Tips and tricks to a successful journey to Société Générale as a Risk Analyst

Founded in 1864 and headquartered in Paris, Société Générale is a top brass name in the French banking industry. With a broad range of products catering to individuals, businesses, and institutions, they are a hub connecting Europe, Russia, and Africa with global financial centers in Asia and the Americas. When Société Générale got listed as a participating recruiter for the final placement, I dived deep into the job description and consulted the alumni working there. The positive reviews regarding the liberty of applying and executing one's own ideas fascinated me. They value their employee’s career, personal development and impart training sessions to polish their skills. What else one can demand? I really wanted to be a part of such an organisation and so my journey to Société Générale began!

The Selection Process for Société Générale:

1. Group discussion 
2. Three Business and Technical interviews
3. HR interview

Group Discussion 

For GD, I adhered to one very basic principle - stick to the concept and the given topic. I recollected things that I have learned in the past and tried to correlate with the topic. Explaining by means of case study references and real-life scenarios supported my perspective and added to their credibility. In addition, keeping the arguments crisp played an important role in cracking the GD round.

Interviews

The interview experience was truly remarkable and astoundingly memorable, but taxing at the same time. Three continuous business and technical interviews followed by an HR round with an average of 90 minutes each was surely an intensive process. To combat this, I focused on keeping my energy levels stable and put up a confident front for the panel throughout the duration of the 4 interviews. I tried my best to convince them that I am best suited for the position. In the Business interview, the major focus was on my internship project and research work done during 1st year of MBA. I walked the panel through the entire body of work which included the background, research and the though behind it. It was followed by a technical interview. It evaluated the candidate on how one can program their ideas and add value to the organisation, where I utilised my knowledge of programming languages.

Key areas of preparation:

Based on the profile of a Risk Analyst, I focused on brushing up on concepts of Banking Regulations, Policies, Basel Norms, Accounting Standards, Business Valuation, Contemporary issues in Modern Banking World and the Financial Technology Aspects. Apart from that, I also read about Time series analysis, AI in finance, blockchain technology and programming languages like Python, SQL, etc.

What you need

I still remember how nervous I was on that day. All random thoughts like what needs to be done, how to present myself and how to impress the panel, so many questions were going through my mind at lightening speed. But, I recalled how much effort I have put in for this and now it's my chance to redeem myself. I appeared cool and calm (at least to the outside world). There is this crucial point that differentiates you from others. Instead of only going through the conceptual exhibition of your knowledge, support it with practical work like projects, research, case studies, and explain the same to the panel. This helps you present yourself in a neatly put together package with great branding. After all in an interview you are selling a brand called "YOU".

Lastly, the keystone in making my journey to Société Générale successful was my learning attitude. Remember, success is not a destination, its a journey. Learning and winning in the course is a continuous process.  So keep updating your skills and knowledge!