Life or Death Superday - Advice Desperately Needed

Hello,

I have a superday coming up in a couple days that I can't afford to screw up. I'm basically treating it like a life or death situation.

I've had several first round interviews so far, but I've made costly mistakes that prevented me from moving forward.

Fortunately I learned from my mistakes and was able to move on to the superday with this firm.
However, I feel that this may be my last opportunity with a major bank, and want to do everything I can do maximize my chances.

So my question is, what can I do to be the best candidate I can be?
I've also heard that fit and personality matter a lot in superdays. What are some ways to
stand out in those aspects and make myself seem interesting and a great fit for the office?

What are some things that I SHOULDN'T do? What causes someone to be dinged over someone else?

Also, does the order of interview matter? Would going first, middle, or last relative to other candidates have any effect on my chances?

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you

 

It's true that fit and personality matter a lot, but you have to remember that you can't pretend to be someone you're not. Interviewers can smell BS a mile away, and nothing will make you look worse than trying to fake who you are. That said, do leverage your experiences and anything that makes you unique, to paint a picture of yourself as one of a kind. Everyone's got some differentiating factors, and it's up to you to make yours sound as good as possible.

 

Thanks. That's true that I shouldn't fake my personality. I'll definitely focus on what makes me unique.

Also, do you think the order of interviewing matters? If I went first as opposed to middle or last, would it affect my chances in any way?

 

Also, don't treat it as a "life or death" situation. You're simply heaping a ton of pressure on yourself that way and it'll likely make you pretty nervous beforehand and affect your thinking and overall confidence. The last thing you want is a brain freeze in the middle of "tell me about yourself" because you're basically interviewing scared, anxious, etc.

And even if something doesn't work out, it's not like it's your last shot. That's only true if you make it that way. Keep reaching out to people. If you've relied on only resume drops and online apps like most college students (or at least primarily), it's time to really get your networking into high gear.

It also doesn't have to be banking. If you're a banking analyst chances are you probably don't want to pursue banking long-term anyway. Consider VC's, HF's, and firms in other finance disciplines as well if those are areas of interest to you.

 
Best Response

Agree with the above as to not treat it as "life or death". I've been in a number of "life or death" superdays for myself - End of recruiting season, close to graduation, after graduation. Guess what? Each time I didn't get it and my career has turned out just as good if not better than if I had gotten one of my "life or death" jobs.

 

Meaning that, you have to KNOW it's YOURS, and still somehow manage to not only exude but actually HAVE humility.

If you find yourself apologizing to some random jerk-off, on a forum you don't even use, after him being a dick for no reason, how do you expect to handle offensive, highly-critical feedback from smarter, more successful guys on an hourly basis for 2 years under more stress than you ever thought possible?

 
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Meaning that, you have to KNOW it's YOURS, and still somehow manage to not only exude but actually HAVE humility.

If you find yourself apologizing to some random jerk-off, on a forum you don't even use, after him being a dick for no reason, how do you expect to handle offensive, highly-critical feedback from smarter, more successful guys on an hourly basis for 2 years under more stress than you ever thought possible?

That's like, the most constructive post I think I have ever read from you on this forum. You're losing your touch, jerk-off. Haha.

 

By winning them over with kindness.

As Michael Scott said, "I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."

Just kidding. Thanks for the constructive advice anyways.

 

I think there's a decent amount of information about superdays already on here but here's the general advice (for specific advice you'd need to list the group & firm.) Know the techinicals well enough to answer all of the standard questions that any monkey can memorize, as well as think through the questions you'll be asked that aren't on prep material/guides. Personally, I always felt like the questions where they want to see you think were the most meaningful and enjoyable. Anybody can memorize answers but know finance well enough to think through problems. Regarding fit, be someone who can get along with the people in the group. Be personable, but not overbearing. Appear to be someone who has interests/traits that many of the group members have.

 

L&B, nothing that different from Super Days except that you have a lot of interviews in a row, so you need to make sure you are sharp for longer. Typically, junior employees will ask you more technical questions while the more senior professionals will be looking to test you more on the behavioral side...not always the case, but it's a trend we often see...

 

Yes. For a super day, less is more.

Obviously study hard for it, but during the last few days leading up to the super day, focus less on getting every technical detail down and more on being mentally prepared for getting grilled for a couple of hours. Being composed, relaxed, and easy to talk is far more important than a fidgety know-it-all.

