Summer Associate Intern

I applied to UBS IBD as part of their Spring Insights program. Having completed a numerical test and a fairly generic application form online, I was invited to a phone interview. I was asked why I wanted to work for UBS, and why in the investment banking division, along with the usual competencies. One unusual question which left a mark was being asked how I would invest $1million.

A few weeks later I was invited to take part in the Spring Insights Program. This ran for four days and consisted of workshops with various divisions of the investment bank (IBD, S&T, Prime Services, Ops, Finance etc.).

Having passed a numerical test during the week, I was invited to an assessment centre on the final day. This involved two 40 minute long interviews, a presentation and a group discussion. Both interviews were based around my CV, and probing into my knowledge of what goes on in IBD. One, however, was more technical with a few brainsteasers being asked (What's 7% of 70? How many public phone boxes in Oxford?). No DCFs or any other valuation techniques were examined.

For the presentation, I was given 30 minutes to prepare a 15-minute talk on how Sony was to best address its current competition. A six page document with reams of information was provided as a platform to build from.

The group discussion consisted of eight interviewees each being assigned as a department head within a major company, and having to argue why our department alone deserved a capital injection of $10million.

I received a call two hour after my interview offering a summer internship, which I happily accepted!