DCM Interview 101 - Superday experience
I just had a DCM super day and I did so much freaking research on WSO to find what to study. I wasted lots of timing study shit that would have never been asked for an A1 role. I am currently interning at a boutique bank in the south doing M&A. Also if you are interviewing for a specific coverage group in DCM just relate the damn questions to the group you are interviewing for: FIG- Asset managers, insurance companies, Corporate banks.
The super day consisted of 5 interviews each being 30mins. I noticed is that once you start you go into god mode and it happens so fast, so you need to be as prepared as much as you can but with the right weapons.
Interview #1: 1 Analyst/ 1 Associate
-
They asked me about my story so get that down pat
-
What Monetary policy does the Fed put in place to effect the market : * Fed Increasing Rates* and * Open Market Operation* ( buying and selling of debt securities to increase cash or decrease it - Literally read this in the CFA Fixed income the night before) Note: I also added that the Federal Operating Market Committee meeting is when these things get determined( they got their rocks off cause of this). Also just to know Bank capital requirements, and the fed influencing them to raise or decrease rates is the other two reasons.
-
The follow up was what macroeconomic effects make them do this - INFLATION is what they want to hear. I mentioned CPI cause people be spending more which raises inflation I think. They liked my answer and corrected my comment about CPI- it influences inflation doesn't control it.
-I got asked about the yield curve, and how to explain an upslope or a flat yield curve. My answer was that it represents the interest rate to the yield to maturity. When it is upsloping that means rate are increasing as we get closer to maturity. When it is flat that means rates are constant regardless of maturity.
-
They asked about my excel skills lol. I said that I can hold my own and how I only work with private companies. And they said we don't do much modeling and excel isn't to intense. I agreed and said I like that because thats where I am at right now.
-
The only question I got reemed on was when they ask about foreign currency. They asked when a bank has foreign currency on their balance sheet what does that mean. "Well... Short_ur_mom says that means they have operations in a foreign country therefore the cash they receive from sales shows up as XYZ currency on their balance sheet. Ok... Interviewer says well then why would a company want to issue debt in that foreign currency. Well... short_ur_mom had no idea cause he didn't study why this is a thing... I cant answer this question to the fullest but I guess that since they have operations in that country they would just issue debt in that currency to expand operations because they won't have to worry about an exchange rate. Interviewer agrees and says thats an alright answer, not exactly what I expected but it makes sense.
End interview after me asking questions. - I am at an airport writing this cause I felt I did really well on the rest of the super day.
Interview 2-4: Mostly MD's, which was just strictly behavioral questions , asking about my story, and hoping I'm a fit for the group.
Idk if this helps anyone but what I found is that DCM is niche and no one really cares about sharing how to prep for it. It very much so is a group that is focused on getting a candidate that is the right fit ( someone these dudes can work many hours a day with). Also note this ISNT FOR A BB BANK BUT NOT MM SO THINK ABOUT A BANK BETWEEN THAT SWEET SPOT.
Will update this post significantly when I get off my plane and am a bit sober, to better reflect. for the most part this was the most difficult part of my super day, which honestly I feel I did amazing in.
Love,
Short_ur_mom
Thank you for your service, short_ur_mom