Talking about deal experience in an interview
I’m preparing for an associate level interview and trying to brush up on past deals. I’ve got a couple questions that would help me better prepare:
1) When discussing past deal experience with an interviewer, how detailed does it get? For example, I worked on an acquisition of a contaminated site that had a historical insurance policy so the due diligence was complex/confusing. Do I need to know every detail about the insurance piece or am I good if I just know the main, high-level points?
2) Can you provide some example probative questions that I might receive? I just want to get a feel for what I should expect.
3) Is there a good framework when answering the common “Tell me about a deal/project you worked on”? Should my initial response essentially just be a 2-3 min high level overview and the interviewer probe/ask questions about the areas they think are most interesting? Is there a better method to answer these?
When I interviewed for my current position (analyst) I did not have any CRE experience so I’m expecting this upcoming interview to be much different. I’m a little anxious bc I have no clue what to expect. I think my current approach to studying the deals is too granular, and I’d be better off focusing on the key details/main points.
Thanks and I appreciate any help!
1) if that specific deal comes up it is some form of “we had to navigate messed up environmental” as you describe the process. don’t get into more detail on the environmental unless they ask. Not necessarily a translatable experience and sounds like a snooze fest
2) “I see X deal on your resume. Walk me through what you did on that acquisition”
“Walk me through your roles/duties day-to-day within your current firm/team”
“What deals did your firm pass on that you would’ve done” and inverse
Im huge on fit and earnestness above all else for juniors so i wouldnt worry about this too much. If anything work wise I just want to get you talking to see how you work and your strengths/weaknesses and how you view deals
3) personally think 2-3 min uninterrupted about your grunt work experience on a deal sounds too long. I would go shorter and let them probe for more info if interested. Curious what others think here though.
Is there no case study?
IMO you should know whatever they gave you (aka model test or case study) cold. You should know firm and their deal history cold. You should know interviewers background cold. The opportunity to bring it up may not present itself and that’s ok, don’t force it, but if it does this is a separator for me when I interview people.
Thanks for the response. I feel like I'm over thinking it but I just have no clue what's baseline/normal.
I haven't been given a modeling test yet. I passed phone interview and am now invited to come in to meet with non-MD team members. If I pass/do well on that, then I'll be given a modeling test, before hopefully moving on to the final round with the MD and few repeat interviews.
To be clear (I can write too bluntly and was tying to answer ur Qs efficiently) yes you are overthinking but it’s not inherently a bad thing. You care and are preparing. Try not to overexplain and be confident! Be someone they want to spend 40-60 hours / week with.
I know leverage is with employer especially for junior roles and this is probably a job you want- but try to remember it is a 2 way street. The first screening and interview process is not only for them but for you as well.
Depends on the nature of the role. Is it mostly a development shop, or a blend of acquisitions and development, and what exactly does the Associate role do within the firm? In my experience, the title Associate within different development shops can have a pretty big swing between firms in terms of the actual scope of the role. Would you be expected to run development projects in this role (like a Development Manager or Development Director)? Would you be more assisting someone else who is leading the projects? Would you be running models for acquisitions and developments? Just trying to get a better sense, which would help shape responses. Generally though, in terms of how detailed to get, I would expect there's not a binary threshold/cutoff, rather it's more seeing how much you "get it" relative to others they may be interviewing, and then also weighing that against all the other factors that play into the decision (fit, likeability, other relevant skills/considerations, resume, other). So rather than a defined level of detail, make sure you at least conceptually really understand what the complex pieces were, how they fit together, how they affected the deal, what the real underlying risk/issue was, how you resolved it (or helped resolve it), and what the outcome was.
This was a very helpful response.
It is for an acquisitions & development position and the development side is more development director (the company has an internal construction management team). As an associate, I would NOT be running deals on my own. There is an associate director, director and managing director above me that I'd be supporting.
For some context, I only have acquisitions experience, no development. I've done high level feasibility studies of sites with redevelopment potential, but I don't have any real, first-hand development work (i.e. site selection, draw schedule, construction management, lease up, etc.).
But I think you pretty much answered my questions perfectly. Instead of getting caught up in every minor detail that theoretically could be asked (i.e. how much coverage did the environmental insurance policy have, how many days was your DD extension, etc.), it's better to focus on the major pieces that could've swayed a final decision and be able to defend the investment logic/reasoning of each deal. Is this fairly accurate advice?
Where do you see interviewees struggle the most when talk about deal experience? Are they not able to articulate the reasoning behind the go/no-go decision? Do they not understand the bigger picture of the deals they worked on (i.e. they we're so focused on their silo and can't speak about anything else that went on)?
