For the past year I have been preparing for S&T interviews but recently decided to switch over to a IB path. One of the things I noticed is how more difficult the technical questions are and how specific they can get. I know IB is more technical than S&T but these practice technical questions seem very detailed. Are the superdays for IB a close reflection of the IB Bible and those finance technical guides?
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Not sure what S&T interviews are like but for IB, the guides are certainly a good start. However, to be competitive you should have a solid conceptual understanding of what you are memorizing in the guides. Simply knowing the answers to basic questions may get you to the SD, but you will likely be pushed more there.
I have only gone to one S&T super day and the most technical question they asked was how to value a building. So this jump from S&T to IB interview questions has been a little big.
IB interviews is generally more technical in the sense that you need to have a good fundamental understanding of finance and how it interplays with IB.
What is beta? How is it calculated? What's it used for? if Beta increases, what happens to the target's valuation?
a fundamental understanding of this will be able to yield you all the right answers to the questions above, instead of memorizing 5 answers. if you have time, read (or skim) investment banking by rosebaum - especially the DCF/comps section. I personally found my s&t interviews more harder (prep wise at least) than my IB interviews. good luck!!
I have been doing the LBO and M&A modeling course through Wall Street Prep. Do you think I should know most aspects of it or the broad sense that’s discussed in the IB book by rosenbaum?
i would try to understand the solid fundamentals first instead of spending time delving deep into lbo modelling
from my experience, the questions you'll get will get progressively more difficult, and some questions will be asked in a way that you may never have heard of which people get stumped by, but a good grasp of the concept will help you navigate through it
it would of course be best if you could read the rosenbaum book as well as do the WSP course, but should you have limited time, I'd personally spend most of it with the rosenbaum book and IB guides. it's very rare (at least for me and friends ive talked to) be asked really really specific questions on LBO modelling beyond the traditional fundamental understanding of it (covered in rosenbaums book)
YMMV, but rosenbaum book + some ib guides on the internet was all I needed. im taking courses for ON the job, but to prepare for it, the book and some guides were enough.
if Beta increases, what happens to the target's valuation?
what’s the answer to this? Is it that the valuation decreases since the discount rate increases? (Since capm formula includes beta?)
From my experience, you need to have done some good reading about how the IB works, the roles involved, modelling, and how the company positions itself :)
I interviewed for both in undergrad and found that IB was more memorization based with some more intellectual questions while S&T was more on aptitude than knowledge. Personally, I found IB interviews pretty easy if you prep properly.
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