How to stop blanking on technicals during interviews?

I keep getting dinged in first rounds. It’s not that I don't know the answer, but when they ask a slightly twisted version of a standard question (ex. 'how does this flow if the tax rate is 0?'), I panic. 

I’m realizing I memorized the answers but don't understand the mechanics. How do you guys actually internalize the accounting logic so you can answer the curveballs? Flashcards aren't cutting it for me :(

9 Comments
 

to gain conceptual understanding you have to run different versions of the same qs on the guide. just ask chat to spit some out, all structured differently. don't just solve for it in ur head, verbally walk through it. you shouldn't be getting tripped over depreciation questions

 

IMO based on what you said, you kinda have to start from scratch. Lock yourself in a room and think about the concepts behind the guide Qs until you understand it. Use the interview banks you can find everywhere now to see if you can answer all of them. See where you mess up and why. It’s like a regular class at school, not drivers ed where you just memorize shit

 

They ask those specific questions to sniff out exactly what you're doing. You’re getting exposed because you know the definitions but not the logic. You need to actually break the model to understand it.

I switched to using Cook’d for prep bc it forces me to run the sims and build the mechanics rather than just reading about them. Once you’ve actually seen the cash balance change because you tweaked the tax rate, the curveballs kinda just become logic puzzles.

 

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