MetLife's hiring loop is overwhelmingly behavioral rather than technical, and it is dominated by its investment-management arm (MetLife Investment Management, based in Whippany and Morristown NJ plus New York) recruiting analysts and interns off campus and through Handshake. The standard shape is a recruiter or HR screening call, a one-on-one with the hiring manager or a team member, and then a 'superday' of three to six back-to-back 30-minute conversations with analysts, associates, portfolio managers and the head of the group. Candidates repeatedly report very few technical questions: interviewers mainly probe genuine interest in investing, resume detail, and fit, with occasional light finance (three statements, cash-on-cash, Excel pivot tables), brainteasers, and, for some corporate and advisor roles, a personality/situational assessment plus drug and background checks.
These 31 writeups cover finance, investment management, real estate and other roles. All of them were posted under a pseudonym (Reddit, GeeksforGeeks or forum handles), so we could not verify the authors’ identities.
Typical rounds
2.11-5 range
Outcomes shared
12/14offer / not
Most common round
Phone screen
Sources span
2009 - 2025
Most frequently reported · Behavioral(29), Domain knowledge(20), Resume deep-dive(17), Past projects(4), STAR stories(4)
A quick screening call. The candidate describes the whole process as fast-moving and relaxed.
Covered · Behavioral, Domain knowledge
2
One-on-one interviewsTechnical
Conversations with the investment team that stayed light on technicals; the interviewers were mainly checking whether the candidate genuinely cared about investing.
Covered · Domain knowledge, Behavioral
3
Background checkFinal
Standard pre-employment background screening before the offer.
A mid-level investment professional ran a basic behavioral screen for a seat that had just been vacated, so the process moved unusually fast.
Covered · Behavioral, Resume deep-dive
2
Team phone interviewsTechnical
Several calls with other members of the investment team. No hard technical drilling; they were looking for work ethic, attitude, and a basic grasp of financial accounting and investment principles for a performance-reporting-heavy role.
About a week after applying via Handshake an HR rep called; when the candidate returned the call the recruiter went straight into the screen with no scheduling, which felt rushed.
A conversation in the DC office with the managing director running the regional real estate equity group. Few technical questions; rapport was good but the role went to an internal candidate.
A friendly first round with an analyst covering background, resume and motivation for the role. The candidate had come through MetLife's externship program.
Covered · Behavioral, Resume deep-dive
2
Virtual superdayFinal
Three virtual interviews back to back with an analyst, an associate and a portfolio manager.
Applied in September, first round in November. Conversational and relatively easy, mixing failure-story behavioral prompts with estimation brainteasers.
Covered · Behavioral, STAR stories, Puzzles
2
Final roundFinal
A final interview at the end of November in the same behavioral-plus-brainteaser style.
After applying on LinkedIn, HR phoned the invitation and two qualified actuaries ran a single two-on-one interview. The candidate declined the resulting offer.
Applied through the campus recruiting site; the interview was entirely behavioral and situational with no coding, and the candidate found it very straightforward. The offer was declined.
A one-on-one with the hiring manager built around five questions, including how the candidate would handle mismatched data and why their background fit. The candidate never heard back.
A relaxed conversation aimed at whether the candidate was genuinely passionate about markets and investing, ending with a request to pitch an investment idea. A skills test and personality test were also part of the process.
An easy screen focused only on whether the candidate had the required M&A background.
Covered · Domain knowledge, Resume deep-dive
2
Written mini testTake-home
A short five-question exercise of behavioral prompts plus questions about which research resources the candidate uses.
Covered · Behavioral, STAR stories
3
On-site panelPanel
About two to three weeks later, a two-and-a-half hour on-site meeting three or four people including the head of a small six-to-eight person group. The candidate declined.
A four-part campus test of roughly 15 questions each covering probability and statistics, Python and R syntax, machine learning and data science, and DBMS/OS/Hadoop/SQL. Eighteen students advanced.
Covered · Aptitude, SQL, DBMS, Operating systems
2
Telephonic interviewTechnical
Started with an introduction then went deep into the candidate's deep learning project (convolution filters, pooling, flattening, softmax, dense layers, backpropagation), classical ML algorithms and their Python implementations, a hypothetical dataset preprocessing and model-choice question, SQL joins and clauses, and Python language details such as mutability and inheritance. Three of eighteen were selected.
Covered · Past projects, SQL, Data structures & algorithms
MetLife's hiring loop is overwhelmingly behavioral rather than technical, and it is dominated by its investment-management arm (MetLife Investment Management, based in Whippany and Morristown NJ plus New York) recruiting analysts and interns off campus and through Handshake. The standard shape is a recruiter or HR screening call, a one-on-one with the hiring manager or a team member, and then a 'superday' of three to six back-to-back 30-minute conversations with analysts, associates, portfolio managers and the head of the group. Candidates repeatedly report very few technical questions: interviewers mainly probe genuine interest in investing, resume detail, and fit, with occasional light finance (three statements, cash-on-cash, Excel pivot tables), brainteasers, and, for some corporate and advisor roles, a personality/situational assessment plus drug and background checks.
What topics does MetLife test in interviews?
Commonly reported topics include Behavioral, STAR stories, Resume deep-dive, Past projects, Market sizing, Puzzles.
These guides summarize public, first-hand interview experiences shared by candidates. They describe the shape of each loop and the topics that came up, not a leaked question bank, and every experience links back to its original source. Processes change often; treat this as directional prep, not a script.