interviewbay - how to get into the world’s best investment banking firms
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InterviewBay - How to Get Into The World’s Best Investment Banking FirmsTRANSCRIPT
InterviewBay Presents
How to Get Into The World’s
Best Investment Banking
Firms.
Author: Pooja Adarkar Website: www.interviewbay.com Email: [email protected] US and International: +1 203 541 0444
UK: +44 203 002 0322
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Contents 1.0 Investment Banking ..................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 What is Investment Banking? ............................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Roles as per Investment Banking groups ..................................................................................... 3
1.3 Roles as per job title in Investment Banking ............................................................................... 6
1.4 Typical hierarchy/ ladder in an Investment Bank ................................................................... 8
1.5 Top Investment Banks ........................................................................................................................... 9
1.6 The not-so-secret life of an Investment Banker ...................................................................... 10
1.7 Essentials needed to be an Investment Banker ....................................................................... 11
1.8 Skills and Qualities ................................................................................................................................. 12
1.9 What the banks look for? (Selection criteria) ........................................................................... 13
1.10 What can you expect as a Graduate Analyst? ......................................................................... 13
1.11 Salaries ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
2.0 An Investment Banking Resume .......................................................................................................... 15
2.1 Keywords for Investment Banking resumes ............................................................................. 15
2.2 How Investment Bankers review resume .................................................................................. 16
2.3 How much time is spent on a resume review? ......................................................................... 17
3.1 Interview Dos and Don’ts ................................................................................................................... 19
3.1.1 Dos: ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
3.1.2 Don’ts: .................................................................................................................................................. 19
3.2 Interview Questions that an Investment Banker should be prepared for .................. 20
4.0 Interview tips by alumni.......................................................................................................................... 21
4.1 Goldman Sachs Interview tips. ......................................................................................................... 21
4.2 Credit Suisse Interview tips............................................................................................................... 23
5.0 Feedback given by our interviewers.................................................................................................. 25
5.1 Criteria ......................................................................................................................................................... 25
5.2 Feedback Examples ............................................................................................................................... 25
6.1 Examples ..................................................................................................................................................... 31
7.0 What next? ...................................................................................................................................................... 32
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1.0 Investment Banking
1.1 What is Investment Banking?
A field of banking, which aids companies in acquiring funds, is known as investment
banking. In addition, investment banking also deals with offering financial advice for a range
of transactions companies engage in. An investment-banking firm also does a large amount
of consulting on mergers and acquisitions. They give advice on which is the best time to
make public offerings and how to best manage the business' public assets, by keeping a track
on the market. Fundamentally, Investment Banking is about helping corporate clients build
their businesses by providing them with financial and strategic advice. The corporate clients
investment bankers work with are typically large blue chip companies.
As an investment banker, you would be expected to raise money for your client by issuing
shares and debts in the firm, advise your clients in times of merger with another company,
helping develop financial strategies for your client, as well as identifying new business deals.
1.2 Roles as per Investment Banking groups
An investment banker will usually find himself/herself in one of the following two groups:
Client group or Product group.
Client Group
In a client team, an investment banker is a specialist. He/she will be looking after specific
clients in a designated region or industry. The main tasks in a client team are to identify a
client‟s needs and to then call on product specialists for advice on which products and
services would satisfy the client‟s requirements. This team generally has an MD, a VP, an
associate and one or two analysts
Product Group
In a product team, an investment banker is more of a generalist. He/she has to have extensive
knowledge of a particular product in order to be able to advise client teams on the range of
services that the bank can provide clients with.
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There are several different groups and areas that investment bankers can specialise in and be
a part of:
Industry Coverage
This area relates to industry-focused investment banking. The group has a set of senior
bankers or managing directors, responsible for maintaining good relationships with client
companies in the industry. There is also a group of Directors, VPs, Associates, Analysts and
Administrative Assistants who are in-charge of attending client meetings, coming up with
ideas for clients, preparing pitch books, executing transactions, writing commitment
committee memo's etc. Usually when fresh starting in banking means that you will likely be a
part of the coverage group.
Corporate finance
A corporate finance position is about helping companies raise capital needed for new projects
and ongoing operations. It involves determining the amount and structure of fund needs of a
client through equity, debt, convertibles, preferred, asset-backs, or derivative securities. As a
starting analyst, you would usually work with a client team and have responsibilities like
preparing registration statements, attending road shows where investors are sold on securities
etc.
Mergers & Acquisitions
This area involves setting up deals where one company buys another. This is an important
source of fee income for many investment banks. Working in this area involves giving advice
to a client when they are seeking to buy another firm. The advice may relate to potential
target companies, pricing and valuation, as well as how to integrate the firms post-
acquisition. Here an investment banker needs to work out value transactions, structure
creative deals and negotiate favourable terms working in teams. As a starter, your duties
could involve analyzing the appropriate form of participation. Expect to start running lots of
valuation models on spreadsheets and gradually get more client focus as you progress. Banks,
which specialise in this area, are Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley.
