Am I too slow or should I stop digging?
Hey,
I am an undergraduate currently preparing for potential M&A interviews. My interest in this field is relatively fresh so there's a lot I don't know. This somewhat gives me a headache (literally) as I'm not really sure how to find the right approach.
I bought a Interview Prep Guide and Rosenbaum and Pearl's book on IB. What bother's me is my urge to try to know "everything". Coupled with not knowing much at all, it takes me forever to get throught the materials (e.g. did it take me one week to get through 100 pages of Rosenbaum and Pearl). It's like coming across the term "proxy statement" and instead of just swiftly looking up what that is, I start digging deeper. A few hours later I read (and took notes) on everything I could find about IPOs, bidding processes, market makers, stock exchanges, effects of buybacks... In the end I "know" so much more, but is that really necessary (again, I don't know much at all, so my level of knowing more is probably still very basic). It doesn't feel right, but just ignoring terms I don't know doesn't feel right either.
Do you have any advice? Should I try a more holistic approach? I start questioning if I probably should take another path. After all IB is a tough industry where I would have to compete with smart people who probably would absorb the same knowledge in one afternoon.
Thx for reading!
So I'm a student and don't really have the expertise to comment on anything industry related. Fortunately, it seems like this post is actually just an insecure attempt to fish for compliments or reassurance, straight out of College Confidential.
If you understand the material, have a decent GPA and go to a good school, then you shouldn't worry about whether you are smart enough-qualities like your demeanor, work ethic and attitude are always going to be equally important. Talking about "an urge to know everything" that gives you a headache does not come off as a positive in that area.
Can't wait to interview this person and their "biggest weakness" is "I just get so interested in financial topics that I dive too much in depth when learning something and end up knowing too much."
Relax OP! You're ahead of the game on technicals, probably. Work on being likeable and a well-rounded person. Practice public speaking, up your style game, take interesting trips, pursue engaging hobbies, get out and meet people.
With respect to technical prep, I would recommend going broad rather than deep. Start with nailing down basic financial and managerial accounting. Then add the concepts necessary to do a basic projection 3-statement model. Then learn WACC and comps. Then DCF, then LBO, then merger model, all at a basic level. An actual interview question may literally start out "walk through the three statements if I increase depreciation by $10" and if you have studied too much in the weeds and forgot to practice the basics, you'll look silly. That being said, prepare as much as possible - just not too much at the expense of all of the well-rounded stuff above I mentioned. The bottom line of your resume is one of the most important.
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