FBR Interview Questions

9 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (94%)

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.

4.1
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (86%)

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

Interviews at FBR

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
1st Year Analyst
Year 2016
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Generalist
Location Arlington
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2015
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Generalist
Location Arlington
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
2nd Year Associate
Year 2013
Job Title 2nd Year Associate
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2010
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2009
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Restructuring Advisory
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Research Associate
Year 2012
Job Title Research Associate
Group/Division Equity Research
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Arlington
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - FBR Examples

Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Arlington
Interviewed: 2016
Date Submitted: Dec 11, 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Conversational interview with VP. No technicals, just some fit questions and general discussion about the firm.
Interview Questions
No surprise technicals or anything. As I mentioned, it was mostly fit. Interview mostly revolved around why banking, why fbr, stuff like that. We discussed general market stuff, deals relevant to fbr, and 144a. 144a is important to know about and will be moving forward, this was only 1st round. Talked about role 144a played at fbr, and why it is a good product, especially in certain environments.
I didn't go in expecting to discuss 144a, but I knew about it. For anybody I would recommend its nature and role.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous employee in Arlington
Interviewed: 2015
Date Submitted: Dec 25, 2015
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Background Check
Interview
They recruit on campus at my school and posted a resume drop online. I dropped my resume and was invited to participate in an on campus interview, which consisted of speaking to three different people of varying levels (analyst, vp, HR) for 30 minutes. Within the next couple of days, I was invited to interview at their superday at the headquarters. They interviewed 10 kids on my campus and took 4 onto the superday. The superday consisted of 5 interviews with people within the IBD of varying levels. Was notified the following week that I received an offer.
Interview Questions
I found the following questions unexpected:

1) What would your worst enemy and best friend have to say about you and why?

2) If you could take any three people (dead or alive) out to a dinner party, who they be and why?

3) If you could go long or short on company XYZ, which would you pick and why?

4) If company XYZ had to divest it's one division of its business, how would you go about valuing this division and what is a list of potential buyers and why? Which metrics would you use to value the company?
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: May 2013
Date Submitted: Mar 31, 2014
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
I was contacted by their HR to fill a position in the Irvine office. I had a phone interview with HR and then was invited in to the office to meet with several of the bankers: an Associate and two MDs.
Interview Questions
The interview was largely personality-based. There were some very high-level questions on FIG-type transactions and were really more conversational than anything.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: September 2010
Date Submitted: Jan 12, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Typical IB - valuation and accounting interview questions.
Interview Questions
NA
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Associate Interview - Restructuring Advisory

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: July 2009
Date Submitted: Dec 01, 2013
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Recruiting firm was aware of effort at FBR Capital Markets to start a new restructuring advisory group within the firm, I was lucky to connect with recruiting firm with the right timing.
Interview Questions
Discuss your recent restructuring-related experience, including specifically debtor-side and creditor-side representations, both in-court and out-of-court, and your roles and responsibilities in each situation.
Discuss your approach to conducting distressed valuation and the various information sources and analytical strengths and weaknesses of each.
Sample Answer

Research Associate Interview - Equity Research

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: February 2012
Date Submitted: Aug 04, 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Got in touch through a colleague whose college friend worked there. Interview and meeting were planned out over email with my colleague's friend. The office was very nice, although small. Everyone was very friendly. They quickly communicated their decision and did so via a phone call. The individual hiring was honest with me when I inquired why he was going another direction and ultimately came back to me a year later when the hire didn't work out.
Interview Questions
Why do you want to do equity research? You don't have experience in it.
I don't have experience in this directly, but I am a quick learner and am willing to put in whatever time it takes to quickly get up the learning curve and start producing publishable material.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: September 2012
Date Submitted: Mar 15, 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
First round was a phone interview with an Associate, we spoke for about 20 minutes regarding my experience and interest in FBR. Seemed like a cool guy and I got a good vibe about the current culture there, I had been worried considering the turmoil and rumors about the bank at that time. The questions were entirely fit based and no technicals were asked. A few days later, I was contacted by a recruiter about a Superday at their New York office. The Superday was being held on a Friday.


At their New York office all the prospective employees, about 10 of us, were placed into a small conference room where we were briefed on what the company was looking for. We had been told that they were looking to fill at least 2 positions. They did not specify much further, and it appeared as though they were looking for both an associate and analyst at the time as ages/experience levels varied among the applicants.


From the conference room meeting we were all sent to a different office where we would stay for each interview. The interviews were 1 on 1 and were conducted by Associates through MD level bankers. Most sessions were fit focused with perhaps one technical question thrown in. However, one of the five interviews was entirely technical based although the questions were not of much difficulty.


I was notified about the decision about a week after the Superday.
Interview Questions
How does 10% change in depreciation flow through each of the statements?

How would a change from FIFO to LIFO flow through the financial statements?
Sample Answer

Analyst - IBD Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Arlington
Interviewed: 2012
Date Submitted: Oct 03, 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Relatively short conversation with HR representative over the phone. Most of those questions were about fit and previous experience--some about college classes. In person interviews were basically all 1 on 1 types with general tell me about yourself questions.
Interview Questions
Technical financial statement questions. You need to be able to explain the three financial statements and understand how they link together.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview -

Anonymous employee in
Interviewed: May 2012
Date Submitted: Jun 04, 2012
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Staffing Agency
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Found recruiting info through headhunter's LinkedIn. Initial interview was with headhunter. He selected me with 3 other candidates for the group interview with lasted half a day consisting 6 interviews 30 minutes each. Group interview was with the head of IB, VPs and Associates.
Interview Questions
Why investment banking? In my case I switched from public accounting to investment banking. So the questions was more like why switching?
Three scenarios of cash flow increases, decreases, remains flat over 5 years. Give example of three roles that would like to see each of the three scenarios.
Sample Answer