I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (Boston, MA) in Oct 2012
Interview
I had two 30 minute interviews in the career center on my campus. I then went to the Boston office for five 30-40 minute interviews and a lunch with 2 analysts. All of the interviews had short econ/finance cases. Everyone I met was extremely nice, helpful and eager to answer my questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I had a short case about a pharmaceutical company losing profits and suing a generic company for its losses. I had to examine what other factors could be causing the losses. I also had another case interview where I had to describe how to do an event study.
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
First round is 2 back to back interview rounds with two different Cornerstone analysts/associates in the office you indicated. Pretty standard Econ consulting cases, not too difficult. Cases are adapted from Also some basic behavioral questions about yourself, interest in the field, research experience, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe to me your research experience (with some specific questions about my research experience on my resume).
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (Washington, DC)
Interview
First round 2 cases: Only cases questions.
Final round is onsite with 4 cases: They seem only care about cases, others are just fairly easy small talk. One securities, one valuation
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (New York, NY)
Interview
Everyone was welcoming and the cases were interesting. The interviewers seem to be interested in seeing how you think as opposed to looking for a particular answer like you might find in a management consulting interview or a finance interview.
Analyst applicants have rated the interview process at Cornerstone Research with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 69% positive. To compare, the company-average is 69.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Analyst roles take an average of 17 days to get hired, when considering 283 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Cornerstone Research overall takes an average of 17 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Cornerstone Research as a Analyst according to 283 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 51%
Phone interview: 16%
Skills test: 13%
Personality test: 7%
Presentation: 5%
Background check: 3%
Other: 3%
IQ intelligence test: 1%
Group panel interview: 1%
Drug test: 0%
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