Investment Banking Analyst (Leveraged Finance)

I landed the interview in a non conventional manner. I found out the director and managing directors emails through my Bloomberg terminal for the position I was trying to obtain. I emailed both of them individually using an aggressive approach, persuasive argument, as well as showing off my technical skills. Two days later I received an email from the director to schedule an hour call the following week. He started by saying he loved my approached, and from there we automatically clicked and hit things off, same interest, same goals, and same background. It was more of a conversation then an interview. He ended by saying he was going to set up a dial in group call with a couple of MD's and himself.

That call lasted about an hour and a half. I started by walking through my CV and then they asked deeper questions to find out who I was as a person. I was asked different fit questions, followed by a good bit of market related questions. They were testing me to see if I knew what was happening in the market, as well as if I could form an opinion and able to logically explain my reasoning to back up my thesis. After the group call, the director I had been in contact with automatically called my mobile and said everyone was really pleased and excited about our conversation. He emailed me the week after and said that an admin was going to reach out to schedule a flight to HQ up in NY to meet with the team.

I flew up the night before and went out to dinner with a good bit of the team, as well as other members of the firm, followed by going out for drinks with the director and two of his friends. The next day I went in for a superday where I met with around 8 different members of the firm. The lower level associates asked all of the technical questions. I also had 45 minutes given assumptions for an LBO model and to make a decision to do the transaction or not, and to prove why/why not. I also met 1-1 with a guy from compliance who asked policy related questions, as well as what I would do in certain situations where a higher level manager asked me to do something that approached the line of unethical, and what would I do.

I ended by meeting with a managing director and the director I had been in contact with. This was the easiest part as it was mostly conversational with more behavioral and fit questions. At this point they already knew that I was smart enough for the job, and they wanted to get a final sense that I would be the right fit for team. Before I left, I talked 1-1 with the director, and he said everything looked to be going very well and to expect a call when I flew back. I filled out stacks of paperwork and such for background check before I left.

A week later I received a call with great news, and was emailed a very generous offer. I ended up taking the job, and started three weeks later after moving to NYC. All in the process took about two months from first email to starting the job.

My advice is as follows:
i.) Practice all types of behavioral/fit questions and have answers prepared so that you are not frozen on the spot or start getting off the topic.
ii.) Depending on what position you are applying for, practice all types of modeling problems (LBO, DCF, ect), and learn different ways to approach problems as well as being able to make assumptions and logically explain how you arrived at your solution.
iii.) Practice and know all information relating to general investment banking and accounting; also research whatever group you are interviewing for and learn as much about it as you can.
iv.) Keep up on current market news, rates, recent transactions, economic indicators and how they will effect the group you are interviewing for.
v.) Research members of the group you are going to be working with using tools such as social media, so that you will have things to talk about. Also research the firm you are interviewing for (transactions, history, recent news, ect).
vi.) Search around on the internet and find different brain teasers to practice, as you may have a couple. Know that while the answer you provide is important, it is more important to be able to logically explain how you arrived at your answer. These questions are designed to see how you break down a problem and go about solving it.

My last piece of advice. If you make it to the in person interview, you are now to the "fit" stage. They want to see whether or not they like you, and to see if you fit in the team dynamic. One way to help this is to mimic the presence of the interviewer. If they have their legs crossed, cross your legs. If their hands are folded on top of the table, fold your finger on top of the table. Psychology studies have shown that people will automatically like you simply by mimicking body motion.

Hope this helps and good luck.