Why are EB interviews 10x harder than BB
PJT/PWP/CVP asked me extremely complex accounting and mental math and GS/MS literally asked me all layup culture questions and that $10 of deprecation one lol
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EBs are more difficult to convert but BBs are more difficult to get in a process
Definitely not BB is all diversity programs and 5000 slots available, EB’s hire nobody lmaooooooo
You don’t understand what I’m saying, the act of getting an EB interview is easier than a BB. Maybe if target it’s different but any non-core student needs like 6-8 chats and a senior reference to even get a look at any BB. Whereas EB RX shops will have one chat and interview a kid from Ohio State. Etc etc
Not so sure if this is accurate anymore. Could be case by case but anecdotally my BB R1/2 and Superdays were just as hard as my EBs
Yep, at our BB we increased our difficulty for this past cycle
What do you define as “extremely hard” mental math?
The square root of a 5 digit number lol
Did they ask for an estimate or exact number, and approx how long did you feel was acceptable to take (10-20 sec?) also any others
Guarantee they weren't expecting you to just spit out the answer right there. e.g. if they wanted sqrt of the number 54321, to me the "right answer" would be walking through these steps with the interviewer:
1. Obvious enough that 1002 = 10k, 2002 = 40k, 3002 = 90k, so we gotta be between 200 and 300
2. Alright so we try another couple numbers that everyone should be able to work out basically instantly. 2502 = 62.5k, 2202 = 44k, we gotta be between these
3. Getting ever so slightly less clear not but still not going to take you more than a few seconds to work out that 2302 = 52.9k and 2402 = 57.6k
4. At this point you're close enough that you can easily see that we're going for a number that's ~1.4k above the 2302 that we've already worked out
4. And you should also already know that going from 2302 to 2312 is gonna add approximately 2x230=460, and another 460 going to 2322, and so on...
5. Then just divide 1.4k by 460, and clearly we're gonna end up at the answer being somewhere +- 2332
If you were interviewing for a quant position that's another matter entirely. But for standard IB and consulting roles, you don't need to be a math wizard, you just need to be able to approach things in a logical manner.
BBs are hard in a different way. You can't differentiate yourself technically so you have to vibe with your interviewers which makes it luck of the draw, especially when a higher proportion of spots are going to div / neop candidates than EBs
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