So let's say I have all the WSO interview guides, or all the interview guides from BIWS. For someone with little/no finance/accounting background, how long will it take someone to FULLY prepare for an interview?
If I had a full 2 and a half weeks to study diligently, do you think that's enough? What does it take to ace these interviews by means of preparation?
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Lets say it takes an entire month to ace your interview, does it really matters? Are you going to reschedule your interview? Are you going to change the amount of time you put into preparing for the interview for the next 2 weeks? Are you going to work less harder to prepare?
The answer for this questions - probably not, and for that I would say that this really doesn't matter. Not to mention that it's individually since like anything - it's easier (or harder) for different people. On top of that, it's unlikely that you will ace your interview the first time as it's unlikely to ace anything you do the first time - it still takes some experience.
Basically what I'm trying to say here is that you should put as much time as you can to prepare for the actual interview instead of bothering yourself with questions like these. Good luck.
My question wasnt to make excuses about time commitment to acing interviews. I will put in as much time as I possibly can to prep for interviews during the winter break of my junior yr in college before the 2nd semester starts up. I asked the ques because it won't be easy interview prepping while taking classes, flying in and out of NYC, and etc. Just trying to maximize time the best way, and hoping for good advice from here..
depends on the person i would recommend taking a very easy schedule also you should probably be done prepping way before you are flying out for superdays if you are efficient 2 1/2 weeks should be more than enough
Thanks junior2012. Anyone else have insights?
Your preparation is over once you know your story cold and can give consistent answers to similar questions without having any of the answers canned.
Best preparation advice: go over your answers with someone who has gone through the process and get to know yourself really well. You WILL be asked a question you haven't prepared for, but if you know yourself well and can give an honest, logical answer you'll get through it.
if you work through the WSO guides diligently and engage in your preparation (i.e. the opposite of simply learning everything in the guides by rote without internalizing the information), you can have answers to almost any question (excluding brainteasers and market-related questions) at the tip of your tongue by the 2.5 week mark.
+1
question about interviewing answers as ive never done it before. Do your answers need to be long an elaborate, or is it sufficient to answer their question properly and then end? ive found that while i have some good answers to questions, its inevitable that i have to pause during a long answer.
i.e. if they as about a time i was given a leadership position
can i just say i was given x position, where i was responsible for x and give a quick overview of it? or do people go as far to talk about a specific experience they had with the leadership position?
How long to prep for IB interview from scratch? (Originally Posted: 08/29/2014)
Assume I have no finance or accounting bg
How long will it take to study using BIWS or other similar programs to be sufficiently ready? Would those be enough as it is?
you don't need biws for interviews. WSO technical guide and IB-Rosenbaum will suffice. Around 2 days I guess.
Whats the difference between BIWS and WSO/Rosenbaum?
^I'm interested in that question as well.
Also, are Assessment Centers a requirement for every firm? Would these guides be enough for those or is that a whole other prep that I have to do?
Once you have prepared thoroughly (behavioral and technical) for one interview, it is not too laborious to prepare for subsequent interviews (just need to work on, "Why this firm").
To answer your specific question, a couple of days for tehnicals (finance undergrad), and as much time as possible for behavioral.
However, you do not have a finance background so it is hard to quantify.
Start early, do not be afraid... it is not that hard.
Good luck.
I disagree with 2 days. All valuation methods + DCF walkthrough, financial statements, and whatever other little tidbits the interviewers will ask you? This guy has no background in finance or accounting at all.
Assuming that this is for a SA analyst position, I would say 2-4 weeks. Usually SA interviews are during early spring semester, so I would just study over Christmas break. That is plenty of time to learn everything.
Although you should start earlier, so you can be better prepared.
I've been studying for a week for a good portion of each day Unfortunately, IB is most likely not going to happen for me this recruiting season.. (can't really explain to you guys why but lets just say I'm either applying next year or not applying at all)
What can I do with all this new knowledge? I spent a week learning about financial statements, DCF, valuation, merger models, LBOs...
I wasn't in the finance field but I'm taking some finance classes right now (like corp finance) and I want to utilize this information somehow. Is this useful for personal investing? What are the next steps I can take? Obviously my knowledge of LBOs might not be much of a use outside of PE....
Basically, I really enjoyed learning about this and would like to actually put it to use....
Interview Preparation / Timeline ? (Originally Posted: 08/28/2012)
I have just started my junior year of college at a target / semi-target. I'm wondering what I should be doing between now and interview time in January. I'm interested in I-Banking / Consulting. Do I need to choose which area I want to focus on now, or can I apply to both with relative ease?
Should I be purchasing interview prep books? If so, which ones are good?
I'm just not sure what I should be doing to make the best use of my time between now and application time. Additionally, looking for info. on best ways to prepare for interviews, applications, etc
Thanks
To be honest, the material WSO is selling is good. And relatively cheap. Has anyone else used other materials that they think is far better?
interview preparation time (Originally Posted: 07/04/2009)
Given that I have background only in basic C++ and Baxter and Rennie book exposure to finance, how much time will it take me to do my interview preparation for quant or risk analytics job? Can a Phd student also apply for trading positions? I am Phd student in Georgia Tech in EE.
Georgia Tech! Good school, don't Citadel recruit heavily there?
citadel is in trouble now right. and they hire and fire. But I was wondering about preparation time required. Also can I apply for trading positions?
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