Average Preparedness of Applicants/Interviewees
Hi All,
Currently a sophomore planning on recruiting for banking in the spring. I was wondering what an average applicant/superday participant looks like, especially on the technical side of things.
Do most kids understand everything from the BIWS guides? 50% can do a paper LBO? I'm also sure this varies by bank (e.g. Moelis applicants are likely more prepared than a regional boutique).
Please drop some anecdotal evidence below and also include what type of bank you work at.
Thanks!
BE MORE PREPARED THAN YOUR COMPETITION
That's the plan, it'd be nice to know what the competition looks like
Don’t worry about competition. Learn this guide inside out, period
It depends. Non-targets who make it tend to be very prepared. For some target schools, the bar is lower in terms of technical preparedness, due to kids being art-history majors or something. Other target schools like Wharton and Stern tend to produce technically strong kids so they get tested to a greater extent
I'm going to a MM next summer and I personally knew pretty much all of the basic/advanced concepts behind the Accounting, Valuation, and DCF section of the guides - knew a good chunk of the Merger and LBO concepts, but it wasn't A1. From my experience it really depends on what type of experience/bank you are interviewing with. I was mostly asked a lot of questions on comps and DCF's since I talked about doing those in one of my past internships, while my friend who was a PE fund got asked a shit ton of LBO questions. Also depends on what type of bank you are interviewing with, I had interviews with a couple EB's and got absolutely fucked with the technicals (LBO, RX, and a lot of really advanced concepts) where for some of the MM's and BB's the technicals I had were really straightforward accounting and valuation questions
Exactly what I was looking for, thank you!
Good luck with recruiting and as a follow up on my last comment I would say go above and beyond in terms of technicals and behaviorals during the fall. That's one thing I definitely regret not doing the past year. I am really happy with where I ended up and it was one of my top choices , but think I could have been done with recruiting way earlier and ended up at a better firm if I prepped more and earlier. At the same time, don't overstress recruiting and things tend to workout
As a non-target kid, I was as prepared as one could get. So when I got involved in my firm's recruiting process, I was definitely shocked when I talked to target kids who weren't as well versed in IB interviews as their non-target counterparts. Obviously, a lot of the target kids were able to slide into a recruiting process without too much effort so maybe didn't put a ton of thought into their discussions but I can safely say a huge number of them were not well-versed in technical questions but worse, answering why they wanted to be there
Wait.. you're telling me that there are target kids that can't answer "why banking?" and "why this bank"? Maybe I am a hardo
Yes. Most of them who are targeting banking probably can very well but you'll be surprised at how many slip into a process due to how accessible OCR is at times.
...
400 questions should be able to be done in your sleep. You should read Rosenbaum and Pearl so you actually UNDERSTAND the concepts. If you rely on the type of knowledge 400q provides you could easily get stumped on variations of questions. Ignore my title here, transitioned to IBD.
I'd go:
- Rosenbaum and Pearl
- 400 Questions (inside and out basic and advanced)
- There is some Wiley guide I think named "Technical Guide 2" or something that goes into A/D, LBO, etc
- Do some paper LBOs just in case, know A/D pretty well (Merger math)
Edit: During a sophomore interview no one is going to ask you to whip out a pen and do a paper LBO. Maybe they'll ask you to walk them through an LBO, how to increase IRR, etc. Junior year there will be shops, the ones spoken about consistently on this forum that will 100% expect you to know how to work through a basic LBO or some merger math. Wanted you to get exposed to it early because the "Walk me through an LBO" and follow up questions will be way easier if you have actually done one.
People who rely on the 400 questions only can crack pretty easily. Example: I think some of the basic guides say that EV = Equity Value + Debt + NCI + Preferred - Cash....What if the interviewer asks about NOLs or pension liability? It's worth understanding these concepts in depth if you are interested in a career in finance. It is not enough to just know some guide and repeat it during interviews at some of the firms that I am assuming you would like to work at in the future.
Think NOLs and Pensions liabs are in the 400 question ?
tbh the 400 questions is more than enough is he knows it backwards and forward. Never had any question on deferred tax assets, NOLs, merger models, etc. for analyst.
usually just what increases returns in an LBO and standard valuation questions. Or things like why do you add NCI to EV.
pension liab is debt like. NOLs tbh I think most analysts are going to stay away from this
If someone actually asks you to do a paper LBO for an intern gig - walk out of that hardo sweatshop and don't look back.
So...have you ever interviewed? Do you really not think Moelis, a firm that OP mentioned, will not ask about LBOs? You have clearly never interviewed there.
I've heard paper LBOs are pretty standard
Got moelis offer and wasn’t asked dcf/lbo
I am part of the recruiting team for my bank. Moelis might be hardo enough to actually ask that but it is definitely not common.
My .02 is to be overprepared. It is pretty obvious who understands the actual concepts and how to apply them rather than memorizing the answers from 400. Maybe chance it and don't prepare that much though (sarcastic). If you interview at enough places, especially places like EVR and MoCo, you will eventually run into some questions that require actual thought.
I'm really not sure how everyone here went through recruiting cycles without being asked DCF questions, but who knows.
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