Interview Questions
(Chimp, 9
Points)
on 7/27/06 at 12:46am
What are some of the more technical questions I can expect during the finance interview? I have heard from many people to expect how to valuate companies, etc. Should I start describing formulas verbally or should I bust out my drawing skills?
...
you can expect an array of accounting questions... remember, accounting is more key to this job than finance
the lay-up tech question asked at almost every interview is: how does depreciation flow through the sheets? so you just want to go through and verbally explain what the effect is of a depreciation charge on each of the sheets and compare it to a "status quo" scenario where there is no dep'n
another common, like you said, is how do i value a company. you already know a few, so just talk about it high-level... "well there are a variety of ways to value a company, three of which are commonly used:
1) comparable company analysis - where you'll take multiples of comparable companies and compare them to your own... for example P/E, EV/EBITDA, EV/Sales... if you want, you can explain why you use Enterprise Value instead of Equity or Market Cap
2) comparable transaction analysis - where you'll compare deals in the industry similar to your own and explore the metrics/valuation used for the target and see how that compares to your own company
3) discounted cash flow - essentially every company is worthless without cash as a going conern yada yada, so we can discount a company's future cash flow by taking its weighted average cost of capital (which they may ask about in more detail).. and discount them to the present value... also talk about exit multiples and terminal values (perpetuity growth rates, etc)
those are the two most basic ones... accounting questions i've been asked:
-minority interest
-deferred tax assets/liab
-lifo/fifo
-how are 3 statements linked
obviously, if you have no background in acct / fin, they'll take that into account, but you should have a basic understanding
thanks again freecashflow,
thanks again freecashflow, you have been extremely helpful in this and other threads
or fool*
or fool*
Bizarre Questions
What are some of the more bizarre questions that one can face in an interview for an analyst position? Also, does anyone have comments on the brainteaser questions, what is the best way to answer these sorts of questions?
What about candidates from engineering?
I heard that in a lot of cases they recruit engineers who probably don't have any finance background (since the engieers are marketing their quantative skills to the employers).
What kind of questions would they ask such candidates since they don't really have any accounting background?
fit
they'll focus more on WHY you want to do banking and whether they think you're a fit. they may question your desire if you've taken no finance or accounting classes if they've been available to you. otherwise, get some story together how you are intrigued by markest and the financial world, how a deal is finanaced, how a merger or spin-off is done. There is an incredible amount to learn but you love throwing yourself int things "head-first". You know your learning curve will be steep, but that is how you like it., etc etc
Financial Modeling Training
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To FreeCashFool
To FreeCashFool,
Are those all things one should know going into an undergrad BB internship interview, and where is a good place/book to learn all of that stuff? I will have just started taking an intro to finance class one-month prior to my interview so I would like to prepare as much this summer. Thanks!
?
you have a BB internship interview during the fall? my experience was that the BB's only recruit for interns during the spring around feb-march or so... you can use some of your free time over winter break to prepare for those
at any rate, if you have no background, you should have a basic understanding at the least... you can pick up the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, as it breaks things down pretty well (although it's not as comprehensive as you might like)
with accounting you should just understand the basics... hopefully you'll have taken an intro accounting class by then, but the finance guide will also mention some basic accounting. it seems like you don't have that strong of a background in either so i wouldn't sweat it if you can learn the fundamentals from your finance course... and pick up an accounting textbook and go through it if you can
with regards to strange interview questions, you can expect a number of brainteasers / trick questions / mental math q's... the purpose of these is to see how you think, not that you get the right answer. so think out loud, show them your logic, you should be good... the brainteasers / guesstimates are, however, rarer in banking than in consulting
You have a 10x10x10 cube
You have a 10x10x10 cube made up of 1x1x1 small cubes. You paint the outside of it. How many cubes have paint on them?
Don't use a calculator.
600
600
488 because the edges are on
488 because the edges are on 2 sides and the corners are on 3
Please explain further how
Please explain further how you got 488.
Strip away any cubes with
Strip away any cubes with overlapping sides.
8x8=64x6sides=384
Add in the cubes which border two sides (the edges).
8x12edges=96
Add in cubes which border 3 sides (the corners).
8
the simplest way is to think
the simplest way is to think of which cubs are NOT painted. It would be an 8x8x8 cube inside. That's512 right there, so 488 must be painted. GameTheory's strategy is how I originally did it though.
I'm not very good with this
I'm not very good with this stuff, how come it wouldn't be 9x9x9 cubes not painted?
It's a dawg eat dawg world.
It's a dawg eat dawg world.
because remmeber it's on
you have 6 marbles that look
Weigh 4 marbles. If the
This is probably not the
Brain Teasers
ok scratch that, PE chimp's
these are right out of vault
These suck I don't know how
It's a dawg eat dawg world.
3:15:if the hour hand
0 degrees.
I don't know how to do those
It's a dawg eat dawg world.
Pencil?
ratgoo hahaha
Math makes my head
It's a dawg eat dawg world.
That 5 and 3 gallon jug
math questions
close...
would the interviewer just
haha
Most common Q
Networking is the key
what is tx comps? i have
tx comps = transaction
Re: Networking is the key
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