Best Way to Memorize Basic Technicals
I am a freshman (sophomore standing) absolutely gunning for a boutique IB internship this summer. I have recently just started diving into the technicals and was wondering what strategies my fellow monkeys have used to most efficiently memorize them considering the lack of accounting and finance courses so far. Also, any tips on boutiques? Had a few calls with MDs and they like me, just waiting on the next steps. I am super hungry for this summer.
Much appreciated!!
Don’t memorize, understand.
Then when you get a curveball question, you’re not stuck there looking like an idiot because you didn’t memorize the answer. But you can still walk through it and explain ur thought process.
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You shouldn't. Best way to learn technicals is to actual learn it. Once you actually understand finance/accounting, reading through an interview guide like M&I should be pretty straight forward and more of a review. Think of it as a study guide for a final exam, where you can use it to see what areas of knowledge you're lacking and to refresh things into your mind. If you just memorize the answers without understanding the underlying concepts, then you're going to get tripped up when they change up the questions.
For example, if I told you that a PIK loan is a loan where a borrower pays interest with debt instead of cash, would you know how to do the accounting steps for its interest expense?
Or what if I asked you questions about DTA/DTLs? I couldn't imagine learning those concepts solely from an interview guide.
This advice is targeted more towards people interested in shops that have technical-heavy interviews, such as EBs, but since you're a freshman (or sophomore? Im confused by what you mean) you have some time before recruiting begins.
Absolutely. Just find certain topics very tedious, and I think I might have to memorize them in the meantime before understanding the underlying concepts. I am a first-year sophomore but I think I may want to push it back a semester. Trying to land at a small boutique shop this summer. Thank you!
Personally used a combination of M&I400 and chancery.app and was good for 99% of technical questions I got
When I was in banking and super involved in recruiting, we'd always filter for people who were just straight memorizing. For example, if I asked what happens with 10 bucks of depreciation to the three statements, I'd then ask what happens when my receivables go up. Now most people well-versed in accounting concepts would know that an increase in receivables would actually decrease your cash flow but it was shocking how many people would stumble at a question like that given it wasn't a part of the typically memorized banking technical question repertoire.
Point being, don't memorize, learn, and it'll be shockingly easier.
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