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Structure Financing Investment bankers provide clients with an alternative to standard business loans. They
borrow against a company‟s cash-flow history. In order to successfully do your work in this
area, you must have good spreadsheet, accounting, and legal skills.
Equity Capital Markets
In this case, investment bankers help clients structure, buy, sell, and issue shares using
market insight and intelligence with corporate finance knowledge. What they decide to do
with the shares is highly dependent on the financial situation and future estimates of the client
firm‟s performance.
Debt Capital Markets
When clients have limited access to traditional capital sources, they ask investment bankers
to help them raise funds by taking out loans in the form of high yield bonds or investment
grade bonds. Investment bankers working in this area will need to interact with other
divisions, such as financial strategy, derivatives, and currency trading, in order to be in a
position to give sound advice to clients.
Private Wealth Management
Investment bankers provide high net worth clients with highly customized and sophisticated
investment management and financial planning services. They provide advice on various
things including the use of trusts and other estate planning, vehicles, business succession,
stock option planning, the use of hedging derivatives for large blocks of stock. It is a service
offered by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
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1.3 Roles as per job title in Investment Banking
If you are someone who has just finished with an undergraduate degree, the most common
route to get into investment banking is to be hired into a bank‟s analyst programmes. For
someone with an MBA degree, the chances of getting hired as an associate are higher.
Whether an analyst or associate, you are likely to work within specialised groups or teams
with other investment bankers.
Role of an Analyst
As a start-up analyst you will join an investment bank for a two-year program. The top
performing analysts are often offered a chance to stay for the third year and the most
performing analysts can be promoted after three years to the Associate level.
As an analyst you‟ll be expected to do the bulk of the work. There are three types of work
that Analysts do:
Presentations
Analysis
Administrative tasks
Presentation are mainly putting together and writing of various PowerPoint presentations
including marketing documents like Pitches or Pitch books and documents for live
transactions (for example, a presentation to management or the Board of Directors). These
PowerPoint presentations are printed in colour and bound with professional covers as they are
taken to meeting with the clients. Analytical work involves all the work done in Excel like
entering historic company data from public documents, analyzing such data for valuation
purposes and projecting a company‟s financial statements. While administrative tasks are
things like scheduling and setting up conference calls and meetings, making travel
arrangements and keeping a list of deal team members up to date.
Role of an Associate
Associates are people who are directly out of a top MBA school or analysts that have been
promoted. Before being promoted to the Vice President level, bankers will be at the
Associate level for three and a half years at least. Associates also are responsible for
supervising over the Analysts and checking their work.
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In addition to overseeing the Analyst‟s work, Associates will often help write the text for the
presentations as well as do much of the modelling work. While dealing with live
transactions, the Associate will have significant ongoing interaction with the client and with
the opposing investment bank.
Role of a Vice President
Main role the Vice President plays is that of being a „Project Manager‟, whether for
marketing activities or on a transaction. The VP decides structure of the presentation or pitch
book. Dealing with live transactions, the VP is typically the banker „running the deal‟. The
VP is in-charge of managing the client, managing the senior bankers and managing the
Analysts and Associates that are actually doing the work. It is often at the VP level that
bankers begin to form valuable relationships with clients. Depending on the individual and
also the bank, some VPs will start to play a role in client development and marketing.
Role of a Director or a senior Vice President
The Director or SVP acts more like a Managing Director ie managing a high level client
development role or acts like a VP playing a project manager role. The role could also
depend on specific situation and other deal team members. For Director/SVPs to be promoted
to Managing Director level, they need to demonstrate that they can form client relationships
and have the ability to market and to bring in new business.
Role of a Managing Director
Being a senior level banker, the role of the Managing Director (MD) is mostly client
development. The MD will likely be the one with the senior level company relationships
(CEO, CFO, head of Corporate Development) and is typically responsible for spearheading
marketing efforts. On a live transaction, the MD often plays only a minor role, getting
involved when difficulties arise in the deal and during high level negotiations.
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1.4 Typical hierarchy/ ladder in an Investment Bank
Just about all investment banks have the same strict hierarchy or ladder of professionals.
From junior to senior, the typical hierarchy is
(1) Analyst
(2) Associate
(3) Vice President
(4) Senior Vice President/Director
(5) Managing Director
Sometimes banks do tend to deviate from this typical hierarchy a bit, for example having the
Senior Vice President and Director to be separate positions. Other banks, usually have the
same hierarchy but with somewhat different names for each position.
Associate Director for Associate
Director for Vice President
Executive Director for SVP
However, regardless of the names, the general job functions of each relative position tend to
be consistent from bank to bank.
