The Way of the Wall Street Warrior. Dave Liu

made my day.

      Finally, when interviewing, beware of the hot-cold empathy gap, which states that we act differently when in different psychological states. Hot cognition, initially proposed in the 1960s by Yale University psychologist Robert P. Abelson, is the theory that a person's thinking is influenced by their emotional state. It contrasts with cold cognition, in which the processing of information is motivated by facts and intellectual judgment, independent of emotional involvement. Since hot cognition is led by emotion and often leads to rapid, automatic decision-making, it may cause biased and low-quality conclusions. (It's why you should never, ever make financial decisions while getting busy with your significant other. You're liable to break the bank.) So during the interview process, make sure you're cool, calm, and collected when an assignment is suddenly sprung on you.

      Overall, interview questions can be perplexing. Living in Silicon Valley has exposed me to a whole different array of crazy questions from wacko tech people trying to outdo each other:

       On a scale of 1 to 10, how weird are you?

       What do you know is true but no one else agrees?

       What is your superpower or animal spirit?

      Some questions may be more reasonable, like the one Rick Heitzmann, founder of the venture capital firm FirstMark and former Houlihan Lokey banker, uses to evaluate candidates: “What are three things you love in either your business or personal life, and three things you hate?” He feels that the answers give him a good idea of the candidate's strengths and weaknesses.

My favorite interview question comes from Harry Nelis, former Goldman Sachs banker and now partner at the venture capital firm Accel. He asks all his prospective hires, “Do you consider yourself to be an intuitive person?” Then Harry follows with his trump card: “You say you're intuitive, so what do I think about you?”

      Saturday night is the big switcheroo—the reverse selling, as you're treated to an expensive meal and some form of entertainment. This is all for show. It'll be years before you're treated like this again, so starting Sunday, get used to raiding the office fridge weekdays at midnight for eight-week-old yogurt.

      But there is a meaning behind this madness. The firm wants to see how you interact with its brass—specifically, if you're fun to hang out with. Don't have too much fun. Do I even have to say this? Don't get drunk. Many a great candidate has lost an offer by acing the day's interviews and then, at night, vomiting on a senior banker's shoes.

      Key Takeaways

       Play the broken affinity bias record: It's all about connections.

       Get ready for multiple rounds of interviews where cultural fit is key.

       Practice and rehearse your interview, especially the gotcha questions.

       Beware the hot-cold empathy gap, where we act differently when in different psychological states.

Notes

      1 1 Seriously, are you that hopeless? One good rule of thumb is to pretend the interviewer is the hottest guy or gal you've ever seen and no one else on the entire planet exists. You're Eve, they're Adam, and the future of the human race depends on you acing this interview.

      2 2 Judith Rich Harris, The Nature Assumption. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-12-me-22017-story.html