GCA Savvian Interview Questions

19 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (83%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

3.6
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (87%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.8
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (59%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

50%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at GCA Savvian

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2018
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location New york
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2021
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2021
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Generalist
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
Intern
Year 2021
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location San Francisco
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2020
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location New york
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2020
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Mergers and Acquisitions
Location Manchester
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Very Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2018
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Francisco
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Analyst
Year 2018
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Francisco
Experience
Negative
Difficulty
Difficult
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Mergers and Acquisitions
Location Frankfurt
Experience
Very Negative
Difficulty
Very Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2017
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location San Francisco
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Difficult

Interview Questions & Answers - GCA Savvian Examples

Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in New york
Interviewed: October 2018
Date Submitted: Oct 17, 2021
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
First round was via phone and second round super day in their offices. 4 one on one interviews, with VPs as well as 2 MDs.
Interview Questions
Main questions were investment banking specific and some fit/cultural questions.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: February 2021
Date Submitted: Aug 03, 2021
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Was contacted by HR who scheduled the first round with an analyst. After, had another interview with a senior analyst which subsequently led to a super day with multiple associates and seniors within the firm.
Interview Questions
Quick mental math questions (sum-product of two double-digit numbers), Square root of large four-digit numbers.
Medium-to-advanced valuation and accounting questions e.g, work through equity and enterprise value formulas. Discuss the limitations of EV.
Sample Answer

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: January 2021
Date Submitted: Mar 09, 2021
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Applied online. Received an email from HR about a week later to set up a 1st round Zoom call with a 2nd year analyst. We had an hour allotted for the interview, but it lasted about 40-45min. About 15 or so technical questions they were required to ask. As others have mentioned, they were your classic, straightforward BWIS/WSO guide questions. Once those were out of the way, it turned into a really casual conversation about the firm and culture. I heard back about a week later about scheduling a 2nd round with a 3rd year analyst. After the 1st round, the interviews are entirely behavioral/fit. Interviewer asked general fit questions like my favorite class, what work experience has prepared me for the long hours, what I like doing in my free time. Was contacted later that night about scheduling a 3rd round with a 2nd year associate the next day. Interview was the same thing consisting of fit questions.

I received an email the following week updating me that the process for the NY office would wrap up the by the end of the next week and I would receive an update on next steps then. It also asked if I was interested in interviewing with the SF office, which I declined for valid reasons. I received an email the following Monday that I was no longer being considered. I was very confused, as the initial email did not suggest I was out of the running for the NY office whatsoever. If that was the intent, they did an egregious job of conveying it. I am definitely disappointed it did not work out. I really enjoyed my interactions with the team and think the bank is positioned to do well
Interview Questions
If investment banking and finance did not exist, what would you be doing?
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco
Interviewed: February 2021
Date Submitted: Feb 11, 2021
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Quick and easy process. Applied online, a week later I scheduled a call and took the first-round interview. Very technical some behavioral.
Interview Questions
Most questions were very standard technical. No massive surprises.
Sample Answer

Intern Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in New york
Interviewed: October 2020
Date Submitted: Oct 29, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Pretty straight forward interview for IB SA. Technical questions mixed with behavioral but make sure you brush up on mental math questions.
Interview Questions
130/6
25x25
1/.01
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Mergers and Acquisitions

Anonymous interview candidate in Manchester
Interviewed: February 2020
Date Submitted: Mar 08, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
2-3 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Applied online. Recieved an email after 2 months about organising a phone interview with a HR manager.
Interview Questions
Asked to provide an expected salary at the end of the interview which I was not expecting at this stage of the process. Additionally, data is hardly available on salary for this city within IB making it difficult to supply an answer. Asked why that city compared to other alternative offices, requiring a pre-thought out line of reasoning for that particular city. Asked why I would be a good fit for the firm and how I met the criteria that was specified on the job interview + how I met the values of the firm.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco
Interviewed: September 2018
Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2018
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Initial phone screening was not difficult, very behavioral with basic technical questions you'd expect.

Second phone interview was very difficult, technical questions I had not encountered before and a brainteaser.
Interview Questions
Treasury Stock Method: asked to explain and then follow up questions.

Square root of a large number (brain teaser)

Calculating beta, different examples where you needed to determine the beta of the selected term or figure.

Questions started with basic DCF and valuation questions but got harder as the interview progressed. The next round would have been a technical modeling exam and then an onsite super day in the San Fran office.

I'd recommend being very comfortable with all of the valuation questions and follow ups that could be asked.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco
Interviewed: October 2018
Date Submitted: Oct 05, 2018
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Applied online. Contacted by HR a month later saying I'd been rejected, then received an email saying it'd been an error. Got another email later that week asking to set up a screening call with an associate, which ended up being almost entirely technical. The following week, asked to do another 30-minute technical call with an analyst. Next steps would've been modeling test and super day.
Interview Questions
Screening call:
1. Walk me through your resume.
2. Did you get an offer from your internship?
3. NY or SF office?
4. Accounting questions: financial statements, key line items, depreciation, etc.
5. Valuation questions: DCF, WACC, etc.

Technical call:
6. Estimate beta for the following items.
7. Walk me through a DCF.
8. How do you calculate fully diluted shares?
9. A company trades at a higher EV/revenue multiple this year than the year before. Assuming EV is the same, what has changed?
10. How does depreciation affect the three financial statements?
11. What is the square root of (large number)?
Sample Answer

M&A Intern Interview - Mergers and Acquisitions

Anonymous interview candidate in Frankfurt
Interviewed: March 2018
Date Submitted: Apr 15, 2018
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
3-4 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Applied online. Took 3 months to hear back and set up phone interview. Phone interviewer did not ask any question other than CV walk through. Kept emphasizing how undemanding internship is and wondering whether graduates would not be bored. Not a single technical question asked. Rejection after interview.
Interview Questions
None, really. CV walk through was only question. Did not ask for motivation, status of studies, grades, interests, extracurricular activities. Only asked about perception of responsibilities as intern. Corrected no valuation would take place, only research and other assistance to analyst. Rather little to no participation in production of pitch products. Very unenjoyable interview. Many pauses, utter lack of interest by interviewer to get to know the interviewee and understand his reason for applying.
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco
Interviewed: November 2017
Date Submitted: Nov 10, 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I received an email from HR in regards to scheduling two phone interviews for the analyst position. One with a VP the other with a third year analyst. I had two phone interviews on consecutive days.
Interview Questions
Suppose that you buy a building with all cash. In year 1 how does this building affect your enterprise value while running a DCF?
Can you run me through an accretion dilution analysis?
Which source of payment for a company has the most accretive and most dilutive affect on a companies EPS?
If you paid with cash or with debt for a company, which form of payment would have the most negative affect on EPS?
What are break even synergies?
How do you calculate break even synergies and how do you interpret them?
Sample Answer