Incoming Sophomores: 6 Questions to Test Your Interview Readiness

If you’re prepping for investment banking interviews, here are 6 questions ordered from easiest and most common to hardest and least common. You can go down the list to see where you stand. It’s still early, but by the end of recruiting, you should have all of these down cold for most groups. This isn’t exhaustive, of course, but it’s a great check.

  1. Walk me through a DCF. (pretty much asked in every interview)
  2. Walk me through the 3 statements if depreciation increases by $10. Assume a 40% tax rate. (very, very common. should be able to recite easily. also be ready if depreciation decreases instead)
  3. Market cap is $500M, the company trades at a 10x EBITDA multiple, and net debt is 4x EBITDA. What is EBITDA?
  4. Leverage ratio is 4x. Coverage ratio is 5x. What's the interest rate?
  5. In Year 0, you buy $100 of inventory in cash. In Year 1, the company sells half of that inventory, generating $80 in revenue, and accounts receivable increases by $50 over the year. Assuming a 50% tax rate, walk me through the three statements in Year 1.
  6. LTM EBITDA 100, 10x entry multiple, 5-year holding period, 5x entry leverage, 50% debt repayment over holding period. What CAGR would EBITDA have to grow to have an IRR of 20%?
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