What do you guys think are the hardest interviews between EB/BB/MM for SA. I know EB’s are definitely the hardest since it’s the most technical, but what about BB vs. MM?
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FWIW, hardest interview I ever had was Greenhill RX
Appreciate it! Would you say BB’s are harder than MM’s for SA interviews?
no some bbs are alot more behavioral focused, barc/gs sometimes wont ask you a single technical even for nondiv. good mm's are probably between eb and bb
GHL was tough as hell, they are definitely screening for technical aptitude
del
Was this for SA or a fulltime role? GHL rx was orders of magnitudes easier vs PJT/EVR back when i recruited
Evercore RX has to be the hardest. Those MFs will straight up ask sophomores to explain why coops don't violate the Sherman act or have them devise an LME using Better Health technology. Devious MFs.
This take shows you didn’t interview at the EB RX shops + HL RX since they run much harder processes
Interviewed at every single one minus GUGG and landed @ EB. Excellent judgment - you’ll do great in finance
No clue man. It's gonna be highly variable and unpredictable anyway. Just prepare for the worst and hope for the best when you step in the room / Zoom
HL RX superday is disgusting. I second greenhill as well
Would you mind speaking on some of the things you were asked that made it so tough?
Tbh I hate this kind of behavior. Do the prep and hope for the best. If you’re getting Qs from some Q bank or upperclassmen beforehand, then sure “play the game,” but if it’s to avoid the prep altogether and not put in the work then it’s gonna come back to bite you eventually. Long story short, everyone basically has the same resources; use those and think on your feet when the time comes
It’s a lot of things. A few very sharp elbowed MDs, open ended questions where they really dig into your knowledge, case study includes a lot of jargon to throw you off. I was just not strong enough of a candidate at the time to hang there. Once I started getting asked about RPs and builder baskets I folded lol. I will say NY is way easier than the regionals from my exp
Only for Chicago, NYC superday was easy.
Ur saying HL RX superday NYC is easier than Chicago
If I had to rank:
Haven't interviewed with LAZ but assume they would also be in on the tougher side
All the RX groups were difficult — PJT, EVR, HL, CVP, Ducera
I'd say GHL and CVP but for different reasons
Evercore Rx
rx prep got commoditized with rxinterviews + pari passu which imo made it alot sweatier but alot more meritocratic. used to be if you're not in wharton club that has the rx interview q database or GPS, gl passing the techs. now it's def alot more studying but there's alot more school variety and opportunity to show real interest in the subject matter
lol thank you for making point #3. I remember a very distinct VP at a BB who pressed me like this. So pathetic, can’t believe like that exist
Solomon Partners superday was unexpectedly hard, maybe a notch below my EVR M&A one
BofA easy af, Citi also suprisingly pretty technical
BofA is so easy it loops around to being hard because it's almost impossible to differentiate yourself. 20 mins of extremely basic technicals, and 20 mins of extremely basic behaviorals, all over zoom. It's really just luck of the draw if you click with the interviewers
RJ C&R was also extremely hard
MMHF processes were my most difficult (adding on)
Was it for SA or FT? Was it just super technical?
CIBC EIT technicals were fairly challenging, a lot of merger math and some LBO questions.
genuinely curious, but what are they asking you all in these "hard" interviews technical wise? some examples would be great because I feel pretty comfortable with the technicals atp and am just wondering how hard it can get. not interested in RX.
One I got interviewing for an EB for a first internship experience : A company has an EBITDA of 100m, and its revenue grows 10% every year. The EBITDA margin is stable and there are no taxes. Every year, there is 10m in CapEx and 10m in D&A. You buy the company at 10x its EBITDA and you exit at the same multiple. Your leverage is 5x the EBITDA, and you exit after 5 years. What's the IRR ? (no calculator obviously, only a pen and paper )
do you remember the answer?
sounds like a paper lbo, honestly not too bad but that's because I have more experience now. definitely was not paper lbo ready for internship interviews personally
pretty fucking easy lol
barclays no techs from a NESCAC
MBB is hardest of all
Sorry you didn’t break into banking lil bro
Congrats on WF
My RX interviews were leaps and bounds harder then any of my BB or MM interviews. My wells and barc interviews were a joke no technicals at all, HL RX and EVR made me cry.
In my experience:
1. CVP
2. EVR
3. PJT
4. PWP
5. MOE
6. LAZ
7. BB’s (less: Citi, lmao)
dont have wide array of experiences but from my FT recruiting this past cycle I only interviewed at two places (WF + Citi) and both were objectively tough IMO (3+ rounds, 90% technical each round and most felt like they were coming or related to advanced section of 400 question guide)
for SA recruiting which I landed interviews at like 7-8 places it was all very easy (basic techs, more about getting to know me). only BB i interviewed was JP and it was mid difficulty at most and the rest were MMs (RBC, TD to name a few)
i also did not recruit at any EB nor RX so before i get MS'd this is my experience from my sample size
just wanted to add to answer the question more directly, the stretch in difficulty from EB to BB definitely exists , but for BBs and MMs it felt literally the same with the only difference being more nerves that ur up against a BB but thats personal
You wouldn’t say MM’s are a bit more technical than BB’s, or are they the same level of difficulty? Also, I heard good MM’s (baird, jefferies, WB) sometimes can consist of paper lbo or merger math, so could be tougher than BB’s. But at the same time, BB’s get more apps as well, so harder to get a spot than a MM.
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Are you joining either ft?
Yea
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