BIWS 400 Question Guide - Do you need to know “advanced” questions for Canada / UK SA & Off-cycle recruiting?
Are all technicals from the “basic” section, or do you also need to know the “advanced” questions? I am applying for Jan 2025 off cycles and summer 2025. I heard from someone in the US that the “advanced” section is only asked for new grad roles and all technicals for SA’s come from the “basic” section. Could someone provide some colour on this in terms of Canadian and UK recruiting though? Is this also the case or should I start reviewing all the questions in the guide?
For Canada, yes you should know them to be fully prepared. Even questions that are from outside the guide are fair game.
Questions about topics like DTLs and lease accounting aren't necessarily asked frequently, but they are asked enough that you should understand the concepts. Interviews get harder each year and the line drawn between "basic" and "advanced" by BIWS does not work anymore - besides, most of the advanced questions aren't actually that hard.
It really depends on the firm tbh.
Rule of thumb is Spring Week conversion ACs are easier than straight SA recruiting. From anecdotal experience converting 2 springs BBs for 2025, the hardest it got from 400 BIWS was "How would you value a hotdog stand with no financials" and LBOs.
EBs tend to have harder interviews so will probably grill you more on technicals, but on the other hand Rothschilds (apparently) don't ask any technicals really and only competencies.
So it depends. I wouldn't expect the complex, advanced accounting section to come up, maybe at a stretch study LBOs and complex valuation.
Hey thanks for the insight - unfortunately I didn’t do any spring weeks because I am studying in Canada. I did two 4-month internships instead, and now I’m looking for preferably an 8-month off-cycle internship back in London starting either September 2024 or January 2025.
I’ve noticed unlike Canada which kicks off recruiting very early, I see relatively more large IB/PE firms in the London hire closer to the start date. However, do you think it would be too late to secure a 4-8 month off-cycle internship for September 2024 start?
Also, since I have been exposed to the Canadian finance environment, I don’t have much insight into how recruiting is done in the UK. My grades (converted to the UK scale) are great, and while I don’t have any spring weeks, I did complete two past off-cycle internships in Toronto (however neither were IB/PE, they were more accounting related). In Toronto there seems to be such a strong reliance on networking in order to get an interview, is there the same culture in the London? I feel as that might be something I am missing - I haven’t spoken to many bankers in London and instead I am mostly cold applying. Is networking in London crucial and something that is needed in order to get interviews?
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