Magner Center for Career Development and Internships

1303 James Hall 718 951 5696

Interviewing with Citigroup: Advice from Alumni

Prior to the Interview:
o Research the Company and the Position: Know what is happening currently in
the company, and what is transforming in the industry and the firm.

Have strong financial industry knowledge of who Citigroups

competitors are what sets Citigroup apart from other firms.

Get information from relevant sources: The Wall Street Journal, Financial
Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, Reuters, etc. (Alum was particularly
asked about their opinion on the financial crisis and its causes.)

Deal Breakers:

Know who the CEO is.

Know what the stock price is for that day.

o Know Your Resume: Rehearsing answers with someone prior to the interview is
extremely helpful.

Stay straight to the point. You should have 2-3 key points to stress and
expand on just those and with this more narrow focus, you will appear sure
of yourself. Another words, tailor your skills to specific things. (*Numerous
Alumni stress this)

o What Recruiters are looking for on your Resume: Recruiters review your
resume for about 20 seconds so you need to make sure you differentiate yourself
from others.

They look for a well written and formatted resume.

They want to see candidates are knowledgeable about Citigroup (goals, and
culture), and if the person can articulate relevant skills and work experience.
 o Connecting with a Citigroup Recruiter: Network with recruiters and build a
relationship.

Recruiters facilitate connections between candidates and hiring managers.

Find jobs on Facebook, Twitter, Brazen Careerist, or LinkedIn. Introduce

yourself and state what you are looking for. You will be helped by narrowing
your search by job type or location.

Once you find a job of interest, you will be connected with an appropriate
recruiter.

You may also find a recruiter by creating a profile on a social or professional

network. Be gracious and let them get to know your capabilities so that they
can best represent you to the hiring manager.

Interview Breakdown:
o Arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to the interview start time.

o You will probably be interviewed by two different people, with each interview lasting
approximately a half hour.

One interview is more like a behavioral assessment and the other is more of a
technical interview. However, both may contain elements/questions that
overlap.

During the Interview:

o Listen and Adapt to the Style of the Interview

Make eye contact and stay very confident while you speak.

Have positive energy, a firm handshake, and look presentable.

o Support Past Accomplishments:

This information should be specific and targeted toward the company's

needs.

Have examples of leadership and long-term goals.

o Be Ready to Show Examples of How You Worked in a Team:

Working with others in a team is crucial and the interviewers are constantly
assessing this.
 Show how detail oriented and hard working you are.

o Stay Professional and Try to Network. (From the time you enter the building
until you leave.)

Dont talk about irrelevant issues or talk bad about other companies or your
private life, because you are being screened everywhere.

While waiting for your interview, do not be shy to talk with people who are
accompanying you; this is usually the person who is in charge of graduate
recruiting process, so its important to make a good impression on her/him.

o Commonly Asked Question by the Interviewer: Look online to see what skills
Citigroup is looking for. It shows how necessary characteristics can tie into your job
description. * A question that they asked an alumnus during the interview was
what is the companys stock? Good idea to know the answer to that!

Why did you choose Citigroup or why do you want to be an operations

analyst?

How can you be an asset to the company? (Avoid a liner and try to elaborate
whenever possible.)

How can you add value and bring a unique perspective to Citigroup?

What you think the responsibilities of operations analyst entails.

o Regards to Questions by the Interviewee: Candidates who are prepared with

questions about Citigroup, the culture, and the hiring manager show a true
interest in the firm and the position(* this makes a difference)

Try to Build up Your Own Conversation: its better not to let the
interviewer follow his beforehand planned questioning. Therefore, review
your work experiences and highlight the most relevant ones.

Prepare Good Questions about the Company: at the end you will have a
chance to ask questions. (The more intelligent your questions are and the
more informed you are, the more impressive you'll look.)

A good question to ask is what are the typical challenges faced by the
department? Or, what is expected of me in the first few months? Or
what are my goals for the first year?

Adjust Those Questions: based on how the interview flows. For example,
you should not ask a question that the interviewer has already addressed. It
shows you are not paying attention.

o Citigroup in the Social Media: Strong online presence

 Online, they seek people with good communication skills who are clear
about what they are looking for.

When conversing online, be sure to remain professional and grammatically

correct, as this is all they have to go by since it is not in-person.

*Remember, these interviews are a two way street and they are trying to sell you on the
firm just like you are trying to sell yourself to them.

Below is the link for sample questions that might be asked:

http://www.oncampus.citi.com/apply/hints__tips/common_interview_questions.aspx

http://www.sec.gov/ .

*Here you can search for Citigroups SEC 10-K annual report. This report has specific
information on revenues, the organization and its segments, and descriptions on the specific
businesses and operations that each division has. This information is extremely useful and highly
relevant.

You should prepare by going through some interview questions that might be asked.
The website below gives good examples of some behavioral questions:
http://www.quintcareers.com/sample_behavioral.html

After the Interview:

o Business Cards: Ask each interviewer and HR rep that you met with for their
business cards. (One alumnus explained that the interviewer remarked that he never
offers his card unless he is asked.)

Make sure to grab the card with both hands and read it for 3-5 seconds before
putting it away. The small stuff goes a long way!

o Send Thank You E-mails to everyone: along with copies of cover letters and
resumes for Citigroup's convenience.

The notes should be short and sweet while expressing their gratitude.

Tips From an Operations Intern:

o Interview: structured like a conversation

Important to know what you are talking about, but equally important to
pay attention to what they are saying.

o Questions Asked: after they ask you questions, they ask if you have any. Note:
They like to hear questions referring to the content they mentioned.
 Can you please introduce yourself?

Why do you want to work for Citi?

What do you know about operation?

How was your last internship? What did you learn from it?

How is your excel skill?

What is the public figure you admire? Why?

o What Citigroup Values: Diversity! Citigroup is proud to be the most global

bank in the worldso highlight this and show how you would fit in this culture!

They encourage innovation

They cooperate with Google, Apple and developing mobile

wallet. They built the first I bank in Japan.

They strategize its business in emerging markets like India, China, and
Brazil.

Additional tips:
o Know the Business and Clients: They should have a fundamental
understanding of the economic climate, (specifics are not that importanta high
level understanding is more important than the details.)

o Do not give Away any Secrets from Last Job: Such as anything pertaining to
Intellectual Property Rights. (An alumnus was asked which software firms she
worked with at her last job and she stated that she wasn't sure she could comment
on that.)

o Have Specific Examples: Successes / accomplishments at work, failures, and

lessons learned, and/or a time when you did not see eye to eye with a supervisor
or manager and how you resolved those differences.

o Taylor Your Skills: To specific things in order to have a more narrow focus.
Highlight necessary skills required for the position

o Avoid Negativity: Dont have negative answers about former

supervisors/managers. Also, avoid using words like problems. Instead, use
words such as challenges and obstacles.
 o Avoid Sounding Rehearsed: Ty to be totally relaxed and comfortable during the
interview. (What one alumnus found most important was allowing her
personality to come out and having fun with the experience.)

You can call the Magner Center at 718 951 5696 to schedule a mock interview with a counselor.
When possible see if you can talk to someone who works at the company prior to your interview.
Contact Natalia Guarin-Klein at nataliag@brooklyn.cuny.edu to see if perhaps there is time to
pair you up with an alumnus/alumna prior to your interview.