Arbor Advisors Interview Questions

7 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (95%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

4.3
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (82%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.9
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (3%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

5%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at Arbor Advisors

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Mergers and Acquisitions
Location San Mateo
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2017
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Mateo
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2015
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Mergers and Acquisitions
Location Palo Alto
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
2nd Year Associate
Year 2014
Job Title 2nd Year Associate
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Palo Alto
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
2nd Year Associate
Year 2012
Job Title 2nd Year Associate
Group/Division Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)
Location Palo Alto
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Salt Lake City
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2011
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Palo Alto
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Arbor Advisors Examples

Internship Interview - Mergers and Acquisitions

Anonymous employee in San Mateo
Interviewed: September 2018
Date Submitted: Jun 05, 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Arbor posted a job listing for its analyst program on my university's job portal. I had to submit a writing sample along with my resume.
Interview Questions
For me, it consisted of two phone calls with different associates that are both trying to get a better behavioral sense of who you are. Since it focuses heavily on being entrepreneurial focused, I emphasized my interest in tech start-ups and experience with them in the past. Was also asked what tech trends I am interested in. Overall, they are looking for people who are ambitious, curious, and can handle the work load. They were both 30 min interviews. I ended up accepting the offer and had an amazing experience.For me, it consisted of two phone calls with different associates that are both trying to get a better behavioral sense of who you are. Since it focuses heavily on being entrepreneurial focused, I emphasized my interest in tech start-ups and experience with them in the past. Was also asked what tech trends I am interested in. Overall, they are looking for people who are ambitious, curious, and can handle the work load. They were both 30 min interviews. There weren't too many unexpected questions, very behavioral.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Mateo
Interviewed: July 2017
Date Submitted: Aug 22, 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Skills Test
Interview
1) Screening phone call - Interviewer described the operations of the firm, answered questions, and asked fit questions.
2) Pre-Mock Call - This call was to prepare the interviewee for a mock phone call where the interviewee would call a pretend CEO to "sell" Arbor Advisors and build a relationship
3) Mock-Call - A Mock call where the interviewee pretended to act as an analyst reaching out to assess a potential lead, answer questions about Arbor Advisors, and share how the firm could assist the pretend company
Interview Questions
No unexpected questions. Questions included:

What does Arbor Advisors do?

What type of market do they target?

How do you value a company?

What are precedent multiples?

Does Arbor Advisors offer debt, or work on the buyside?

Why do you want to go into this (technology) sector, and what value can you add?

The interviewer also explained that the firm was looking for individuals who had a passion for the industry, could coherently hold a conversation of the phone, and build rapport with potential clients.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Mergers and Acquisitions

Anonymous employee in Palo Alto
Interviewed: 2015
Date Submitted: Nov 02, 2015
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Heard about the job through career services on campus. Applied within career services. Interviews included 2 rounds of phone interviews with analysts and associates followed by 1 round with a managing director.
Interview Questions
Can you speak about a technology vertical you are interested in, any M&A activity you have followed in the space, discuss valuations within the vertical, and what is driving the valuations in the industry?
Sample Answer

IB Associate Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous employee in Palo Alto
Interviewed: October 2014
Date Submitted: Jan 06, 2015
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Recruiter scouted me on LinkedIn and connected me to the hiring manager. This was followed by an initial phone screen which consisted of conversation (rapport building), my presentation of transaction experience and Q&A about the role. It went positively and I was immediately prompted to schedule a 2nd phone interview with Senior Director. I discussed my background, my industry interests and transaction experience, etc. Both interviews were almost entirely fit based. I was asked to fly out for an in person interview that took place 2 weeks later. This was a typical Super Day in which I interviewed with the analysts, the associates, the VPs, and the directors. The entire interview was much more fit based than technical and focused more on my industry knowledge, interests as well as my transaction experience. I believe that this is generally because the associate role at Arbor has a heavy business development component.
Interview Questions
"Tell me about a book that you read recently and why you liked it?"

I was asked to describe my business development and sales process and to detail how I bifurcate my time between origination and execution. This type of question is likely to show up in future since BD is a fundamental aspect of the associate role.
I was asked to respond to a client objection centered around the client wanting to source capital without an intermediary.
Sample Answer

Analyst 2 Interview - Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)

Anonymous employee in Palo Alto
Interviewed: August 2012
Date Submitted: Aug 15, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Background Check
Interview
Started with a phone interview with an associate. Pretty standard initial interview, walk me through your background, why investment banking, etc. since the bank focuses on the technology sector he did ask questions on recent transactions in the space and trends. I was then passed to another phone interview with a different associate. The interview was pretty much the same as the first but they did ask me more questions about the firm to see if I did my home work on their website. Next I did a mock call that simulated speaking to an entrepreneur about their technology company. The role has an element of business development responsibilities. After passing that test, I met with the whole team ( a few analysts, associates, 1 vp, and an MD) and received an offer a week later.
Interview Questions
How do you convert EBITDA to free cash flow? Free cash flow = EBITDA - D&A * (1-Tax rate) + D&A - Capex - Change in net working capital
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in Salt Lake City
Interviewed: December 2013
Date Submitted: Jan 07, 2014
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I reached out to the M.D. at Arbor Advisors when I heard they were looking for Analysts in their new Salt Lake City, UT office. One of the Analyst in the office reached out to me and set up a phone interview. A week after our phone interview, I had another one with an Associate in the Silicon Valley.
Interview Questions
Let's say you email the CEO of a Tech company who agrees to take your phone call, what three questions would you ask him?

I was also asked about trends I'm following in the Tech industry. I mentioned some of the larger deals that had taken place: Facebook, Dell going private, and the recent Twitter IPO. I then talked about a problem in the Tech industry known as "Big Data" and what companies were doing to solve this issue.
I was surprised the company asked for a minimum GPA of 3.75. That qualification seems high for a non-traditional IB position (the position is more phone work and sales than analytical valuation of companies in spreadsheets). My Cumulative GPA actually is lower than a 3.75 but through aggressive networking I was able to get interviews with this firm. I had reached out to the company before about internships 9 months previous, it was not hard to follow up with the M.D. when I heard about openings in their Salt Lake office.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Palo Alto
Interviewed: January 2011
Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2011
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Other
Interview
The position started off with a typical investment banking phone interview. Going over what is investment banking, why I wanted to get into banking, and then reviewing my past experience.

I then had a second phone interview with a VP in the company and that was more technical, but still mostly fit questions. He also explained what the position would be like, and emphasized that the main role would be sourcing business in the middle market community.
The third step in the interview process was a mock call with a CEO of a middle market company. It was definitely the most unique part of the process, and included trying to gain insight into the CEOs business and then going over how Arbor could help position that CEO for an exit.
Interview Questions
How would you go about presenting Arbor Advisors to a middle market CEO?
What past sales experience do you have, and how do you think that would help our firm?
Sample Answer