Cohen & Steers Interview Questions
& Process

This company initially extended a tentative offer, but then rescinded it at the very last moment for another candidate after I had already attended an in-person interview at their office. The initial stage involved a straightforward conversation with a team leader. No challenging questions were posed, and I was promptly advanced to the subsequent phase. The second stage consisted of a six-hour written examination, for which the company provided the materials late. Following the submission of this exam, I was requested to undergo further interviews and a thorough background check, including providing references. After all these steps were finalized, they rescheduled my final in-person interview with the team, only to cancel it minutes before my arrival at their New York City office for the meeting. Despite my strong interest in the position, their handling of the process demonstrated a significant lack of consideration for my time.

The in-person interview process involved discussing my timeline and other offers. I mentioned an exploding offer with a decision date of Date X, and they said I'd hear back by then. Given my prior research on Glassdoor about the company, I doubted they would keep their word, so I accepted another offer shortly after my interview. One interviewer's attitude also put me off, so I lost interest in the position. As expected, I didn't hear from Cohen & Steers until several days after Date X, and by then, I had already withdrawn my application online. My advice to future candidates is to be careful with exploding offers elsewhere and don't rely too heavily on any promises from Cohen & Steers about hearing back by a specific date. On a positive note, HR was very helpful and informative during the process.

I've interviewed with C&S 3 separate times over a few years, and the result is always the same. All interviews were facilitated by an external recruiter. My interviews went well, and based on our conversations, I thought I was a strong candidate. However, each of the 3 times, C&S has gone completely silent regarding status updates. After trying for 3 weeks to get an answer post-interview, I get the message, but at the very least, I should receive a rejection email. I don't need detailed explanations, but since we all invested time in meeting, I feel that's the minimum I deserve. If I hadn't interviewed at all, I'd understand the lack of a rejection email, but it's impolite and unprofessional not to update a candidate you've met with on their application status.

It started with a phone call from HR for an initial screening. Then, there was an in-person interview where I met with the whole portfolio management team, although it was one-on-one chats with different analysts. It was a pretty standard interview process, no tricky stuff or hard math problems. Just expect it to be a long day since talking to everyone can take a few hours. I really enjoyed the process and have nothing but good things to say about the company.