Capitalist
 
KKS:
Thank you for the help. How important do you think the "pitch me a stock" question is?

Very important. For instance I was able to weave in the stock pitch into a number of questions, such as "Tell me more about the investment club" - I'd give a small intro and then transition into the pitch. Same for "What has been going on in the markets lately?" or "Have you been following the XYZ industry?"

Rarely someone will actually say "Pitch me a stock" for an IBD role (though not unheard of), more often a stock pitch is expected when asking about market activity (not macro events of course).

Also, as a side note, a whole bunch of my friends who are currently juniors had been brutalized with technicals during superdays by MDs and VPs. Even last year superdays were way less technical. Bottom line, you have to prepare for all sorts of question (fit and technicals) equally. Good luck!

 

It's important in the sense that it shows your analysis skills as to your ability to interpret financial statements as well as your real-life knowledge of financial ratios as opposed to what you just learn from the interview guides. That said, I never got a question on that, but was asked questions concerning more macro-issues or stock/commodities markets.

Be able to talk about sports and shoot the breeze with the interviewer. A good percentage of my fit interviews involved talking about sports or other current events, with only part of the conversation having to do with finance.

 

i have received great feedback on my stock pitches from interviews, so I'd say definitely mention multiples, but make sure you do incorporate the qualitative stuff as well, ie make sure you bring up the important drivers and also mention the intagibles that make the company unique/ good buy/ industry leader.

Also, i would recommend against pitching the fortune 500 companies. You never know, the person in front of you might know Walmart or GE in and out, so what ever you are going to say is not going to be good enough. On the other hand if you pitch a Chinese or Indian stock, chances are they are not quite familiar with it, so choose wisely.

 

I had my first super day recently too. Honestly, I neglected all my schoolwork for several days prior to my super day. For me, it paid off. However, since you're dealing with finals, I'd say split the time evenly. Getting an offer now means you won't have to stress about it and you can focus all your efforts on getting good grades next semester. I think getting an offer is worth getting a half letter grade lower in a class or two.

I was ridiculously sick-to-my-stomach nervous for like 24 hours prior to my super day. If this happens to you, do whatever it takes to get in yourself in the zone so by the time you step into the first interview room you are focused and ready to show them why you're the right choice. I personally think this is more important than spending an extra couple minutes trying to memorize technicals.

 

Thanks. And yes, for UBS accelerated. Yarrum, I think my technical knowledge is "solid" but by no means advanced or anything that will stand out. From your superday experience, are the technicals the typical ones seen on the WSO guide (which are for the most part, basic), or did you come across more advanced stuff? I am contemplating not doing any additional technical prep than what I already have due to the limited time, and instead, using that time to blaze through the fit stuff which are arguably more important. Curious to hear anyone's opinions on that..

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
 

I didn't get asked any technicals because I am a sophomore with no finance experience. However, from what I heard from the other people at my super day who did have experience, they also didn't get asked many technicals. Fit was definitely more important.

Try and figure out what your key selling points are, and then try to sneak them into every interview if you can. These should be memorable and convincing, things that your interviewers will remember when they are reviewing all the applicants.

I did get asked a few good "thinking" questions, such as brain teasers, math questions, and estimating the number of cigarettes sold in a week in a specific area. I was also asked to pitch a product, even though I was applying for IB and not S&T.

 

Focus on fit and know everything on your resume.

Basic technicals like those on ibankingfaq.com

"I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."
 

Also, catch a friend who is in IB/looking for an IB job and ask him to ask you questions about your resume.

A random friend wouldn't know what follow-up questions about resume would be relevant to IB.

"I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."
 

Just know the three main valuation techniques and which of them gives you the highest/lowest value and you should be fine. For DCF, know how to walk through it. Not hard. If you don't take the time to learn basic principles like this, you don't belong in banking. I used Vault & WSO Guides and they worked well.

Good luck.

 

Best way to lay out a DCF for them is to explain, "Let's start with the basic concepts. We need to find the FCF for 5 years, and we need a terminal value past that year through infinity. In order to get the FCF 1-5 we will use EBIT X(1- tax rate) + deprec & amort, minus capital expenditures, minus change in net working capital. To find the terminal value you could use a perpetuity. Take your 5th year FCF X (1 + g) g= GDP divided by (d - g) d=WACC You then use your discount rate (d) to discount all of these cashflows back to year zero and add them up for your total estimated value. I know that probably still seems jumbled, but you can get through it in a matter of 90 seconds tops and they'll be happy. As you saw above, you'll need to know WACC, but that's easier than anyone thinks.

