McColl Partners Interview Questions

13 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (84%)

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.

3.7
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (89%)

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.

2.9
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (85%)

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.

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

Interviews at McColl Partners

Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2016
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location Charlotte
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2013
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Banking
Location Charlotte
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Difficult
Intern
Year 2013
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location Dallas
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2010
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2011
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Very Easy
Intern
Year 2012
Job Title Intern
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2012
Job Title Intern
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Negative
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Analyst
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - McColl Partners Examples

Investment Banking Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: September 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
The interview consisted of a first-year analyst calling me for the first round and asking me to walk me through my resume. There were some technical questions (three valuation methods).
Interview Questions
They asked me what I could use for the discount rate. WACC was what I said, but then they asked for me to give another option other than WACC.

Summer Analyst Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: February 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
I sent my resume to and had an informal informational interview with an analyst at the firm. He put my resume into the superday pool and I was contacted officially a few weeks later by the firm.
Interview Questions
What is the largest animal you would kill if you had to kill an animal with your bare hands.

The rest were mostly behavioral at the superday, though one person did also ask what I thought made a good company.
Could you send me this model that you built?

A model I had listed on my resume was on a computer I had had that was broken, so I could not.

Summer Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Dallas
Interviewed: January 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Other
Interview
I had a phone interview that consisted of technical questions. Some of my friends who had later phone interviews also had a second round phone interview that largely consisted of fit questions. I was invited to and attended the dinner at a local steak restaurant. All the analysts for the office were there along with a current senior who accepted a full time position. All the McColl Partners employers were Frat daddys. One of the guys was wearing a North Face vest. Very hard to connect to if you are not involved in a fraternity.
Interview Questions
"Walk me through a leverage buyout."
"Walk me through a DCF."
"Why is debt used in a leverage buyout."

Investment Banking Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: September 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I was first put in contact with two senior directors by the directors of the firm I was interning with. I met them both for coffee and discussed the interview process for about an hour. This was a very pleasant experience, although I did have to have some good questions prepared. I was given a first round interview several weeks later over the phone. This was with a second year analyst, who I immediately hit it off with because we went to competing high schools. We talked about sports initially, but transitioned into talking about my then current intern position. I walked through the several deals I worked on and was specific with the financial information and modeling work I actually contributed. I then got some basic accounting and valuation questions and finished up asking several questions myself. The whole interview was about 40 minutes. Although I was given a final round the following week, I declined because I accepted another offer.
Interview Questions
Question: Walk me through your contributions to any of the deals you worked on as a summer analyst.

Answer: I described my last transaction that I worked on during the summer where part of my LBO model was actually used in the client presentation. Because it was still fresh in my mind, I was able to walk through the exact multiples of the deal and talked about why my directors wanted to pursue the acquisition.

Explain to me how an LBO works and how you would model one.

This was fairly easy for me since I had exposure to an LBO model during my summer internship. This would have been more challenging if I had not been presented with this opportunity, so I would make sure to review the construction of an LBO if you have not modeled one yourself.

Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: September 2010
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Other
Interview
Recruited on-campus at UNC. First contact was a phone interview that was primarily behavioral. On-campus interview was 50/50 behavioral and technical. Recruiters were friendly and willing to share information about McColl. 2 on 1 interview with an senior and junior interviewer. Pushing them on the culture/number of deals/officer contact, I think it became clear to both that it wasn't a great fit - as often discussed on WSO, they carry many deals on retainer but an analyst might only close a few. Key for other candidates is to have a strong rationale for living/working in Charlotte, as they were clear that this factors strongly in their decision making process so they have a high offer hit rate.
Interview Questions
Weeding out bulge bracket focused candidates - Why Charlotte? Why middle market? Why M&A?

Going to UNC made first one easy, other candidates will need to decide the other two for themselves.
Econ-focused questions - How do you calculate the real interest rate? Etc., not challenging but somewhat out of the ordinary for IB interviews.

business development Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: December 2011
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Very relaxed, informal. The interviewer was a younger guy that essentially runs their business development group. I expected that it would be a business development group that engaged potential clients, but the position was essentially a job cold calling and generating leads.
Interview Questions
As mentioned above, fairly quickly into the interview we realized that i probably wasn't the right fit, but before that I was asked about my experience and why I was a fit.
I was also asked about my strengths and weaknesses. Beyond that, we didnt have time to get into behavioral questions. It was a very different experience from the actual investment banking positions.

Summer Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: December 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Interview
The process started with a phone call and then a dinner on-campus at my school. Afterwards, there was an invitation to a superday where we interviewed with about 20 people (10 different interviews) in total. The interviews were mainly questions about fit, personality, and resume explanations. Everyone was very nice and great to speak with.
Interview Questions
Why do you want to work in a middle-market bank in Charlotte, NC?

The answer I gave essentially mentioned that I want to work in a smaller city and more directly with clients, so middle-market seems to be a better fit for me.
What separates you from other candidates that we are looking at?

I have the ability to work very hard and have shown that I pay great attention to detail, which is essential in an investment banking role.

Investment Banking Summer Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Other
Interview
The interview processes consisted of a few phone screens. Typically anywhere from 1 - 3 calls. If you are a superstar and the interviewer loves you, he will push you to the next steps. The next step after the phone screens is a group dinner with a few bankers. If you make an impression during dinner, they will invite you to superday where you interview with 10 people.
Interview Questions
How would you value a private company?
Imagine if a company produced widgets that have never been made before, how would you value it?
Imagine if a company produced widgets that have never been made before, how would you value it?

FT Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Started with phone interview, then drinks at a local restaurant, then a super day in Charlotte. Personally, I found McColl to be the most haughty and egotistical bankers I interviewed with (at least the analysts and associates). Took too much pride in working unnecessarily hard. Seemed to emphasize background and appearance more than fun-to-work-with personality or how well you can actually do the job.
Interview Questions
Tell me about a merger that makes sense and should happen. No further direction than this.
One associate's role was to get me to crack by keep asking why repeatedly and telling me my answer didn't make sense. Others had the same experience with him.

Investment Banking Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: October 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Had 2 phone interviews, asked largely intuitive, hypothetical questions about why two companies would want to merge and some basic valuation / who would be a good acquirer in a given circumstance.
Interview Questions
This job is all about modeling and selling, tell me why someone should join the program we just talked about.