Which banks weigh the technical portion of the interview most? (SA)

I heard Evercore and Moelis are especially tough on technicals. I’ve heard sometimes their interviews are literally all technical, no behavioral. Is this true? Are any other banks like this?

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PJT, Evercore, and Centerview have the reputation for being the most technical, and from my experience that was pretty fair. That said, superday interviewers usually have a great deal of latitude, so content can vary widely. Plus, in diversity processes interviewers are instructed by HR to keep the questions less technical (e.g., certain topics off-limits, etc.)

Source: Heavily involved in analyst recruiting at one of the above three for several years. 

 
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It's completely false that interviews will be 100% technical with no behavioral component. The more appropriate question you should ask is which banks tend to have harder technicals than others

Aside from the usual EBs as mentioned above, my experiences with certain BBs were also as technical which includes GS/MS. My experience with Citi wasn't as intense but this is just one data point from myself so don't assume Citi interviews are more "relaxed". I've heard difficult questions from friends who interviewed with places which were deemed to be "less technical" so the lesson here is don't let your guard down and be just as prepared for interviews with any bank

Interviews with RX shops were also tricky regardless of whether they were an EB or not. In addition to the usual suspects (dcf, lbo etc.), they can also ask bond math, debt waterfall calculations and bankruptcy law. This is largely due to the nature of RX where their analysis is extremely sensitive to the numbers and less thematic, or dare I say "fluffy", compared to a TMT coverage group where the next big idea can immediately justify an inflated multiple

This is why I actually encourage people to apply for RX interviews even if you're not interested in RX. If you can ably navigate the technicals portion for RX interviews, this should give you confidence to hold your own with any type of bank from a technicals perspective. Just my view as a non-RX guy (tech) who found going through RX interviews to be extremely helpful in brushing up technicals  

 

How should i prepare for Rx interviews? If i read moyer from front to back, will i be set or do i need to prep more? I am solid on non rx technicals, just need to study the rx portion.

 

Can only speak from M&A, in my experience from interviewing for SA this past year, Evercore grilled on the nitty gritty technicals, Moelis asked RX given the (previously) generalist role, Centerview did not do traditional finance technicals but rather brainteasers and 'creative' behavioral questions, GS was entirely behavioral and my superday was less than an hour. Would rank Evercore as the most technically intense.

 

interesting, I did do a superday there and had a far different experience. Did not get any traditional technicals in the superday. For NY.

 

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