How to Kill the Superday

No one gets an offer based on technicals, so knowing them better than other candidates will not win you an offer. It is hard to standout in standard behavioral questions like why x bank or why mm banking, so great behavioral/fit questions will likely not yield an offer. But there is one commonly neglected part of the interview: the Q&A section. How can you stand out in this section? A few bankers I spoke with recommended asking questions about deals the firm has worked on, but what kind of questions would be appropriate, especially for deals with limited information besides the press release.

How do the following questions look?

How do you see a potential corporate tax hike by the next administration impacting M&A?

Your firm has done 4 behavioral health deals recently. Is this an area you plan to continue focusing on going forward?

With a lot more PE firms looking into x sector over the last few years due to y reason, how much interest are you seeing in buy side engagements in x sector due to y? Do you think PE interest will continue to grow?

How did you market x distributor in its sale to Z corporation?

What were the greatest challenge selling x distributor? Why did x distributor choose your bank? How did z industry trend impact buyer's interest in x distributor?

With security software valuations rising in light of COVID-19, are more security software business owners turning to your bank to sell?

What questions would you add to the list? What questions have you used or heard that stood out in interviews?

3 Comments
 

All excellent questions. The second question is technically a yes or no question, so it’s a bit of a gamble to assume that it’ll lead to a more in-depth conversation (which is the goal). Restructure that to be an open ended question in nature and you’re solid (although the other comment about the politics question might be right).

 

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