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1.5 Top Investment Banks
There are three top investment banks that are globally recognised are
Goldman Sachs
JP Morgan
Morgan Stanley
Getting into any of these three requires perseverance and hard work. As a student, you might
think of getting ahead of your competition by participating in Spring Weeks organised by the
banks or by interning during a Summer Analyst Scheme.
Other top investment banks include:
Citigroup
Bank of America
Deutsche Bank
UBS
Credit Suisse
BNP Paribas
HSBC
Merrill Lynch
Lazard
These investment banks are typically regionally oriented or situated in the middle market.
You might come across boutique investment banks, which are oriented toward an industry
vertical, bond trading, M&A advisory, technical analysis, or program trading.
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1.6 The not-so-secret life of an Investment Banker
It is no secret that as an investment banker, you need to prepare yourself for long hours of
meticulous work. A clear understanding of the business world and stellar analytical and
communication skills are also required.
A typical day at work generally starts at 8:30am or 9:00am and it is rare for an Analyst or
Associate to leave work before 10:00pm. Many days are well beyond midnight, especially if
you are in the midst of a live transaction. The busier the group you are interviewing for, the
longer the hours generally. Smaller shops with smaller and less frequent deals generally have
lower hours but also generally lower compensation.
The hours for junior bankers tend to get busier after lunch as the Directors and Managing
Directors spend the morning generating work for the junior bankers. Travel is frequent but far
less than consulting. In general expect a day trip every two weeks at the Analyst level and
one day a week at the Associate level (note this fluctuates meaningfully by office geography
and firm).
The type of work you will be doing at entry level, as an investment banker will generally take
the form of the different types of analysis such as leveraged buyout modelling, equity
comparables, etc. You will spend a great deal of time with those in the class you enter the
firm with, especially those in your group. They are going through the exact same hardship as
you and you get very close as a result. The good news about banking is that life gets easier at
the Vice President level and much easier beyond that point. You then get more control over
your hours and what you are working on. However, be prepared for some gruelling years
before that point.
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1.7 Essentials needed to be an Investment Banker
Earn your Bachelor‟s degree from an accredited college or university. Choose a major in a
finance-related field, such as business administration, economics, marketing or math.
Engineers with strong Quant abilities also stand a good chance.
Sharpen oral communication skills with course work in speech or broader communications
classes. Become a confident speaker, as investment bankers make frequent presentations to
clients to attempt to gain their business.
Take classes specializing in business or proposal writing. One of your tasks as an investment
banker may be writing proposals to outline how a business deal will progress.
Follow trends in the investment banking industry by reading financial newspapers and
journals. This is a good way to find current job postings as well. Knowing the environment
and especially the history of a company with which you are interviewing is more likely to
make a good impression on the interviewer.
Think traditional and conservative when preparing to apply and interview for investment
banking jobs. Print your resume, cover letter and thank you letters on unadorned resume
paper. Wear appropriate business attire when meeting with a prospective employer.
Consider entering the field at an entry or lower level position such as an analyst. It is difficult
to break into the industry of investment banking, but gaining some solid work experience at a
large, reputable firm may make it easier.
Continue your education if you are not satisfied with the results of your job search. While not
necessary for every investment banker position, a Master‟s in Business Administration
(MBA) is quickly becoming a requirement for some highly sought-after jobs and is highly
recommended.
Learn everything about the company you are applying to.
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1.8 Skills and Qualities
It is vital to know that it is very tough to break into the investment banking market. Potential
employers require from their future employees a strong analytical and interpersonal skill set.
Generally, the following qualities are looked for in a prospective employee:
Strong problem solving skills
Highly numerate
Drive, ambition, flexibility
Ability to quickly learn
Exceptional networking skills
Stamina
Ability to work with influential clients
As an Analyst, you are expected to be:
Very dedicated
Have good spreadsheet skills
Be highly analytical
At a mid-career level, you should have:
Very good communication skills in order to successfully work with clients
A thorough understanding of market trends, the political and macroeconomic
environment, and deal mechanics
In order to get a leg up in the recruitment process, you might think of acquiring a CFA
certificate as accounting skills are highly valuable in investment banking.
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1.9 What the banks look for? (Selection criteria)
Grades: Generally each bank has certain target schools that most of their candidates come
from. Applications are generally read by those who went to those schools and know good
from average grades there well. In particular focus is on accounting, finance, economics and
management science courses.
Extra curricular Activities: Emphasis here is on if the candidate has had leadership roles
and if the experiences suggest a level of socialism and friendliness.
Job Experience: Related is better, but the more impressive the better. Bankers are a capable
bunch and expect high levels of accomplishment from applicants. If an applicant received top
tier ranking in their annual reviews, be sure to note this in your resume as that is an important
metric for bankers themselves at their annual bonus reviews.
