Prep a paper/calculator for a phone interview?

Hi all,

Hope you guys are doing well. I go to a target in the UK and recently landed on a second round interview for a SA position in a BB risk team in London. Since this is in the midst of exam periods in the UK and they're not recruiting many, I'm guessing they're conducting a phone interview.

What I'm wondering is--an interviewer asked me to have a paper and a calculator in front of me during the interview. I've done some phone interviews and had brain teasers from time to time, but without a calculator. What kind of questions do I have to expect? More advanced brain teasers? Accounting-related questions? Any advice/idea would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

 
Best Response

No idea, I haven't had any experience with the WSO guides. If you are interviewing for a credit risk group, they are unlikely to go super deep into DCF's, comparables, etc. but will rather focus on things like calculating a normalized EBITDA, calculating FCF, maybe some stuff about forecasting, credit metrics, etc. They may also outline certain transactions and ask you where you do or do not take on exposure to certain types of risk.

If the WSO guide is anything like the Vault guide, it should be ok as long as you combine it with something like the Handbook of Credit Risk Management which can be torrented online and is a pretty good book, and the credit analysis section of the CFA L1 curriculum (Schweser notes also available online).

 

Thanks so much for the advice! Will definitely have a look over Schweser and vault. Guess its worthwhile to exchange one day of study with in-depth interview preparation.

 

I would just know how to do some basic financial calculations. If he wants you to bring a calculator, he's probably more interested in your knowledge base and your thought process than your mental math skills.

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