Lastly in my initial response be to "walk through a deal" should I cover everything from deal snapshot, investment thesis, business plan, underwriting/returns, risks, my role/contribution, and outcome/lessons learned? Or is that too long? If so, what should I touch on initially?
My apologies, I know that is a lot, but you're answer was great and now I want to hear more from you! Sorry and thank you!!
Whoops, realizing I accidentally responded to my own comment. Meant to respond to yours. See response below!
Interviewed for a VP level acquisitions job recently where I was asked to chronologically talk through the who/what/where/when/why of the deals I did.
The interviewer (principal of a private office) asked a few deal specific questions along the way, but after about 20 minutes of spending like 2-3 minutes on my first deals, he said he had heard what he wanted: I owned the deals I was describing. The fact that I could recall unit counts or specific things about deals from several years ago showed that these deals left an imprint on me.
Regardless of title or how big the deal team was, he wanted to make sure that I knew the deals on my resume/deal sheet and wasn’t just a lowly team member who was a cog in a bigger institutional machine.
This is important in acquisitions - being able to explain the why is just as if not more important than the how. I’d spare the DD story about an environmental issue (agree it sounds boring but be prepared to answer if asked), but knowing why the headaches were worth overcoming is more important.
Candidly, AI can streamline a lot of the “how” in acquisitions and DD, but it can’t answer the “why” - and that’s where opportunity will continue to be.
Thanks for the added context. Knowing they aren't expecting you to independently lead entire deals, I think they'll be looking for whether you have enough of a solid foundation/exposure/experience/understanding, such that:
So I would answer questions by briefly demonstrating your understanding through the most important challenges, deal points, and decisions you actually worked through. Stay high-level initially and be prepared to go deeper, if they ask.
Also, don't get rattled if they keep drilling down until you reach something you don't know. They may simply be testing how far your knowledge goes...even beyond the baseline they actually need...just to see. But you may have already answered/met what they're looking for, they're just seeing exactly what they're getting if they hire you. So importantly: if you don't know something, just be confident and honest about it. It's much better to say, "I wasn't involved in that piece, so I'm not privy to that detail," than to bluff.
In my experience on both sides of development interviews, once you demonstrate fairly quickly that you understand the concepts, language, and general mechanics they're looking for, they probably won't need to get too far into the weeds. And if you don't want the conversation to become about details, don't lead with details. Diving immediately into a highly specific issue gives them an obvious opportunity to drill into it and call you out on it. Instead, articulate the basic concept, key deal points/challenges, your involvement, and the outcome (but I can't stress this enough... succinctly). Then offer to go deeper on anything they'd like.
For "walk me through the deal," I actually think your existing answer is strong. If you can succinctly touch on each of the things you listed, it demonstrates that you understood what was happening, were genuinely involved, understood your role in the process, and can connect your contributions to the outcome. That's probably perfect for what they're looking for. Keep it to a few sentences and then say you're happy to dive deeper into anything.
As for where candidates tend to struggle: you asked if it's ever not understanding what went into a go/no-go decision. That's fine if you actually fully grasp that level of thinking. But frankly, I wouldn't worry very much at all about not thinking at an executive/decision-making level yet. They're not expecting that. They want to know that you've mastered the pieces relevant to your role: you understand the financial components, have some familiarity with due diligence, generally understand the development process, and have at least some exposure to the more development-oriented pieces... even if you haven't personally led them. Again they really need to know you "get it" and that they won't have to teach you everything from scratch. A strong foundational understanding plus some real transaction/deal exposure is probably the sweet spot.
To add some encouragement, the fact that you're thinking about this with structure and strategy is a good sign. Seems like you have relevant experience and exposure to real deals; as long as you can articulate that experience concisely, you're in a good position.
Finally, as others have mentioned, fit matters. A lot. Show them you're someone they'd want to work with: calm under pressure, confident but not arrogant, honest, coachable, eager to learn, receptive to criticism, and generally pleasant and positive. Be someone you yourself would actually want to work with. They want to be able to picture themselves working with you when a deal gets stressful, or even coordinating with late at night when there's a deadline. How you respond when they ask a difficult question can be just as informative as the answer itself.
Don't hesitate with additional questions and best of luck!
I really appreciate your response. I've been having a tough time figuring out how to prep since all of my CRE interviews took place before I gained CRE experience so I had no clue what to expect.
Additionally, I work at a family office ($1b AUM in CRE ), which is much smaller than the shop I'm applying to ($100b+ AUM), so I'm a little nervous that my experience will not be enough for them. The hiring company works on larger deals, covers more markets, uses more sophisticated investment structures/vehicles, etc. so I really want to be able to speak about my experience as best as I possibly can.
Thanks again for your help! You provided very useful insight.
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