SAT, GMAT, GRE test scores are secondary, if you have a great score put it on your resume,
it will only help.
1.10 What can you expect as a Graduate Analyst?
As a Graduate Analyst at an investment bank, you have to be prepared for a number of
difficulties and challenges. You should expect to work hard from the first day with very long
hours in a demanding environment constantly under pressure. As an Analyst, you probably
won‟t have much choice on which division you can work in; most likely, you‟ll be rotating
between different departments at least during the duration of your first year. However, on the
bright side, you can expect to receive very high rewards in terms of financial compensation
as well as considerable client exposure.
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1.11 Salaries
Salaries will vary with the firm you‟re working for and the region of the country you are in.
However, below are rough estimates of how much you can expect to earn (including bonus)
as an investment banker.
Job Level Salary Range (Degree/Years experience)
First year Analyst $90k – 150k Bachelor‟s
Third year Analyst $120K - 350K Bachelor‟s
First year Associate $150K - 250K MBA
Third year Associate $300 - 500K MBA
Vice President $350K - 1MM 3-6 years
Director/ Principal $400K - 1.5MM 5-10 years
MD/ Partner $500K - 20 MM 7-10 years
Department Head $800K - 70MM 10+ years
(Careers-in-finance.com, 2011)
Bonuses greatly vary in size and can reach very high levels; they can end up being between
10% to 50% of your salary. In 2008, due to the severity of the financial crisis, most
investment bankers received low and even zero bonuses. You have to be aware of the fact
that bonuses are heavily dependent on the state of the current economic climate.
In addition, it is important to know that the salary you will receive will include an equity
component, which is especially designed for the purpose to limit employees‟ movement
between firms.
In terms of investment banking areas, due to the new financial forms, salaries in prop trading,
institutional equity sales, and securitisation will most likely fall. In contrast, areas such as
restructuring, health care M&A/financing, and debt capital markets are growing, and
therefore, are expected to have a positive upward effect on salaries.
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2.0 An Investment Banking Resume While writing a banking resume, it is important to first list your Educational background with
the name of your business school and undergraduate university name, degree titles, and
graduation dates. Then comes the section with related Work Experience. Highlight 2 to 3
leadership instances where you made a difference to the organisation. It is always better to
mention full-time jobs rather than internships and provide details of only the kind of
experience, which is relevant to the new job profile. If you are an undergraduate, then add
your internships and part time jobs as well. Then have a section of Skills, related interests and
activities. You can include CFA, GMAT, GRE related information in this section. Candidates
having a lot of work experience can also drop this section to keep their resume short. We
believe a one-page resume is best suited for investment banking applications.
Make sure that the content of your resume is specific and focuses on your achievements.
General requirements for a good investment-banking resume are „attention to detail‟ and
„focus on results‟. Investment bankers are excellent at pointing out mistakes in a resume, so
candidates should make sure they have the correct dates and information with no typo‟s or
errors.
2.1 Keywords for Investment Banking resumes
Transaction experience: If you have ever been involved in deals like any of those I noted
above, be sure to make mention of them in your resume and explain your role in those deals
in your interviews as well as at a high level in your resume.
Attention to detail: Investment bankers have a tremendous attention to detail. No comma
can be in the wrong place, no extra spaces, everything must be accurate and aesthetically
appealing. So too is the case for the resumes reviewed by investment bankers. If there is an
error in the resume then the odds are the candidate will not have the requisite attention to
detail. Make sure your resume is thoroughly reviewed so it is accurate.
Financial Designations: If the candidate has any significant designations, such as a Series 7,
CFA, etc. be sure to note this in the applications. Languages: Investment bankers often work
on deals internationally. If you speak any other languages make sure to note this.
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Extra curricular Activities: Too often when I reviewed candidate resumes at Credit Suisse
people failed to list their extra curricular achievements. Investment banks are highly social
institutions and seeing lots of good extra curricular roles suggests that the candidate can fit in.
If your leadership roles were elected, you can put “(elected)” in brackets after your title for
the role, this is further proof that you are well-liked and can fit in.
Job Locations: This point is particularly important for bank offices outside of New York.
These offices will want to know that you have a link to the area. Therefore, if you have ever
worked in or near that city be sure to list the location of your jobs on your resume. At a
minimum, if you are applying for a role in Charlotte make sure your cover letter indicates
why you want to work there.
2.2 How Investment Bankers review resume
Whether you are applying as an undergraduate, a current banker or as an MBA for an
investment banking position, it is first important to understand the audience of your resume
so that you can maximize your chances.
Once you have submitted your resume for an investment banking job through the company‟s
career website, the HR department forwards it to investment bankers for reviewing.
