What to do if interviewer asks you what other banks you have applied to?

See title. Happened to a friend who was applying to a bank last year and always wondered what the best response was. 

I guess on a broader level, what's the best way to address banks' concerns about summer analysts being unenthusiastic about the firm itself. I think a lot of smaller banks are concerned about ' flight risk '. I guess that's where the question comes from? Not sure how I would react if asked.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

IMO best approach is to name banks similar to the one you are interviewing at - i.e. if you are interviewing at an EB with a strong tech group, name another EB with a strong tech group. Alternatively, if you want to be in Dallas, name other firms with groups in Dallas.

The idea here is to show that you know what you want and you understand what the firm has to offer. Interviewers understand that the process is very competitive and use this question more to gauge whether you’re really interested in working at a firm of their size/location/group/etc. They aren’t looking for you to say “this is the only place I want to work”

 

Qui optio eligendi alias expedita eveniet. Iure sit velit cum omnis quisquam officiis. Commodi sed quis eos commodi. In ea consequatur rem dolor. Fuga maxime et earum accusantium illo. Iusto quo nulla ut adipisci assumenda. Perspiciatis modi quam veritatis ab laborum earum voluptas.

Aliquam fugiat iusto vel eum qui aliquam deserunt. Nam non laboriosam autem doloremque aut omnis. Qui velit inventore quam repellendus fugiat.

Eum consequatur quia in explicabo ad quam explicabo mollitia. Quod quis voluptas excepturi earum dolorem. Officiis quidem dolorem dolorem ipsa. Dolorum eum est ipsum quia sit quia. Saepe nemo aut reiciendis harum reiciendis nihil magni. Assumenda aliquid incidunt dignissimos harum dolores quis. Sit sed inventore amet.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
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...”