Over the course of recruiting you will find a large number of resources for possible interview questions from MBACM, Second Years, the Vault Guide, and the Finance Club online database. Here we have attempted to compile a strong working list from these sources for you to use as your foundation in interview preparation.
For the most common and important questions we have provided some commentary or food for thought. Where we thought it would be educational, we have provided answers for some of the technical questions. Where we thought it would be better for you to find the answers yourself, we have provided only the questions.
We have erred on the side of the inclusive: that’s to say, we’ve included every question we could get our hands on. The questions are not ranked in terms of difficulty, they are ranked by likelihood of being asked. The more oddball questions we’ve relegated to the bottom of each section and they can be safely ignored.
If you spend some time thinking about how you would answer the questions on these lists, you should have very few surprises. As you think about how to spend your time, think about the impact on the margin. Are you better off spending your time improving your pitch and doing more research on a bank or researching the most obscure technical question? (If you’ve read this guide carefully, you know the answer.)
8.1 The Basics
While every interview is unique, there are a surprising number of questions that seem to come up in every interview. These are The Basics and you should be very well prepared for them.
1. Tell me about yourself / Walk me through your resume
• Even though they have your resume in front of them, this is how most interviews start. They have one page of information on you, but they want to see what you choose to highlight, how you talk about it, and your presentation in doing so. This is an invitation for you to market your strengths that are relevant to your ability to succeed on the job. Be confident, upbeat, and distinctive.
• This is also a chance to create a sneak preview of stories you want to tell them – and by highlighting items on your resume you make it more likely they will ask about them. Focus on accomplishments and transferable skills.
• Restrict your answer to the aspects of your experience that highlight your key marketing points or those that are required to make your answer flow properly. Your answer should not exceed 2 minutes. You don’t have to cover your entire life history. Where you choose to focus tells the interviewer about you. You should be looking at what you learned at various steps in your career and education and why you made the jump to the next step.
• No doubt you will meticulously script the answer to this question and practice it in many mock interviews. By DIP week you will be bored stiff by your own answer to this question. Be careful of rehearsing this too much that it sounds unnatural.
2. Why banking?
• Well, why banking? Be honest with yourself. That is how you will find the best answer to this question. Once you think you have it, go over your answer with mock interviewers and other peers. Anticipate rebuttals to your answers ahead of time and prepare responses to them.
• Different people will have different reasons for being interested in banking.
Some will emphasize the focus on the client, others the analytical rigor and intellectual challenges, others still the people and project management skills. Ask yourself honestly what your reasons are and build your story around those reasons – and your unique experience and personality.
• This question may also be asked as “Why not consulting/Sales and Trading/Private Equity?” You should be prepared to answer explicitly in the negative why those don’t fit for you based on your experience and your interests and then circle back to what uniquely about banking makes it the right choice for you.
• You will sometimes be asked what other careers you are considering. Be honest, but if you are only interested in banking be very explicit about that.
• Money is not a good answer to this question.
3. Why this bank?
• Ask yourself - what are the features of the bank that appeal to you the most?
• How do the features of the bank match with aspects of your previously jobs that you enjoyed?
• Did someone say something at an EIS that struck a particular accord with you?
• Try to answer this question in terms of the ways you best fit with the bank rather than just in terms of what the bank can do for you.
4. Tell me about a time you, as part of a team, succeeded / failed.
Tell me about a time you, as an individual, succeeded / failed.
• These are four of the most frequently asked “tell me about a time”
questions. They provide an opportunity to say something about who you are and how you handle things.
• This question is really asking about what you know about the role of the Associate and what working with you will be like. They want to know you will work well with senior bankers, peers in different groups in the banks, and the analysts who are technically below you. Put the emphasis on transferable skills / qualities desired in an Associate.
• For each of these four questions, put together two to three anecdotes. This will leave you well prepared for these questions and other questions that are bolstered by anecdotal responses.
• Note the distinction between “individual” experiences and “team”
experiences. Your anecdotes should be appropriate to the question.
5. We’re concerned about X. Can you explain more to us?
• There will be concerns about everyone. If you did banking before it’s “why did you leave?” and “why do you want to come back?” If you worked in private equity or at a hedge fund it’s “are you sure you want to be on the sell side?” and “do you understand the differences between the buy side and sell side?” If you’re a career changer there are a variety of possible
“challenges” to your thinking.
• Anticipate the concerns about you. (They will likely be raised in mock interviews with Second Years.) Then figure out appropriate responses.
• Sometimes this dialogue can be quite forceful with multiple rebuttals to your arguments and challenges to your sincerity about or commitment to banking. This is part of the process. If you have a well-thought out story and, through mock interviews, are able to anticipate and prepare responses to likely objections, you should do fine.
