Why Investment Banking? Sample Answers

Answering "why investment banking?" in an interview if you're a liberal arts major (Originally Posted: 02/17/2012)

In today's blog, I wanted to share our take on answering this question if you are a liberal arts major. As always, we'll follow a simple template: 1) a brief description of how to think about these questions, 2) what represents a poor answer, 3) what represents a good answer, and lastly, 4) an actual example of a great answer.

I see that you are an art history major, so why finance?

Investment banking offers liberal arts majors one of the few relatively well-defined and challenging career paths available to "smart but skill-less" undergrads. Obviously, many also enter the industry with the obvious intention of making a great deal of money. Of course, answering this question in an interview begs for a little nuance. This question, regardless of whether it is posed to a liberal arts major or business major, should also always be looked at as an opportunity to tell your story.

Below are some sample answers (poor/good/great) Poor answers Poor answers to this question would be answers that somehow indicate you are going into the profession to earn large amounts of money or because you eventually want to go to business school/private equity/hedge funds.  While all this may be true, you want the interviewer to think that you are committed to the industry even though he/she knows that more than likely you’ll be one of the analysts that decides to leave after two years of service.  As an interviewer, it is better to hear the “reassuring” answer rather than the brutally honest one even though the interviewer knows you are being political.

Great answers Great answers to this question focus on skill-building, networking, and love for difficult challenges.  You want to emphasize that being a non-business major you are excited to learn the complex accounting and finance skills involved on the job and eventually transform into an Analyst that has potential to significantly impact the group.  You also want to relay that you are excited to work with driven, smart, and motivated colleagues and are looking forward to pushing your limits from a work standpoint.  You ultimately want to come off as a positive, “go-getter” type.

Sample great answer

“I do not regret majoring in art history.  That said, my interests have evolved towards more analytically challenging pursuits.  This past year, I have taken more quantitative classes like computer science, economics, and accounting, and believe that investment banking is an exciting challenge that marries my interests in critical thinking and quantitative analysis.

Specifically, banking interests me because it presents an opportunity to develop substantive analytical skills, while developing a close network of colleagues. While working long hours is scary to some, to me, it is in a strange way exciting. I have a very strong work ethic and I am excited to be involved in work that helps companies be better off strategically and financially.”