Off-cycle Analyst

The process consisted of one interview:

The first interview took place at their office. I was interviewed by two associates and one analyst, and it lasted about 1.5 hours. The first third was mostly fit and behavioural, with typical questions about my previous experience, why investment banking, why Lincoln, and my hobbies. It was relaxed and felt more like a conversation.

The second section focused on technicals, covering a bit of everything but mainly accounting and valuation, with typical questions you find in guides. They went deeper into how to arrive at WACC, in which cases you adjust WACC (for example, in emerging markets), and how you would do it. After that, they showed me three P&Ls and balance sheets, but without the names of the companies. I had to discuss which industry each company could belong to and why (for example, one had very low margins and favourable working capital, so I suggested a supermarket chain).

The last section was a PowerPoint test. They gave me a laptop and asked me to create a company profile using the information provided (company background, financials, ownership structure). They did not ask any questions about the profile. It was mainly to see how I handled myself in PowerPoint.