Citi Summer Analyst Interview

Couldn't find much on the website, anyone been through it recently or in the past? I have my first round in person next week. Mostly fit or technical? Any brainteasers or random hard shit?

and sorry for another SA interview thread

 

If you have an internal contact that counts as your 1st round fit so you just have the one final round interview. If no one is pushing for you internally, they do a 1st round fit, but you're right CityGirl, most SAs only have one round.

 
Best Response

Mostly fit questions unless you've had some kind of finance internship or have a finance background... if you haven't, do expect a few questions on basic valuation techniques, etc. In general summer analyst interviews take less time than full-time interviews and have fewer questions.

In general you will only get brainteasers if you say something that warrants them, e.g. saying you're really good at math, or if your interviewer doesn't like you for some reason. They may ask you a few basic math questions but there's usually little reason to torture a summer analyst candidate with brainteasers.

As with all banks, be prepared to answer the "Why Citi?" question - they all really like to ask this, so do some research on the culture before the interview.

 

Thanks for the insight guys.

The "Why ____" question is definitley popular, and I got drilled on it at JP Morgan.

I read the WSJ/NYT a lot, but is there a place that kind of outlines the major strengths of each bank? Stuff like JP Morgan being strong in high-yield and such..... got drilled on not knowing that.

 

Honestly, when asked the inevitable why do you want to work at XYZ bank, I wouldn't just memorize and rattle off facts that you read on the company's website, Vault, Wetfeet, WSJ, NYTimes, etc. You are already expected to be familliar with these sources and knowing them won't put you ahead of the pack. While it's important to show the interviewer that you've down your homework, i.e. you know the company's leaders, culture / guiding principles, and the differences between the universal banking platform and the more traditional model (if you are interviewing with Citi, JPM, BofA), I wouldn't spend too much time on them in your answer. The interviewer already knows about all of this. This question is your main opportunity to sell yourself as a good fit for the firm. Talk about a few factors that are important in a employer (higher level of analyst to associate promotion, smaller deal teams, strong Real Estate Group, etc.) and how this particular firm does better than their competitors in these areas. One thing that I used to do was examine the league tables and a firm's recent transactions before I interviewed. I was very interested in the tech. industry, so if I found a bank was #1 in Internet M&A during the past year, I would make sure to include this in my answer to why I want to work in Tech for XYZ bank.

 

Please let me know how your interview .I have interview with Citi GTS this wednesday. I a curious to know whether it will be technical or behaviourial.

thanks in advance Prachi

 

Honestly, you have to be prepared for everything at his point if you are serious about getting a job. So: 1) Fit questions 2) Technical questions 3) Market awareness + trade ideas 4) brainteasers

In my opinion 1 and 3 seemed to be the most important. + be careful about making any statements such "I know thing x", "I am really interested in X" if you can't follow up on them - if you say that you are interested in derivatives and you can't answer basic questions about derivatives then you're making a fool out of yourself. Lastly, interviews are all about making other people to like you - keep that in mind and try to engage them in conversation instead of having one way interrogation.

 

For future people searching, I was asked about how I manage my time and activities and why I wanted to work in risk management. I also had to pitch a stock, and the interviewer recommended knowing the multiples of comparable companies so you can talk about the multiple of the company you are pitching and discuss it in that light. He also asked me about the ways to value a company. Kind of a bit of the basics of everything. Also be prepared to ask the interviewer some questions.

 

I had my first round (OCR) on the 11th, got invited to the second round later that same day, had my second round the 18th, and was an extended an offer on the 19th. This was for global risk management.

 

Again, for the future searchers, at the Citi risk super day I was asked mostly fit questions. Definitely know "Why Citi?" as well as have a great answer to "Why risk?" I also was asked to explain a lot of my activities on my resume, so (like for any interview) know your resume well and what strengths you can talk about based on your activities.

 

Citi want to be Goldman basically - they try to measure up to the best. So if wanna talk prestige to them - you can drop a line that in terms of senior banker quality you think they are at par with Goldman. First round interviews tend to be technical too. In general - big bank, you love the international presence, like the balance sheet strength - can get any deal out there, strong brokerage arm (SSMB) to push the new product offerings, etc. Definitely not a blue collar attitude - Citi has an inferiority complex in general so they stick to the "we hire only the best and the smoothest". However they also tend to be on the cheap side of comp and therefore are more open to 2nd tier schools (as compared to Goldman). Big push throughout Citi for cost cutting (you figure what gets cut first....). Still a great place for Ibanking in terms of prestige.

 

"However they also tend to be on the cheap side of comp and therefore are more open to 2nd tier schools (as compared to Goldman)"

'cheap side of comp?' I heard from multiple people they paid 85k bonuses to top 1st years last season. I believe this is equal or slightly greater than what i heard from 1years at other BBs. Is this wrong?

 

Here's my personal view of Citigroup:

Most firms on Wall Street wish they had done what Citi has the last five years. They've gone from being a lower-half bulge bracket (as Salomon was) to being the only firm on Wall Street that can honestly say they are top three in every major product.

We see them in places they never were five and ten years ago (name a Salomon tech deal before Oracle/Peoplesoft, for example). Now they're everywhere. We're holding the line against the Citis and the JPMorgans of the world on the M&A advisory side and in equity, but the dominance of the the old monoline investment banks has never been more in doubt.

I'm not sure what the next ten years looks like, but I think we're all going to look a lot more like Citigroup and JPM than we do today. John Mack has already signalled a desire to move MS that way. A lot of us believe that Stan O'Neal was dressing Merrill up for a sale before the downturn put everything on hold. My guess is that Merrill will end up with HSBC before all is said and done.

Don't kid yourself with the "old" stereotypes. They're dead and gone. From what I know of them, Citi today very little resembles the Salomon of yesteryear. I'd work there, no question.

Five years ago, the old "J-dot-P-dot-Morgan" just looked and dressed different from the Merrills, Goldmans, and Lehmans of the world - today's JPMorgan is a completely different beast. We all revel in the latest reports of trouble with the idea of the "financial supermarket". Personally, I detest the concept.

However, whenever I look at the league tables, I know who's winning, and the top of that list is Citigroup. My suspicion is that when Lloyd Blankfein goes to sleep at night, he doesn't worry about Morgan Stanley as much as he worries about Citigroup.

 

Citi does not and will not (this season at least) hire full-times direct to group en masse. A few people take the early-start option, which puts them directly into a group beginning either in January or May (vs. an early July start date for the rest of the class). This process is handled on a case-by-case.

The summer class, on the other hand, is a different matter. You were talking about the summer class, weren't you?

Just FYI, I've heard from people in the know that one of the surest ways to land an offer from Citi is to have an offer from Goldman. I believe it, too.

 

zmei..unless you were an intern that took up a fulltime, you were hired into the general pool..i know this from personal experience..the group decision happens during/after training..so you can ask CM abt that yourself ;-)

 
Zmei:
that could be the reason we have different info. Mis Ind is right about the Goldman/Citi thing. However, how many do you think turn down GS for Citi:))

I know someone who turned down GS for Citi because he got IB at Citi and S&T at GS

 

I have no idea why everyone has such a hard on for GS as an investment bank. Outside of a few prestigous deals a year, they generally do the same crap every other bank does and they cut a lot more corners doing it. Some of the shoddiest IMs I have read are from GS.

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