No experience at all, at the end of my second year at uni

i think you would be surprised at how easy talking about a fake scenario is when you have already spoken about it in your previous x interviews. it starts to feel like a reality after a while - i found that i sometimes had to consciously remind myself that i never did these things (no joke).

the only experiences i care about are the ones that involve talking to the nice little HR lady over the phone to discuss numbers.

what she hears: "omg thanks this is a really good opportunity and i can't wait to start"
what i hear: "congrats el chapo jr, you are rich now"

look how far integrity has taken OP. the best advice for him is to start lying the same way 90% of his competition do.

integrity doesn't pay the bills. more importantly, it does not buy you a rolls-royce or vintage snakeskin shoes. when you know you are better than the other candidates but the other dude is getting the job because he plays guitar, it's definitely time to change your approach.

why is lying unacceptable, but it's OK to force yourself into joining societies you don't necessarily want to join just to deceive recruiters into thinking you're someone that you aren't? this is still lying, just in a really inefficient way. spend months doing things that i type up 2 seconds rofl.

you can lie about your societies and being an open day steward and they'll never check (guarantee it) - just thought i'd mention that. same applies to volunteer work. they'll call your uni just to make sure you didn't lie about getting a 2:1.

i always find it hilarious when people try so hard to do all of this sh*t to pimp up their CVs then i come along, lie about it, and take their job. i'm collecting jobs like el chapo collected pounds of cocaine atm.

They'll find out eventually, although I would find this very unfair. I do extra-curricular activities because I enjoy them, not because I feel I have to.

So you don't do any actual activities/societies- you just lie? Seems pretty stupid to me

Yeah but you should actually be interested and take part in stuff, not just say that you are. Taking part in societies actually develops soft skills which will help you in your investment banking job (time management, communication, teamwork, leadership) which you might think you have already but don't really unless you are involved in stuff. That's why banks want people who are involved in societies and sports- not just for the sake of it but because they actually develop the skills they want to succeed in banking.

btw the whole recruitment process basically just assesses how well you can lie (seriously).

when they ask you what are your weaknesses? you think they want to hear actual weaknesses like "i'm lazy, bad in the mornings and smoke a lot of weed"? game over. they want you to tell them a strength and twist it into a weakness (e.g. the classic "my main weakness is that i'm a perfectionist" ).

when they ask you why us and not our competitors? the honest answer is something along the lines of "i am indifferent, the only reason i applied to you guys was because i saw your job listing first" or "you pay more", but if you told them that that's a straight rejection. they know you have applied to all of their competitors and spout the same sh*t in their interviews.

when they ask you tell us about a situation where... and you have never been in that situation before what are you gonna do?

OP, they literally want you to BS them lol. the guys on this thread trying to take the moral high ground are the same guys that end up not getting jobs, and they'll find themselves in the same situation as you.

Do you not feel sad that you lied your way into a job? Even if a lot of people do it, do you not think that it is better to get what you can honestly. I seriously doubt that many people lie about societies on their CV- the fact is that somewhere on the line you'll get caught out.

no i don't, because a) everyone else is doing it (level out the playing field), b) the guys at the top are corrupt as f*ck anyway, and c) they expect you to lie. did you not read that block of text that you just quoted?

i'd rather lie and get a job like everyone else than be in OP's position.

Ok I definitely do not agree with your statement that everyone lies about activities- I haven't see a single person who has lied about what societies they have taken part in. you're just making up all these statements to make yourself feel better for lying.

you're inexperienced and naive to think that. just wait till you start your job hunt and get 45 minute interviews consisting of just "tell us about a situation where..." questions. i can guarantee you now that at least 50% of those scenarios you get asked about you would have never been in and if you just sit there looking at them with a blank face or be honest and say "i've never been in that situation" - you'll probably get a rejection before you walk out of the interview room rofl.

i don't need to make myself feel better for lying. i'll wipe my tears with the ~£40K salary i'll be earning when i finish my degree.

Everyone does what's in your above paragraph, but they certainly DO NOT blatantly lie on their CV. Companies know that not everyone will have experienced every single competency, and that some responses to the question will be fabricated somewhat. But the KEY is understanding the importance of said competency and when/how to make use of it - which you do by picking an appropriate (even if embellished) situation.

Honestly so many people have been stripped of their jobs and sometimes put in jail for defrauding their CV. Telling others to do it is like encouraging people to knowingly walk next to a cliff.

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you're inexperienced and naive to think that. just wait till you start your job hunt and get 45 minute interviews consisting of just "tell us about a situation where..." questions. i can guarantee you now that at least 50% of those scenarios you get asked about you would have never been in and if you just sit there looking at them with a blank face or be honest and say "i've never been in that situation" - you'll probably get a rejection before you walk out of the interview room rofl.

i don't need to make myself feel better for lying. i'll wipe my tears with the ~£40K salary i'll be earning when i finish my degree.

I could honestly answer all those "tell me about a situation where" questions by just mentioning experiences during my extra curricular activities.You shouldn't have to lie to answer those questions- everyone should be able to think of a situation where they have taken initiate/worked in a team/ solved a problem/ etc...

those are really basic 'tell me about a time' questions. they get a little deeper than that if your applying to IBs / AMs. i'm talking about the questions where you need to lie. i got asked this in my fidelity AC which will always haunt me (3 interviewers in the room):

on a scale of 1-10 where would you rank yourself if 1 was always standing up for yourself and 10 was doing something you didn't want to do?come on dawg, you would have a heart attack on the spot if you refused to bullsh*t your way through that one.

Did you treat them withn an El Chapo style answer?

i changed his bum life, made him rich. hope he's donating some of the money i gave him to charity.

that kid better be eating grass-fed, organic beef steaks for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner with that free £35-40K i gave him.