Summer Associate

On-campus recruiting kicked off with open events in October, followed by a closed list event in November (~30 invitees). Up until this point, it was clear that the recruiting team's focus was primarily on personality fit. About half of the closed list attendees were invited to interview in early January. The night before round 1, Barclays hosted a dinner with all of the interviewees. Round 1 was a one-on-one interview with a VP that took ~30 minutes and was very much centered around my background (my pre-MBA experience and CFA probably gave the interviewer enough confidence that I could walk someone through free cash flow). Round 2 was split between 2 sessions: (1) was a case study using a fairly simple set of financial statements and led by a Director. Questions ranged from basic corporate finance (e.g. "are there any concerning line items on the balance sheet?") to strategy (e.g. "what would you be worried about if you were the CFO of this company"); (2) was a brief, largely behavioral interview with an MD that felt like more of a closing pitch.

The process was very straightforward and similar to other bulge bracket banks. Biggest differentiator was the case study in the final round. Making it very clear through your resume and opening spiel that you have a strong technical background gives the interviewers more of an opportunity to skip the technicals and get a better feel for your personality.