In my personal experience, the few BB superday interviews I've had were much more tough -- harder technicals, more case studies, more outside-the-box brainteasers. The MM/Boutique superdays I've had were easier and more fit based, and rarely had case studies. People from MM banks were a lot friendlier during the interview, too.

1st rounds were easy for both, except for Houston banks, which were tough at the BB and MM levels.

 
chickenboy:
I always had MM and EB interviews that were a lot more technical heavy than BB interviews. there was never a time where I wasn't familiar with any of the technicals thrown at me in BB interviews (I wasn't so great with the behaviorals though haha)

+1 And technicals tend to be more outside-the-box at MMs/EBs (compared to the typical "$10 D&A effect" type of question at BBs).

 

On one hand, boutiques seem to grill harder on technicals (in my experience) since they don't have the same resources and time to train everyone up to the basic level of knowledge required. That said, since they are also smaller, ability to fit in with their culture is also a huge deal. I'd prep your technicals extra hard, and prepare some good "why ______" answers, since they'll ask why you want to work at their firm specifically.

 

This is going to sound like I'm going cheap on my answer but really it just depends on the firm and the person you're interviewing with.I can think of three types: the interviewer who could care less as long as you have a good conversation and seem smart, another that cares about the technical part of the job (wants someone who's ready), or one that only wants you for your pedigree (HYP, etc.). It just depends.

 
soccerstar:
This is going to sound like I'm going cheap on my answer but really it just depends on the firm and the person you're interviewing with.I can think of three types: the interviewer who could care less as long as you have a good conversation and seem smart, another that cares about the technical part of the job (wants someone who's ready), or one that only wants you for your pedigree (HYP, etc.). It just depends.

True, it really does vary. For what it's worth though, every boutique IBD interview I had this year on campus was super technical-heavy, and this was the same experience for others. Maybe that just happened by chance, but still, might as well prep technicals intensely just in case.

 

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