All internship and analyst-level applications are reviewed by other investment banking
analysts in the company. While for applicants applying for associate-level positions, the
resume is reviewed by investment banking associates and they make the decision as to who
should be called for an interview. However, if the applicant is from a target business school
like the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, LBS, INSEAD etc then an alumni from that
particular school is in charge of the resume reviewing process. In case of a more random
application, the HR just hands the resume to whoever has bandwidth at that moment.
It is important to realise that the senior management like the Managing Directors, Vice
Presidents and Directors have no part to play in going through over 500 resumes weekly, as
their time is too valuable. Also the HR department is rarely involved in reading resumes of
applicants. They are just responsible for handing over resumes to bankers. So applicants need
to note that while networking into the field of investment banking, it is better to go for
bankers rather than HR.
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2.3 How much time is spent on a resume review?
Applicants should realise that large banking firms on an average receive thousands of
resumes every year. Out of which they conduct approximately a hundred interviews and then
the job offer is finally given to only a few number of interviewees. A rough estimate could be
drawn that out of every 100 resumes received by banks, only 20 applicants have a chance of
being called for the interview.
You must note that an investment banker has a very busy schedule and so everything is done
last minute, including reading resumes and selecting the right candidates for the interview
process. So an analyst or an associate banker spends only 30 seconds (half the time spent
by management consultants to review a resume which is one minute) reading through each
resume with focus on mainly 2 or 3 points provided by you.
These „Golden 30 seconds‟ is all that your resume has to impress the analyst/associate who is
reviewing it.
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3.0 Interview Preparation
Read a few investment banking culture related books like Monkey Business and Liar‟s Poker,
it will give you something casual to discuss with the interviewer and most everyone in the
industry has read these two books.
Make sure you are deeply familiar with the principles of valuation: accretion/dilution
analysis; equity and debt comparables analysis; comparable transaction analysis; leveraged
buyout modeling; discounted cash flow analysis (make sure you know what weighted
average cost of capital is and be able to explain it in granular terms). Be sure to understand
each of these analytical tools, when and why they are used and what they tell you.
Know your metrics. Know how any why to calculate: EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization); total enterprise value / EBITDA; the difference
between trailing (aka LTM – last twelve months) and forward multiples; free cash flow (aka
FCF); EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes); maintenance versus growth capital
expenditures; debt ratios like total or net debt to EBITDA; covenants; have a broad
understanding of reps and warranties in deals.
Know stock market index numbers especially: where the DOW, NASDAQ, S&P, oil, gold,
LIBOR, and if applicable the stock of the investment bank you are meeting with are trading
at. Also know key currency exchange rates (US versus pound, euro and Canadian dollar).
Have researched a minimum of two companies and be able to discuss why they would or
would not make good investments. How they are viewed by analysts in the market. What
they are trading at (overvalued or undervalued in your estimation and why). What are their
growth prospects? What geographies do they serve? What is their revenue mix? What are
their greatest risks?
Have at least 3 questions in hand to ask them about working at their firm. Some good ones:
How are deal teams structured here? What is the mix of pitching to live transactions? What is
the typical path for Analysts/Associates? What separates a good from a great
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Analyst/Associate (they really like ambitious people so this type of question so long as you
do not come off as arrogant is valuable)?
3.1 Interview Dos and Don’ts
3.1.1 Dos:
Dress nicely. Appearance matters.
Do all the preparation noted above, you will be surprised how much of it and more is asked
of you over the course of the interview process.
Truly ask yourself if you can handle the great stress and hours of the job and have a deep
interest in finance and deals. If you honestly say you can and do, then go for this job with full
fervor, they will see this in the process and want you as well. If you do not, this is not an
industry to take lightly and I have been exposed to too many people unwilling to do this
before and they were very unhappy in banking and soon left.
Learn as much as you can about finance and accounting in school and research, this will both
help you in the interviews and separate you in the job.
Send thank you notes after the interviews. This diligence is noticed and appreciated.
If there is a question you really mess-up they will appreciate it if you email them shortly after
with the answer. Do not over apologize for the error, you have lots to learn and the job will
provide that. They will notice the diligent effort.
3.1.2 Don’ts:
In the interview itself DO NOT come off as arrogant. That is the kiss of death. Be Confident
but not arrogant.
I would caution against disagreeing with the interviewer unless you are certain you are
correct. Unlike consulting interviews, investment bankers view the process as less of a date
than a right and wrong answer. Bankers are proud people that generally do not take well to
being questioned.
DO NOT fake something in your interview. For example do not just pass off that you think
the deal will be accretive without knowing what that word means and how to calculate it.
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Bankers can smell weakness and will likely pounce on it asking follow-up questions that
uncover your lack of understanding. Thus, study hard and choose your words and areas of
conversation carefully.
Do not discuss compensation. The job pays well. You already know that.
