Lateral Associate Interviews - What do bankers mean when they say they're "more technical"?

I have some lateral Associate interviews coming up. One is what the banker described as a "technical interview". Another the banker I spoke with for a networking call where he's going to get me into the process said their process is pretty technical.

What does this mean? What kind of technical questions are they going to be asking me in an interview that's "more technical"? Some theories I had:

  1. DTA/DTL - what they are, how they arise, how they are accounted for
  2. More involved merger accounting questions (full PPA walkthrough)
  3. How to value and structure earnouts
  4. How to capitalize leases
  5. How to adjust for unfunded pension liabilities
  6. More involved accounting questions with more moving parts (e.g. depreciation, a loan, sale of an asset for a process all at once in a multi-step line of questioning)
  7. More involved accretion dilution questions (multiple sources of funds, impact of PPA on accretion/dilution, etc.)
  8. Maybe some kind of process questions? SPA/APA negotiation/common reps and warranties?

What else could it be? Or am I just over thinking this?

Also, the banker described this interview as a "technical interview" does that mean they're just going to be asking me technical questions? He said there was a modeling test, too. What would that involve?

5 Comments

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (49) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”