SEC General Intern Interview Questions
& Process

So this was for an internship in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. It was a phone interview, and the person who calls you will probably be your direct supervisor. Most people in this field have a PhD in Finance, a few in economics, and very few without a PhD. The cool thing is, your interviewer will have published some work, so you should definitely check out their publications and try to bring that up in the interview. Beyond that, the questions were pretty standard. They asked about my research interests, my quantitative experience, and my applied knowledge of the field.

I sent in my resume for a Summer Honors Internship at the SEC through their website. I applied to multiple locations because each one has its own hiring team. The process was pretty straightforward; I just had to make sure I picked the right city for my application. They also asked for all my college and grad school transcripts, and I'm currently getting my MBA. A few months later, two of the locations reached out for a quick initial phone chat. After that, I was invited to a more formal phone interview with a panel. Expect at least two senior people who are making the hiring decisions to be on the call, and they'll both be asking questions. Your GPA might get you noticed, but the SEC really looks at your resume and transcripts for signs that you're genuinely interested in the kind of work they do. They asked me specific questions about my resume, like what I did at each job, why I left, why I chose my major, and what my future plans are. My best advice is to be honest and don't just say what you think they want to hear. For example, if they ask why you're interested in a short-term role, and you actually want to work there full-time, make sure you emphasize that it's not just a temporary thing for you! Also, be ready to talk about new regulations and share your informed opinions. They definitely ask about that. I felt a bit uncertain after the interview because of some of the responses and follow-up questions I got, but it ended up working out! It took about one to two weeks to hear back after the interview, and then there was a lot of paperwork. You need to get clearance before you can start, and if your credit report isn't in good shape, you won't be able to work for the SEC. So, if you have any chargeoffs or collection issues, get them sorted out ASAP, or at least try to make payments or dispute them if it's a valid dispute. Honestly, out of all my internship experiences, the SEC was the best. The experience and level of involvement you get there are hard to beat!

I applied online and then heard back about 3 weeks later for an interview. It was with two staff attorneys. They asked a bunch of questions. If you don't have a finance background, you should probably review some concepts. Mostly they wanted to know why I wanted to intern at the SEC and what drew me to the program. Some questions were really tough and designed to make you answer fast and on the spot.