3.2 Interview Questions that an Investment Banker should be
prepared for
1. Name one company you would invest in and why?
2. Name one company you would not invest in and why?
[Expect numerous follow-up questions on these so know these companies cold].
3. Explain to me what happened in the most recent financial crisis.
[Expect this question in most interviews and have a very detailed, thorough understanding.]
4. Why do you want to work at this firm?
[Be prepared to discuss how you think they differ from their peers – do your homework on
them as well.]
5. What is the best and worst pieces of financial advice you have ever been given?
6. Describe to me the time when you worked as hard as you ever have.
[Investment bankers, especially junior ones, work grueling hours (often as much as 100 per
week), showing you are willing to do this and demonstrating you have worked hard in the
past will be important.]
7. What is free cash flow? Why is it important? How does it differ from EBITDA?
8. You may also be asked a question that requires you walk them through the debit and
credits resulting from a situation.
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4.0 Interview tips by alumni At InterviewBay, we have a fantastic network of alumni from top banking firms in the world,
who conduct interviews with our customers. Below are several interview tips articles by
alumni, which will definitely come in handy when applying to an investment-banking firm.
4.1 Goldman Sachs Interview tips. Understanding the Goldman Sachs Interview Process.
Context
Goldman is notorious for extremely tough and meticulous interviews. You will likely meet
several people starting at the Associate level (tend to be more Technically focused) to the
MD / Partner level (tend to be more focused on fit). People who are successful will show
resilience and not get worn down by the seemingly endless rounds of interviews. Goldman
more than any bank prides it self on its culture and as such are looking for people who
understand it well - know its Business Principles before you go into the interview
The interview will be focused on Technical knowledge in the earlier rounds and fit in the
later rounds. This article will briefly touch on the Technical aspects - this is standard across
all banks and you will be expected to know your technicals cold. Most of the article is
focused on the "other stuff" that is actually different about a GS interview
Technicals
Technicals are tested to see if you understand the basics. Most of the questions asked will be
easy to answer if you understand the fundamentals of finance e.g. I over stated depreciation
by $10 - walk me through the impact of this on the Income Statement, Balance sheet and
Cash Flow Statement
Sometimes harder technical questions maybe asked to see how you react to pressure - the
important thing to remember is not to crack under pressure but rather say ok this is something
I don't know but try and demonstrate your thought process on how you might approach it.
You will find your interviewer is a lot more likely to help if you don't crack under pressure
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Form small interview focus groups to gather as many Technical questions are you can and
quiz each other. This is the best way to get prepared for Technicals - this will expose you to
new questions and help you think on your feet
Know and understand the sections of a pitch book and what goes into them especially if you
are applying for a role in IBD. For markets roles, have defend-able opinions and thesis.
Fit / Behavioural Questions
This is what is going to get you in the door once you have passed the Technicals round.
Working in Banking is tough and working at GS is even harder and they want to see if you
have what it takes
Someone who is a good cultural fit is someone who is able to demonstrate his/ her fit with
each of the business principles. This doesn't mean that you memorize the business principles
and regurgitate them in the interview but rather think about examples that will demonstrate
that you have those qualities and try and "check off" various principles in the examples /
answers you provide
One of the things you will likely experience in later rounds is situational questions - GS use
this a lot. The key thing to remember here is that there is no right or wrong answer. They
want insight into your thought process and often give you very real situations that can occur
in the workplace. Some examples are below
You are travelling with your MD to a very Sr. Client meeting and pass out the presentation to
everyone. Your MD starts speaking and you notice there is a mistake 4 pages into the
presentation. What do you do?
You are in the elevator with th....
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4.2 Credit Suisse Interview tips.
An interview with an alumnus from Credit Suisse explaining „How to Become an Investment
Banker at Credit Suisse‟.
InterviewBay: A background about you.
I graduated from a top undergraduate business school. I did a summer internship with Credit
Suisse and spent nearly two years there after graduating from undergrad. I worked in the Los
Angeles office and was focused on leveraged finance and M&A. I spent the bulk of my time
working on deals for many of the largest private equity firms in the world. After my time at
Credit Suisse I decided that I wanted to complement my finance skills with strategy
capabilities. I joined one of the leading management consulting firms, rising to the position of
Senior Case Team Leader. I completed my MBA at one of the top programs and I now work
at a leading middle market private equity firm, a role which combines both my finance and
strategy skills.
InterviewBay: Why did you choose Investment Banking?
Skill set development is extremely important to me. In business I consider finance and
strategy the two paramount capabilities requisite in rendering strong business decisions.
Unequivocally the best training out of undergraduate and MBA studies to develop a financial
skill set is investment banking. It enabled me to become fluent in everything from financial
statements to valuation to investment logic to transaction execution. This is a skill set that can
only be achieved through the experience of doing deals. Furthermore, investment banking
allowed me at a very young age to have deep exposure to the senior executives of Fortune
500 corporations. These exposures were both stimulating and great learning experiences.
