Summer Analyst Interview Questions
I, a current junior in college, am applying for summer analyst position at a few banks. I have received a handful of interviews. I am assuming this is due to my past IB exp. I really boosted up my resume for the recruitment process and was wondering what kind of questions I would get concerning my past internship. I listed that I had exp with modeling, comps and software like Bloomberg, Thompson and CapIq. What should I expect for questions regarding these skills? Also for clarification I did get this experience during my past internship but it was not that in-depth and I was assisted by senior bankers who chose to just give me the fish instead of teaching me to fish. (i.e. I am not lying but i do not want to be asked such difficult questions that it seems like I have no idea what I am talking about). I just want to make sure that I will not be expected to describe every process like i have been in the business for a year.





Be careful about saying that
Be careful about saying that you have experience with modeling--it's a double-edged sword. You'd better know a thing or two if you're going to say that, or else you're inviting modeling questions that might be your undoing.
Thanks for the reply. I was
Thanks for the reply. I was worried about this. This isn't good then because all the modeling I was doing was in preprogrammed spreadsheets. I essentially would do all the grunt work data collection and entry and then then tweak variables so that the multiples looked appealing/yet believeable enough for our clients. What are some of the questions I might be asked about modeling?
Seems like you didn't
Seems like you didn't actually model, so I'd be careful about even mentioning that in the interview.
You could preface it by saying "i've had some exposure to modeling..."
I had line on my resume that
I had line on my resume that said "Self-study: Leveraged Buyout Model, Merger Accretive/Dilutive Model"
Did you get any questions
Did you get any questions about it?
yes, definitely don't put
yes, definitely don't put 'proficient in excel'. believe me, you're not.
well
i interviewed a kid and i asked him on a scale of 1-10 how do you view yourself in modeling. He said 9. I was like wow, so tell me how you would build an ability to pay analysis using VBA to find the optimal ability to pay for 10 companies in 5 scenarios all calcing off one set of numbers for each company.
So yea don't fuck with M&A people they're dicks.
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Re: well
i interviewed a kid and i asked him on a scale of 1-10 how do you view yourself in modeling. He said 9. I was like wow, so tell me how you would build an ability to pay analysis using VBA to find the optimal ability to pay for 10 companies in 5 scenarios all calcing off one set of numbers for each company.
So yea don't fuck with M&A people they're dicks.
i can do that w/o the vba. i assume w/the 5 scenarios you mean differeing types of payment forms (e.g. cash, debt, stock, convert issue, etc...). i would do it using sensitivity table (old fashion way) and then figure the optimal structure. how does vba come into play?
Re: Did you get any questions
Did you get any questions about it?
I did, but the key is to tell the person that you don't fully understand the mechanics of the model, but you got the gist of it, and you can navigate excel without a mouse.