WACC=E/V(cost of equity)+D/V(cost of debt)(1-tax rate)+P/V(cost of preferred stock)

E= equity V= total firm value (E+D+P) D=debt P= preferred stock

The cost of equity is solved by using CAPM CAPM= risk free rate + Beta(Market rate - risk free rate)

Hope this helps. PM me if you need more help or have more questions.

 

hey man can you PM me what bank this is for? or at least the city in which the bank is located? I had my first round interview last Friday and am waiting for a response so this would help a lot.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I'm working all the resources you gave me.

Gutshot, I PMed you.

Keynes, due to my non-tradtional background, I cant provide more specifics without revealing my identity. However, I will share the kinds of questions I get, how I think it goes, and the ultimate result.

I hope to have an answer in less than a week, so those interested should stay tuned...

 

That's awesome man, I was stoked to hear it worked out for ya

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Just relax, be sociable (probably more important than getting all of your technicals correct) of course brush up on some of your technicals, walk in with a great attitufde, lastly show a little bit of confidence

 

Get the to location well in advance. Relax, grab a coffee/sandwich.

Confidence speaks volumes - around assessors and other candidates. Being able to talk with recruiters in any downtime and be sociable with interviewees.

Know about the bank, macro news, the recent deal landscape (deals the bank you are interviewing with)

Technicals - know them. Even depending on your major, there is no excuse not to know about the three statements, how they are linked, valuations, general finance questions.

 

Don't know if I got lucky or it's different for S&T, but my IBD superday involved no technical questions whatsoever. Just some high-level questions about how financial statements can be manipulated to look more/less profitable and how they are interconnected. Everyone was really laidback and very open- they found out I was a Sox fan actually introduced me to an MD on the floor who was a diehard Boston fan. I didn't end up taking it because I heard UBS IBD in NY can be a sweatshop, and because tech (where I am interested) is not strong at UBS, but I must say I really liked the people a lot. HR was by far the best there than anywhere else, and an analyst I met during an interview there helped me network with some of her friends at Barclays and GS to help get interviews there too, in case I did not want to work at UBS.

 

Excluding the obvious - know your material, have a firm handle on your interview skills (body language, presence, eye contact, etc) and get some sleep the night before, there are a few other tips that I think you could find useful.

  1. Think of a superday as a marathon - if you start off really bad, it's tough to get ahead by the end. If you start off good, but fall apart at the end, the result is the same - you lose. The key is to start strong and keep it going throughout. Drink plenty of water, enjoy the few minutes between the interviews to gather your thoughts, take a breather and have a quick recharge ahead of the next round. Staying fresh and excited will definitely help you out.

  2. Remember your answers. For technical questions this is a no-brainer as technical questions have a "right answer." Behavioral questions, on the other hand, are far more subjective and based on your experiences and opinions. You don't want to go into an interview and give 6 different answers to straightforward behavioral questions. Interviewers take notes and compare their notes after the superday. Keeping your answers consistent (not word for word - but experience with experience, lesson with lesson) will allow your answers to sound genuine and valid, not made up and falsified for the sake of the interviewer and question.

  3. Have several questions ready to go for the interviewers. You should have at least 5 or so questions ready to go for the interviewers for 2 reasons: 1) you don't know what the interviewers will go through at the beginning of the interview about themselves and you always want at least 1-2 questions to ask them at the end of the interview, that they haven't covered, it time permits, and 2) you don't want to ask every interviewer the exact same single question - mix it up a bit - show that you are interested in the bankers, the opportunity, the industry, etc - not just running through a script.

  4. No matter how tired you are, and this goes back to point 1, do not get lazy with your answers, with your eye contact, etc - always treat every interview as if it were the only interview and interview that makes or breaks your acceptance. Make the most of this opportunity - don't leave the interview thinking "crap, I could have done better" or "damn, I wish I didn't say this or that."

Good luck.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com [email protected] Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking with a Resume Revision or Interview Prep Session Today!

 

dont worry so much, a week of prep is more than enough. go through all your stuff once more and than thats it. know whats going on in the markets and just have your mini stories ready for fit questions.

you will be suprised how casual some of your interviews will be and how its much more like a general conversation than a hardcore technical guide repetition.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

You might be having anxiety attack. Just relax. More often than not, interviews do not dwell much on the technical side but on personal information.

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.”
 

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