Investment banking also enables varied exposures. I worked on industries spanning energy,
entertainment, health care, industrials, manufacturing and more. I also worked on product
groups spanning equity raises (IPOs), bank and bond raises, leveraged buyouts, dividend
recapitalizations, and strategic acquisitions. It is very rare in business to have such varied
exposures so quickly and this breadth of experience meaningfully motivated me to banking.
More than anything thought was that I knew it was a much respected profession that would
be a great springboard to whatever I ultimately decided I wanted to pursue in business.
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5.0 Feedback given by our interviewers 5.1 Criteria
In terms of feedback, our interviewers provide answers to the following questions after mock
interviews are conducted with our clients:
1. Please provide the candidate‟s strengths.
2. Please provide the candidate‟s weaknesses.
3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target
company‟s/business school‟s requirements.
4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in his/her
interview preparation.
5.2 Feedback Examples
Below are anonymous examples of feedback provided by our interviewers:
Example 1:
1. Please provide the candidate‟s strengths.
a. Very intelligent - Amiable; you smile and your strong interpersonal skills shine
through.
b. Excellent listening skills - Analytical - Strong macro and consumer trends knowledge
(very important for Consumer & Luxury research within GIR).
c. Strong knowledge of middle class growth within China, India and Brazil (and how
this impacts disposable income and thus consumer spending).
2. Please provide the candidate‟s weaknesses.
a. Pace of speech - slow down and enunciate.
b. Your grammatical mistakes should be fewer as a result of slowing down. - You said "I
would say this example." Instead of "Let me give you this example". When I asked
you, "Did you meet with the management?", you said "Yes, I do." You could say, "Yes,
I did and worked closely with them throughout the process."3.
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3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target
company‟s/business school‟s requirements.
a. Be more structured in your responses:
For example, when someone asks you, "Which three adjectives would your professors
use to describe you?” you respond, "One: analytical, Two: industrious and Three:
inquisitive". Another good adjective to cite is "collaborative".
b. Interviewer(s) may ask you to cite an example of failure:
You could use an example of how you didn't manage communication effectively but
that you learned from this and made a concerted effort to communicate more
effectively with your team thereafter.
c. Flexibility and international interest will help you at Goldman Sachs.
IF they ask you to describe your medium or long-term goals, you can say that you'd
be very interested working for Goldman Sachs beyond the summer and that you are
flexible to work in NY, Hong Kong or other offices where they have GIR teams.
4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in his/her
interview preparation.
a. You can mention talking to a GS alumna who worked in four offices including Japan
and developed a truly global perspective and knowledge base as a result.
b. When discussing financial and analytical skillsets, you can tell them that you plan to
hone your skills in financial statement analysis and also in corporate finance (M&A,
corporate actions, etc).
c. Be sure to mention your having worked with Chinese pharmaceutical companies.
d. Do NOT mention anything personal or your personal life/relationship status. GS
employees know these questions are NOT permitted!
e. Write a nice/succinct thank you email within 24 hours of each interview RELAX, BE
CONFIDENT, SMILE and GOOD LUCK!
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Example 2:
1. Please provide the candidate‟s strengths.
a. Ability to learn/grasp new things – as evidenced by all your academic degrees,
coverage of multiple segments, etc.
b. Exceptional quantitative/analytical skills – as evidenced by your quantitative degrees
(finance, math, economic) as well as you performing financial analyses on your jobs
c. Teamwork/leadership – work with large global teams, taking “one” for the team to
deliver the task
2. Please provide the candidate‟s weaknesses.
a. Difficulty delegating – want to do things yourself so you can learn, but you realize
that you will have to learn to delegate as you move up in your career...plus other need
to learn as well.
b. Taking too much on your plate – accepting too much work just because you want to
learn as much as possible; also you are a people pleaser and rarely say “no” o
Consistent team at being able to prioritize – you do everything perfect, but you will
reach your maximum capacity
3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target
company‟s/business school‟s requirements.
a. As discussed every story/example that you mentioned try weaving in multiple
competencies. Also, keep in mind that you want to substantiate everything with
facts/evidence – number of people of the team that you have worked with, number of
research published, number of restaurants research – QUANTIFY QUANTIFY
QUANTIFY! Be sure to know what are your strengths and weaknesses.
4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in his/her
interview preparation.
a. A pleasure to work with and I believe she will be a good fit at GS.
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b. She needs to continue learning from folks with experience in whatever space she is
looking to move into as she learns well from others experiences and can benefit
greatly as a result of pursuing this mode of educating herself.
c. Know the facts on GS and have a few questions prepared for your interviewers.
