Skills check exam at Advisory Firm & way below average candidate profile at firm

So this advisory firm mainly advertises that it helps companies find alternative capital for special situations, primarily bankruptcy but since defaults are not common at this moment they are branching out into other investment banking services. They want me to do a skills check to make sure I'm capable of the work I suppose. I triple majored in college from a non target school in Managerial Finance, Banking & Finance, and Economics in 2014. I've worked in risk management since, I haven't performed a DCF in quite a while but I regularly analyze and interpret financial statements.

The skills check will cover the following: Explaining how the 3 primary statements are connected Being able to explain each line item on the statement Working a problem where I have to create a financial model

Does anyone have any recommendations on how I should freshen up for this? Or where I should go to get these materials to be as ready for the discussion as possible? My interview is next week at their office.


Regarding my candidate profile...I graduated in 2014 from a non-target school, and have not gone to grad school yet. However, during my sophomore year I earned a (partial) scholarship for academic performance and I graduated with the most majors in my business school - possibly entire school but at least the business school.

Everyone that works there (5 people) has gone to a target school for undergrad (like UT Austin) and they have all gone to Rice University for their MBA. The Managing Director teaches Corporate Financial Restructuring for the MBA program at Rice, and has gone to Harvard for both his MBA and JD.

I feel like a peasant in comparison to them, however I was selected to go in for possibly a final interview by the VP. How can I walk in there confidently knowing all this?

1 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Est quas voluptate est quia dolores repellat. Commodi reprehenderit incidunt nam eius id perspiciatis. Impedit animi est quidem dolore voluptate sit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (68) $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

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...”