everything I've created. There’s nothing held back; no up-sells, no add-ons, no further cost to you in anyway.
This option will give you everything you need to land an interview, crush your interview, and ultimately be at your best on the best desk for you.
After going through the course you’ll know more than 99.9% of candidates and (perhaps more importantly!) you’ll know what to say in interviews, on networking calls, and on the trading floor.
To be blunt: this is everything I wish I had known when I began.
FAQs
How is this course delivered?
Immediately after ordering you will receieve an e-mail with your unqiue link to the members area where all the guides are contained. Courses can only be accessed by one individual via their tracked link.
Is this course right for me?
Whether you are just interested in sales and trading or currently have interviews lined up, this course is right for you. If you are joining a specific desk full-time or are applying for a quant-heavy role, then there will be less value here for you.
Are there refunds?
Absolutely. If you are unhappy with the course let me know and I will process a refund. However, with hundreds of orders no one has asked for one due to the quality of the course, which I'm incredibly proud of.
The Sales and Trading Interview Prep Course doesn’t provide the bare minimum; it shows you the whole picture…
Whether you’re just thinking about sales and trading as a possible career or are gearing up for interviews right now, this course will help.
The course goes far beyond just what you need to know and say in an interview. It aims to give you the contextual understanding of sales and trading that you need; detailing what desks exist, who trades them, and what the basics of each product are.
There’s an obvious reason why no one has undertaken the creation of a sales and trading prep course like this before: it’s a massive undertaking.
From a ROI perspective, this almost certainly hasn’t been a great use of my time.
But I’ve loved the creation process and getting to know those who have broken into sales and trading at least partly due to what I’ve created here.
I believe firmly in the future of sales and trading and that there is no place in finance that offers the work / life balance of S&T while still paying extremely well.
If you’re at all interested in breaking into sales and trading, this course was created for you.
Best,
Zach
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