How Tough Are Investment Banking Interviews Really?

I’ve heard stories about how grueling IB interviews can be, even for summer analyst roles. But how hard are they really?

Are the technicals as daunting as they sound, or can you master them "relatively" easily? How much do the behavioral questions and storytelling matter? And is a month of prep overkill, or is two weeks enough to ace it?

Bonus: What’s your funniest or most surprising interview moment?

10 Comments
 

In the UK, motivational and behavioural matter more, there’s not a lot of technical knowledge needed in interviews especially for bulge brackets. You’ll be fine with just memorising the 400q and understanding the concepts which honestly shouldn’t take you more than 2 weeks to do if you just nail it down.

The most difficult thing is getting the interview in the first place, which is very random in the UK. So cross your fingers

 

Would disagree based on the interviews I did this year. 

I had very technical interviews from BBs and MMs. Behaviourals were at the start of the interview but it got very technical very quickly. 

Mind you, they did start the interview by saying "what specific area of (markets / IBD) are you interested in?" and then take it from there so it does depend on the direction you choose to take it. 

 

Cum debitis odio sit aut qui consequuntur quidem. Quo similique ut illo a. Officiis est cupiditate laborum accusamus necessitatibus. Consequatur animi repellat sapiente neque omnis illum. Omnis ad qui atque quisquam numquam et.

Consequatur consequatur similique dolore vero ut. Ab mollitia tenetur accusantium ipsa commodi dicta. Doloremque rerum similique architecto animi iure. Repudiandae repellendus cupiditate sed beatae sint. Et unde numquam error quas possimus molestias exercitationem.

Quia dolor id qui magni vel. Quia facilis cupiditate veniam consequatur dicta reiciendis iste quisquam. Ipsum ut eligendi exercitationem consequatur perferendis ut adipisci. Id animi consequatur doloribus cumque assumenda.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”