Pacific Crest Securities Interview Questions

7 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (92%)

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 (87%)

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.

3
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult

Interviews at Pacific Crest Securities

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
1st Year Analyst
Year 2015
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Portland
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2015
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Technology
Location Portland
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2013
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2014
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Francisco
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Associate
Year 2011
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)
Location Portland
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Equity Research
Location Portland
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2010
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Francisco
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Pacific Crest Securities Examples

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in Portland
Interviewed: August 2015
Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2015
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
The interview process consisted of a screen with a recruiter of KeyBanc Capital Markets. The screen was simply telling your story as she took notes, then she confirmed that a member of the Portland team would reach out via email in the next few days to schedule a phone interview. A phone interview was the next week with an Associate. The interview was extremely work ethic based with DCF and Company Comparables questions. Also, very fit-based. Next was an interview with a VP the next week which was very similar. The next week was a super-day type interview with 7 bankers ranging from analyst to MD. The analysts asked the more technical questions while the MD searched for fit and the associates and VPs wanted to make sure that you are capable of the working conditions. Overall, the interviews were extremely fit based, and they were looking to fill the position quickly.
Interview Questions
How do you use technology in your daily life? Very open-ended question in which I talked about how post-college kids use technology such as computers, phones, cloud-based systems, etc. Definitely caught me off guard.
Pitch me a tech stock. This one caught me off guard as well, and I didn't want to be too obvious and pitch a stock that was a megacap or a stock that they frequently cover.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Technology

Anonymous interview candidate in Portland
Interviewed: August 2015
Date Submitted: Aug 10, 2015
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I had one Interview with HR that was fit based. Asked about my story, when I would be finishing my grad program, and more about the candidate they are looking for.

Had another phone interview with a VP that was mostly fit based. Walk me through a DCF and drivers of a model that I had build on a logistics company.
Interview Questions
"I noticed you are from LA, what about Portland interests you?" (not word for word, but similar.)
I am near NYC for grad school and grew up near LA, so they were worried about my leaving.
There seems to be high turnover with their analysts as most individuals do not have plans to stay in Portland long term.
Also asked about recent deals, so I would recommend brushing up on their deal history. They are a pretty solid player in MM tech, but are just building out their name. The HR individual noted that some applicants blanked out when asked about what they knew about PCS.
I'm currently in grad school but this was for an immediate position. I had to sell that I was ready to take an immediate opportunity and leave my program while not giving off a negative image (that I can't commit to something, etc).
Sample Answer

Intern Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous employee in Boston
Interviewed: May 2013
Date Submitted: Feb 23, 2015
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
The hiring process is slow but follows the standard process. They interview on campus at a handful of schools before bringing in the candidates for a super day at their offices. The process feels a little disorganized with gaps between interviews and not much guidance after on the process.
Interview Questions
What are the 4 types of valuation?

This and several other standard questions were asked. At no point were there any highly complicated technical questions and most of the interview was focused on personality and fit. I realized after interning here that tech banking on the middle market level is less technical than some other fields.
What is it about Pacific Crest's Boston office that appeals to you?

This combined two themes about Pacific Crest that were stressed in every interview. Everyone was very concerned about whether I was looking for Boston or NYC and why I would commit to Pacific Crest and not run for a bulge bracket after I had some experience.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Summer Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco
Interviewed: 2014
Date Submitted: Feb 16, 2015
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
First round interview: On-campus 1 on 1 that lasted around 30 minutes. Half behavioral (tell me about yourself, why PacCrest, who have you spoken with at the firm) and half technical (walk me through DCF, how would I value a company, how do I apply multiples to this specific company given xx revenues and xx EV).

Emailed by HR two days later asking for availabilities on particular days the next week for a superday.

Superday: At office, lasted about 2.5 hours. Each interview was 30 minutes.
1st - Director, majority behavioral (why did you attend this school, what were your past experiences like, etc.) with one question about EV formula.

2nd - VP, had spoken with him before so he didn't bother with basic behavioral questions. Grilled me on why banking over accounting/consulting, and then created a case study on valuing a tech company with rapid revenue growth but negative profit.

3rd - Associate, typical behavioral questions with some non-finance business questions about previous investment banking internship. Ended with "why should we hire you"

4th - 3 analysts, started with "tell me about yourself" and asked about recent tech trends/happenings but then jumped straight into technicals.

Had memorized the M&I guides so was able to answer all the typical questions, but stumbled when asked to analyze a fictional company.

Rejected by email a few days later.
Interview Questions
Why investment banking?
(I want to learn and have experience working with many different companies in a fast paced environment)

You can get that same experience working in accounting/consulting, why aren't you pursuing those? (Want something more quantitative than consulting and more fast-paced than accounting)

Consulting is pretty quantitative, and accounting isn't exactly a 9-5 job. What other reasons do you have?
Assume I have a company with revenues of 100M this year and 170M next year, there is no profit but FCF is 1M this year and 1.7M next year.

What is the most prominent feature of this company? (Correct Answer: it has 70% growth)
How does that compare to GDP growth of US and China? (Correct Answer: US is 2-3%, China is 7%)
How would I value this company? (Correct Answer: Comps and precedent, can't use DCF because growth doesn't stabilize)
Assuming this is a SaaS company, where do I look on the income statement to determine how well the company is doing? (Correct Answer: Profit margin)
If a tech company is experience 80% growth, which method should be used to determine terminal value in a DCF?

(Correct Answer: Multiples, if you benchmark companies by growth rate then the growth rate should already be accounted for in the multiples determined)
Sample Answer

Equity Research Associate Interview - Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)

Anonymous employee in Portland
Interviewed: 2011
Date Submitted: Jun 03, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Personality Test
Background Check
Interview
Multi-stage interview consisting of a number of phone interviews with the Senior Analyst and an interview day with the entire team. Very fit focused. Technicals focused on valuation thought process.
Interview Questions
What do you own in your personal account? Why do you own it? What is your bull case? Bear case? How did you source your investment idea?
Why are you interested in becoming a research associate? Where do you think you will be able to contribute immediately? Where do you feel you need to improve?
Sample Answer

Equity Research Associate Interview - Equity Research

Anonymous employee in Portland
Interviewed: December 2013
Date Submitted: Mar 28, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Personality Test
Background Check
Interview
3-4 rounds. Interviewed with almost 10 employees including 4 Senior Analysts. Most questions were sector specific, some were about my previous work experience. Not much in the way of technical questions, which I was surprised by.
Interview Questions
Question about channel checks - I had never done these coming directly from school. Wouldn't be hard for someone with experience.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous employee in San Francisco
Interviewed: October 2010
Date Submitted: Jan 11, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Personality Test
Interview
Phone screen consisting of financial questions - valuation in general, DCF, public comps, prcedent transactions, and understanding of financial statements. Additional questions consisting of work experience, interest in investment banking, and interest in Pacific Crest. Initial phone interview, followed by interview in office while meeting all MD's, and VPs. Communication during the process was somewhat sporadic, but due to the nature of deals and travel of the team, it took a while to arrive at a consensus decision.
Interview Questions
Pick a company and perform a DCF valuation, explaining how to calculate each metric and if the final valuation makes sense.
Sample Answer