My Thoughtful, Empathetic Mindset Growing Up

I have always been a reflective, sensitive person. As a child, I could sit quietly observing art or scenery for hours, simply because calm, unrushed moments helped me process my thoughts and reset my emotions. I notice details others miss and tend to approach every decision with careful consideration.

As the oldest sibling in my family, I grew up learning to prioritize harmony and understand others’ needs before my own. I developed a habit of observing situations first and responding gently, which shaped my calm, empathetic communication style.

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When I entered NYU Stern, I followed my family’s advice to pursue finance and data science. Though I did not start with a spontaneous passion for banking, I was open to growing into the field and building a strong technical foundation for my future career.

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I Once Believed My Personality Was a Recruiting Disadvantage

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NYU Stern’s pre‑banking community is famously fast‑paced and intensely competitive. Most students around me were aggressively targeting investment banking roles, and I began to mimic their routines to keep up. I studied industry trends, practiced technical skills, and tried to adapt to the traditional Wall Street candidate mold.

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Through this process, I gained a new perspective on finance. I appreciated the industry’s fast learning curve, structured problem‑solving, and long‑term career growth potential. I realized investment banking could offer me flexible, high‑ceiling opportunities, even with my quieter personality.

During my freshman year, I joined numerous business clubs and attempted self‑guided recruiting. I sent out more than 200 cold emails, attended nearly ten networking sessions every week, and continuously revised my resume independently.

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I advanced to final‑round interviews at many top banks, yet I could not convert any interviews into formal offers. By late spring, most recruiting windows closed, and I felt exhausted and discouraged.

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My friends often told me, “You will get what you deserve.” At the time, this phrase felt like an unproven hope rather than reassurance. I began to question whether my thoughtful, sensitive personality placed me at a permanent disadvantage in finance. I wondered if consistent hard work could truly overcome personality‑based stereotypes in banking recruiting.

A sincere conversation with my mother helped me pause and reset my mindset. When I shared my mental fatigue and frustration, she immediately recognized how many rejections and setbacks I had endured alone. She encouraged me to seek professional guidance instead of continuing to struggle by myself.

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After hearing success stories from NYU alumni who transformed their recruiting outcomes through structured mentorship at OSG, I realized I did not need more motivation—I needed a clearer, more strategic approach. I officially joined OSG’s full recruiting program to rebuild my interview and networking framework.

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OSG Mentorship Fixed the Hidden Flaws in My Interview Strategy

During my first session with my lead OSG mentor Belle, she pinpointed my core issue instantly. My behavioral answers contained meaningful personal experience, but they lacked clear structure. I tended to over‑explain details out of nervousness, which buried my strongest qualifications and confused interviewers.

After multiple targeted mock interviews with OSG’s behavioral coaches, I finally understood my problem. I had been using excessive explanation to calm my own uncertainty, instead of delivering concise, confident storytelling that builds trust with interviewers.

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I learned to slow down, organize my logic, and lead with clear conclusions. This change did not require me to change my personality. It simply allowed my strengths to show through.

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Being Authentic Ultimately Earned Me Multiple Bulge Bracket Offers

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My first successful offer came from Royal Bank of Canada’s New York credit risk team. Interestingly, I was sick with a fever on interview day and felt unprepared throughout the session. I left the interview assuming I had underperformed, which made the final offer extremely unexpected. It made me realize that over‑preparing and over‑stressing often hurt my performance more than it helped.

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My Hong Kong bulge bracket interviews brought far greater challenges. The Goldman Sachs Hong Kong investment banking track consisted of ten rigorous interview rounds, filled with advanced technical questions on interest rates, foreign exchange markets, and capital market trends. The Goldman Sachs wealth management interviews were equally demanding, featuring hours of continuous discussion and critical thinking drills that tested my endurance.

My Barclays Hong Kong interview, however, became the turning point of my entire recruiting season. By that time, I already held a Goldman Sachs offer and was overwhelmed with final semester coursework. I did not pressure myself to perform perfectly, and I entered the interview with a calm, relaxed mindset.

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Our conversation felt natural and human. We discussed hobbies, lifestyle, travel, and personal interests. I listened closely as the Barclays analyst shared his career journey from the United States to Hong Kong. Instead of forcing an outgoing, overly energetic persona to fit banking stereotypes, I stayed true to my genuine, thoughtful self—and the interview team responded positively.

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I was mid‑preparation for another U.S.‑based interview when I received the unexpected offer call from Barclays Hong Kong. The surprise acceptance triggered a full cascade of positive results. In a single recruiting cycle, I earned four separate bulge bracket internship offers.

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For the first time, the phrase “You will get what you deserve” felt like a proven truth, not just empty encouragement. Every late‑night practice, every cold email, and every tough interview finally paid off.

Recruiting Taught Me to Value My Unique Personality Traits

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Looking back, I did not need to change my personality to succeed in investment banking. I did not become louder, more aggressive, or more stereotypically “banker‑like.” I simply grew more confident in my own rhythm and strengths.

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I am incredibly grateful for the steady guidance from my OSG mentor Celine. During my lowest moments, when repeated rejections made me doubt my future in finance, Celine never pushed me with generic encouragement. Instead, she walked me through concrete alternatives, including delayed graduation strategies, full‑time recruiting timelines, and internal cross‑department transfer possibilities within bulge bracket banks. She helped me shift from emotional confusion to rational, forward‑focused planning.

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I also deeply appreciate my full‑time OSG recruiting associate. After reviewing hours of my mock interview recordings, he delivered extremely detailed feedback on my logical structure, storytelling delivery, and expression clarity. He broke down my emotional frustrations into actionable improvements and helped me fix every weak point in my interview performance.

With their structured support, I learned that sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and empathy are not weaknesses in finance. These traits allow me to listen carefully, understand team dynamics, analyze problems thoroughly, and build genuine connections with interviewers and colleagues.

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To every student who doubts whether their personality fits Wall Street: you do not have to reshape yourself to succeed in banking. You simply need to refine your strategy, stabilize your mindset, and let your unique strengths shine.

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Quiet, thoughtful candidates do not need to mimic aggressive personalities to win offers. Just like butterflies do not need to fly like eagles to reach their destinations—following your own steady rhythm will always lead you to the right place.

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*Disclaimer: OSG has no cooperation/affiliation with the companies mentioned in the article; OSG students enhance their abilities through OSG services and secure offers through regular campus recruitment/social recruitment channels.