Overall a positive experience with a group of people who are excited about what they do. I approached a NWM recruiter on a Friday and was called on a Monday to be brought in for an interview. They work quickly; you'll hear from them at least once a week to set up the next step. Besides interviewing with the recruiter, you'll probably meet the local office's Managing Director, new hire director, and potentially Managing Partner. They're relatively nonchalant about interviewing you, which they will call "meeting" with you. They espouse the mutual fit concept a lot. Be prepared to go in for an interview not really knowing the format or duration, but potentially meeting a lot of important people right off the bat. The interview questions were very simple, the kind of stuff you'd find on a list of typical behavioral questions. Ideal answers involve mentioning wanting to own your own career and wanting to help people. Pros: - Initial training gets you licensed and working (and potentially making money) within the first month. - Income potential is essentially limitless, although the first couple years will likely test your limits (financially and emotionally). For those that "make it" (year 5 or so) the career can provide substantial income for a lifetime. - The office seemed to be full of people who are excited about Northwestern and excited about what they do. Cons: - Financially difficult if you don't know around 200 people, at the time of interviewing, who you could immediately begin trying to sell products to. - You will quickly exhaust your "natural" network of people you know, so identify your extended network that you will work with thereafter (e.g. alumni associations, fraternal organizations, social clubs).

There were four or five interviews, if you count the meeting with my future mentor. There were also a few personality assessments. Lots of paperwork. The finance industry is tightly regulated.