I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at ION Group in Apr 2022
Interview
The whole application process was a sad story. I believed until the last moment that this company was serious, but it seems that I was misled the whole time.
Here is my story:
I applied sometime at the end of January. I had my first interview in March. I had a good feeling about the company, the rotational programme and the employees after the interview. About 3 weeks later, I was invited to Superday. I attended Superday in April. It lasted roughly 3-4 hours. I had 3 individual interviews with management and a case study. As for the case study, I had an hour to prepare and then another 20 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for questions from the panellists.
After some time, I received a verbal offer saying that they were "impressed with my performance". I was even told (now I quote): "Don't undersign any other contracts".
However, my offer needed a CEO approval.
At first, I didn't think it was strange, as I was told that they will have another Superday and they want to hire more candidates. I received weekly or biweekly phone calls saying that nothing had happened with the offer yet. Finally, in June, I received a phone call with "good news" that the CEO had started approving offers for the Treasury department. A week later I was expecting a phone call with even better news. i.e. that they already have a formal offer letter for me. Instead, I received a phone call with "bad news" that they decided to cancel the entire programme. They asked me if I would like some other role in their company instead of the cancelled one. However, they did not have any suitable positions open at that point. I never heard back again.
I was looking forward to joining the ion team in September. It was very disappointing to find out that I was misled for 3 months.
This is not the right way to recruit graduate students. I invested a lot of energy into the entire process, not only during all interviews but also while waiting for a formal offer. Now I'm back where I was half a year ago, looking for jobs again.
I would advise to all other applicants to keep looking for jobs even if you have received a verbal offer. I learnt from my mistake and I hope that I will not experience anything like that again.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is my motivation to join the company, why this particular programme. A few questions about situations when I worked in a team or about my experience with a customer. I do not remember the questions anymore.
The case study was not difficult but it was lengthy so it was more a fight against time.
The process started with a skills assessment, then a first-round behavioral with two interviewers, and finally an in-person superday that lasted almost six hours. The superday included three behavioral interviews, a group case, and an individual case study, and honestly it didn’t even feel like there was enough time to properly finish the case.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the process. They really dragged it out, from the start of interviewing to potentially getting an offer, it’s close to four months. The vibe of the company also felt kind of depressing, and some of the first year analysts running the superday came across as a bit unprofessional and occasionally condescending.
Also, for a role paying around $80K in a very high cost-of-living city, a 5–6 hour superday with case studies feels a little excessive. On top of that, there’s no real clarity on which rotations you end up in or how much training you actually receive, so the program just felt pretty unstructured overall.
I applied online. I interviewed at ION Group (Toronto, ON)
Interview
Teams interview, basic interview questions. Two interviewers who rotated asking questions. No technical stuff, having no tech experience will not hinder you. Go in knowing a bit about the financial market.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What do you know about our company and the projects that we work on?
I applied through college or university. I interviewed at ION Group (New York, NY)
Interview
Superday which consisted of a presentation to two people that was prepared on the spot, pitching one of their products to a simulated business situation. Virtual interview in an office - this one felt impersonal and like the decision was made already.