Example 3:
1. Please provide the candidate‟s strengths.
a. X is an impressive candidate and I expressed to him, what I believed were his
strengths during the interview.
b. I urge him to continue on the path he is on preparation wise - but also to ask more
questions of his interviewer.
c. He learns fast and takes feedback well. This will make him a strong analyst.
d. Most importantly I was impressed by his detail orientation and his background.
e. He has achieved strong goals experience wise, he just needs to continue on this
trajectory
2. Please provide the candidate‟s weaknesses.
a. X is a strong candidate but he will benefit from tightening up in three areas.
i. He must gain a stronger knowledge of weighted average cost of capital
calculation - to the point where he can deal with theoretical situations thrown
at him.
ii. Secondly - he must speak like a banker when addressing his preparedness for
the role. By this I mean - he should improve his vernacular so that he is
"speaking more of the same language" when interviewing. The correct use of
terms that bankers use will definitely help in his interview.
iii. Lastly - he must make his story more believable. His attraction and experience
in entrepreneurial settings will set alarm bells off and thus he must make it
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clear that he is committed and passionate to pursue banking as a career and
prepared to accept and excel in the lifestyle
3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target
company‟s/business school‟s requirements.
a. As mentioned above, X will benefit from making his story believable, touching up on
his technical knowledge (accounting and valuation readings will help in this regards)
and also reading some material that will allow him to make the classic Wall Street
banker feel more at ease with his ability to transition into the atmosphere.
b. I suggest that popular books out in the space such as Monkeys business and
Barbarians at the gate be read in order to give him some insight into the minds of
people he will be dealing with and the world he will be living in. Although these may
seem humorous or outdated as books, they are still different and valued perspectives
which he will be able to digest and dwell on.
4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in his/her
interview preparation.
a. X and I will follow up with one another as I am interested in viewing his progress.
b. Nevertheless - I feel he has a strong resume and story - as he said he is obsessed with
doing - I urge him to tighten, tighten, and tighten some more his preparedness in
anticipation of the interview.
c. Reading a few things such as the economist and barrons, as well as hitting the books
on valuation and accounting - will make him a stellar candidate and stand out.
Example 4:
1. Please provide the candidate‟s strengths.
a. The Candidate seems sincere.
b. Is qualified well through education and experience.
2. Please provide the candidate‟s weaknesses.
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a. Needs to sharpen understanding of valuation concepts.
b. Needs to develop better explanation of his interest in investment banking.
3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target
company‟s/business school‟s requirements.
a. Needs to tighten up answers on preferences for large global banks.
b. Needs to have a stronger command of the details of his work at his last summer
internship.
4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in his/her
interview preparation.
a. Needs to project his voice and be more confident.
b. Doesn’t come across as aggressive enough in his presentation.
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6.0 Interviewees’ Testimonials
6.1 Examples
Below are several testimonials provided by our clients in regards to the mock interview
service they purchased.
1. Student from London School of Economics, Goldman Sachs mock interview
You are the greatest! I have never ever met anyone who has been so helpful in my entire
job hunting experience! You really get the best out of my resume (and my life) that I
haven't yet thought about. I will tailor every experience into a story showing my multiple
selling points. I will contact you if I meet any difficulty. I will keep you updated, and if at
all possible, looking for your advice even after crazy job hunting season.
2. A Banker from New York, Harvard Business School, Class of 2011
Well, I have a bit of good news…..I'll be attending HBS this coming fall! Thanks for your
preparation help….very useful. No feedback on the service, per se, but I will definitely
refer to all of my friends applying/interviewing.
3. A consultant from USA joining Oliver Wyman, New York
I would like you to thank Julien. I have just accepted an offer at Oliver Wyman. I am
grateful for his help. Thank you
4. A graduate from Germany after receiving an internship offer from McKinsey.
Thanks again for your great work and feedback! I got the job (internship)! Your
suggestions were really helpful and I think they made the difference! Thanks a lot!
5. An undergraduate from France, received a full-time offer from McKinsey
I have just passed the last round in Paris and got an offer from McKinsey, Paris! I am so
happy about it. Thank you very much for all your help! Thank you very much again!
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7.0 What next?
If you want to become an investment banker and wish to be fully prepared for the real
interview, then take a mock interview with InterviewBay.
InterviewBay was created for those who have interviews and who wish to prepare for the
opportunity through exceptional mock interviews with ALUMNI of the organization.
Interviewees can work with alumni to 'perfect' their pitch and prepare for banking, consulting
and graduate school admissions interviews.
We conduct interviews with alumni from top firms like Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan, and
Morgan Stanley etc.
Click on the link below and get fully prepared!
Website: www.interviewbay.com Email: [email protected] US and International: +1 203 541 0444 UK: +44 203 002 0322