• This is often the part of the interview where one interviewer plays the “bad cop.” State your answers with clarity and conviction. Be polite, but firm in holding your ground.
8.2 Other Very Likely Questions
There are a few other very common questions that happen towards the end of the interview that you should also be aware of – and that require extra preparation.
1. Do you have any questions for me?
• This is the most common way that interviews end. In some cases, it’s the only question an interviewer will ask. Is serves as the big reminder that you’re in the driver’s seat.
• Have a few questions prepared. At the end of the interview, there is likely to be an opportunity to ask questions. It is not completely necessary to ask questions but if you have a few questions prepared it might help prevent an awkward silence in the interview. Questions could include asking about the interviewer’s background (so make sure you are paying attention at the beginning of the interview to ensure you don’t ask a question that has already been answered) or asking about the second round process. Here are a few commonly suggested questions for you to ask:
Personal experience: How did you get your start in banking? How did you end up in your group?
Advice: What makes a good Associate? What are the key factors of success for individuals starting in banking?
Commentary: For a more senior banker consider asking questions about market trends and recent deals – but be prepared to have a dialogue.
2. Is there anything else you want to tell me?
• This seemingly scary question is actually the best gift an interviewer can give you: the pure play selling opportunity. Seal the deal with this one:
why banking, why that firm, why you.
• If you’re good, you can turn “do you have any questions for me” into “is there anything else you want to tell me.” For example, “Most of my questions have been answered at this point, but I would like to say…”
3. If we make you an offer right now, will you accept it?
• You probably won’t get asked this in a first round interview, but many people do get asked it in a second round interview. DO NOT SAY YES UNLESS YOU MEAN IT. You do not need to say “yes” in order to get an offer and you are bound by your word once you say it. If you are ready to commit to one firm over all the others, then you may tell them. Otherwise, be prepared to discuss in a thoughtful way how you would evaluate multiple offers including how you would compare spec firms.
• Think about it this way: Until a firm has made you an offer, they have not committed themselves. As such, short of an offer, you cannot be expected to commit yourself to them. Rather, you just need to discuss the reasons that you are interested in the firm.
• Showing bad faith in answering this question is very ill-advised. If you tell multiple firms they are you top choice, it will often get back to them.
(Recruiters from different firms talk to each other about recruiting.) This can lead to you not receiving an offer from either firm. Even if you get away with it during the interview period, if you subsequently refuse an offer from a firm you have told you would join you create very bad blood.
The Career Management office is notified and often other firms are made aware of your actions. This is can have serious adverse consequences for full-time recruiting.
4. Tell me about a deal you’ve been following.
• It is not uncommon to be asked in an interview – particularly in the second round – to talk about a deal or two you have been following. You should have several deals you are prepared to talk about comfortably should the question arise in an interview. Students who are expressing a strong preference in an industry group usually follow deals in that area, but even those without a specific group preference should go through the exercise of following a recently completed (or recently announced) transaction. The best source for deals to follow is the Wall Street Journal, although you don’t need to choose a deal that is front page news.
• You should be able to summarize the deal – and why you think it’s interesting – in a few questions. In order to prepare your summary (and to anticipate follow up questions) consider the following factors:
- When was the deal announced?
- What is the transaction value?
- What are the terms of the deal (cash or stock)?
- Have any revenue or cost synergies been announced?
- If so, what are they qualitatively and quantitatively?
- What is the transaction value as a multiple of EBITDA? Of revenues?
- Are theses multiples in line with recent deals in the industry?
- Is the deal accretive or dilutive for the acquirer?
- What is the strategic rationale of the target? For the acquirer?
- Which banks are involved in the transaction?
- What has been the market’s response (in terms of stock prices)?
- What impact (if any) is this deal likely to have in its industry?
- Is it likely the deal will go through? If not, why not?
8.3 Behavioral Questions
Answers to these questions are meant to understand more about who you are – what motivates you and how you respond to new situations. There are also a variety of questions designed to check on the “airplane test” – is this person interesting enough to sit next to for a long plane ride? Self-confidence and likeability are particularly important in these types of questions. Some of these also call for anecdotes, which you should have prepared. The more anecdotes you have prepared going into an interview, the better. At the very least, you need to sketch out and practice your strengths and weaknesses complete with anecdotes and take aways.
A final note: some behavioral questions (“what’s your favorite book?”) may have an easy answer (“Huckleberry Finn”). Don’t wait for the banker to ask you the real question: “Why?” Make your original answer both the short answer (in this case the title of the book) as well as a few sentences of explanation about why something is your favorite. It’s the reasoning that is important.