Answering this tricky interview question....help

joefish — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:51:16 -0500

Hi,

If one interned at a top boutique in M&A and worked one's ass off and did a good job but did not receive a full-time offer at the end (obviously one is somewhat subjective here), can anyone think of a good way to spin this in an interview scenario?

If one of the principal reasons was the team culture and that there may have been an individual who was very difficult to work with, obviously this would be a bit of a faux pas to mention in a future interview, cos you're supposed to be professional and try to work well with everyone, no matter what their personality is like / even if you don't get on well.

Can anyone recommend a succint and convincing response if I get asked this in future?

Mediobanca email format ? ? ?

joefish — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:54:41 -0400

Anyone know the email format for Mediobanca in Italy?

Probably something along the lines of first.last@mediobanca.it but I'm not sure...

Thanks

Why has Mark Klein MD been banned?

joefish — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:17:45 -0400

Ok, my main man Mark Klein did insult prettymuch everyone on WSO, but he was also damn hilarious from time to time.

His absence has made the time I spend online that bit more depressing and dull.

Why exactly was he banned?

Checklist of items you (may) need as an SA

joefish — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:20:40 -0400

Although I'm guessing most of you guys on internships have started already, I thought it might be useful to compile a checklist of items you found useful / you think would be useful during a summer analyst stint and which make life more bearable and/or comfortable. Generally I'm talking about stuff that one would keep at one's desk..

I've plagiarised some stuff from WSO and Prince of Wall Street and Dosk to get us started (thanks).

Please add more items to the list if you can. I'm not saying this list is definitive or anything.

- Eye drops
- Eye fatigue cream
- Some sort of bag/satchel
- Spare tie
- Lip balm
- Spare pair of glasses (if you wear them)
- Spare clean shirt (and undershirt if you wear one)
- Fruit or some sort of relatively healthy snack food
- Bottle of water
- Those little coloured sticky tabs, which can be used when referencing where you've gotten your figures from
- Toothbrush / toothpaste / floss / mouthwash
- Multivitamin tabs
- Echinacea

Books on Restructuring / Debt ??

joefish — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:15:42 -0400

Don't know if this has been covered already, but can anyone recommend a good book on Restructuring or even just a book on different types of debt and how it is used in the modern finance world??

Drycleaning - DIY or pay someone else to get those cranapple stains out?

joefish — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:53:30 -0400

I ironed/washed my own shirts when I was an SA last summer and just used drycleaners for suits, but since time will be at a premium this summer in IBD, I don't plan on wasting time ironing when I get home from work --->

How much does everyone spend per month on drycleaning? A ballpark figure including shirts and suits would be helpful

T.I.A.

Mediobanca

joefish — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:24:36 -0400

Has anyone worked at this Italian investment bank before? www.mediobanca.it
Does anyone have any info. about what it's like to work there?

TIA

Restructuring vs M&A skillset

joefish — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:14:20 -0400

If you end up working at a firm where the Restructuring and M&A teams are both very highly thought of, which of these two areas will give you a broader range of opportunities further down the line?

It seems that you can move from M&A to PE or a HF or a Corporate etc. but is Restructuring too narrowly focused in terms of the skillset you acquire to exit to anything other than something like a distressed debt HF?

Signing-on bonus / FT contract clauses

joefish — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:41:06 -0400

I know that the Citi IBD analyst contract [for HK at least] states something along the lines of "you must pay back all of the sign-on bonus if you leave within the first year, and pay back half if you leave within two years"

Is this a common clause in analyst contracts???

MBA Recommendation letters

joefish — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:15:37 -0400

If you have worked with and impressed two alumni from the business school that you are thinking about attending in future [INSEAD], are these the sort of people that you should be looking to when it comes to recommendation letters for the MBA?

Does it help you out to get recommendation letters from people who have attended the BS you are applying to?

apologies if this is a naive question but I am fairly unfamiliar with the BS recruiting process