I always do shit on HR phone screens

I second this. HR screens are mainly to make sure that you are not socially awkward and that you know what the job entails. What always worked for me during IB interviews in general was to do most of the talking. If you take control of the conversation, you accomplish two important things (1) come off as confident and knowledgeable and (2) you get to decide what direction the interview goes, and when done successfully this allows you be asked questions that want to be asked and to avoid questions that you are not necessarily ready to answer.

Usually, I used to prepare a word doc split into multiple sections (1) interviewers and any relevant detail I could gather from their LinkedIn/FB etc. (2) main behavioral answers in order - walk me through your resume; why IB?; why this firm?; three short stories strengths / weakness / leadership (3) market overview - status of the economy; recent news and commentary (ideally an industry outlook written by the bank you are interviewing with - this way your views are better aligned with those of the bank) (4) stock pitch and deal discussion - for the stock pitch I didn’t really spend any time at all, just pull a buy rec from a decent equity research desk and you should be golden. (5) interviewers questions and likely answers - you should never ever come up with questions on the spot, that’s why leading the conversation is so important. If your interviewer sits on DCM do some quick research beforehand and prepare a well thought out question about the primary market (generally don’t ask for advice, next steps, or culture at the end. Not that these are bad questions, but interviewers are tired of hearing them. A better question along those lines would be “Well, after today I’m convinced that this is a place where I can see myself for a long time. However, we are here for different reasons, you are here to see if I’d be a good fit, and I’m here because I know this where I want to be and to find out what are some qualities that separate good interns from great interns, because I certainly want to be the latter”). Trust me, that question is a killer. Even though you asked the same thing that 99% of the applicants ask, you conveyed a completely different meaning and certainly distinguished yourself from the rest.

One final but very important tip, always know what your interviewer does. Most banks have similar structure but not every group is the same across the street. If you come into an interview knowing what I do and my specific involvement in the deal process, you’d be at the top of my list. A great question to ask bankers (especially the ones passionate about their group) is the type of sub-verticals the group specializes in. Lastly, interviews are a two way street. Try to be conversational, but in order for this to be effective you need to cover your bases in advance.