Investment Banking Analyst

Application: I applied through my school's career services website which also required that I submit an application through the UBS website. Very straightforward application which was very similar to many of the other banks.

Initial contact: I received a phone call telling me that I got a first round interview. This was followed by an email with the details. Communication with the firm was very quick, often taking less than 20 mins to respond to my emails.

First round interview: It was with a second year analyst. After the standard "tell me about yourself" type questions, we ran through basic technicals. I was asked the typical DCF, merger model and LBO questions not going into too much detail. The interview turned into a conversation after the interviewer realized the I was going on exchange to the same place he went to. We spoke for 15+mins about his exchange and different places to see and travel to. Interview went well and I got the call roughly 5 days later. I was also invited to a cocktail/dinner evening which were to take place the night before the second round interviews.

Cocktail/dinner evening: Dinner was held at a nice restaurant in Toronto. Many MDs came to meet the recruits, both from Toronto and Montreal. Associates and VPs from Toronto came en masse, with a ratio of 1-1 recruits to UBS employees. Dinner conversation was casual and pleasant, with the occasional speech from each of the MDs at the table. The people I met were fantastic and left a very good impression on me after that evening. They were open in conversation and generally a good group of guys.

Second round interview: The superday took place the morning after the cocktail night. It was nice since it took the edge off the interview that morning. It was structured as 4 back to back interviews, 3 interviews were one-on-ones and 1 interview was two-on-one (two associates interviewed me simultaneously). The technicals were more difficult this time, I remember struggling on several of them. Overall I felt 80% confident with the way I handled the technicals. Behaviourals were much, much more difficult. One question which stood out in particular was a situational ethics testing question. I did well but I really had to think about my answer before saying it, unlike the other questions which were much more conversational.

After my interview I did not hear back immediately. I did not receive an offer because I decided to accept another offer I was given before UBS could call me back. I called the analyst with whom I had my first round to let him know that I had accepted another offer, and he told me the I was the number 2 choice. He understood and wished me luck and that was it.

My experience with them was very, very positive. The entire team was extremely friendly and I would have really enjoyed working with them.