Associate Lateral Interview?
Hey all - considering lateralling as an experienced A2A. I'm hoping to turn to the boards for feedback from those that have successfully done so - any insight into the interview process (type / detail of questions, etc) would be very helpful.
For further context, I'm an associate at a BB in coverage hoping to make a jump to an EB that has a generalist program. While the EB deals with my coverage industry, I'm a bit rusty as it comes to general corporate finance as the valuation methodology, etc. as the current coverage group I'm in is fairly niche (think O&G, mining, etc).
That's my biggest concern - I have a very strong grasp of my current industry, but been a few years since I've had to deal with DCFs / LBOs (we do NAV models which are somewhat similar), WACC, etc. I don't have a doubt that I can re-learn those fairly quickly as I come from a traditional finance background, but at the same time am pretty rusty and as you know in IB, sometimes you can be thrown into the fire without much time to ramp up (esp true for an associate when you are expected to give analysts guidance).
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Interesting. Would love to know as well!
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Anyone have any insight on recent associate lateral interviews? Specifically EB’s
I just lateraled to an EB from MM.
I would say it can be tricky because there’s such a wide range of questions. For example I didn’t prep the classic 3 statement questions (e.g. +10 depreciation) because I had never been asked by a firm and a friend said that’s analyst level. Then sure enough I got asked and had to stumble through it.
I would say first and foremost know your CV inside and out. You should be able to find some stuff on this site that explains how to speak to your transactions, but basically I would know the numbers (revenue, EBITDA, margin and valuation metrics) and start with a brief summary (sector, company, what it does, what the mandate was).
Then pause and say you’re happy to speak to your specific role on the transaction and what you thought of the transaction. Sorry to be so prescriptive, but I read this part and honestly it’s easy to just drone on then the VP just falls asleep (especially with virtual interviews).
Your role is important because they want to know if you handle all the materials (CIM, model, etc.) yourself. Obviously a VP doesn’t want to step down and do your job, so they want to know you have actually done these things. For example, at a BB in another country you may not actually be doing the modelling, you may just be taking a cut of an equity offering so you’re just dialling into some calls.
Your thought on the deal is important too because they want to know you understand the job. I’ve really noticed that juniors that don’t understand aren’t very good at catching mistakes and they can only follow instructions.
Then there will be some technicals. Like I said it’s hard to know what you’ll be asked. I’m in RX so it’s probably not relevant to you but typically they do a case study to test technicals, different types of seniority, different covenants.
I wouldn’t worry about modelling related questions because you’ll probably do an LBO test. So I find they rely on that instead of asking you about modelling.
Start of interview is obviously walk me through your resume and motivation.
Hope this was helpful.
Thank you!
Mind sharing where you lateraled to? Feel free to DM
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