Preparing for I-Banking Internship Interviews...
A couple questions. What parts of the vault guide will come up in a banking interview? Will we have to do a DCF or other valuation example during interviews? Or is it enough to just be able to have an intelligent conversation/answer basic questions about DCF?
Will we have to know the 3 financial statements front and back? be able to draw conclusions from it? What exactly will they ask about the financial statements?
The vault guide is great but I feel some of the more in-depth stuff is geared towards MBA candidates going for full-time positions.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
depending on your background, you'll need to look at more than just the vault guide. good interviewers will try to see if you actually have an intuition for the basic finance stuff, and things wont go well for you if you just memorize and blurt out a bunch of formulas.
don't try to take any short cuts in prepping for interviews. instead, sit down and really think about the basic concepts. good luck!
It depends on your background (major, coursework, prior work experience).
If you have prior and substantive financial work experience, are a finance major, or have taken finance courses, definitely be prepared for technical questions.
If you're a liberal arts major, GENERALLY speaking, your interview will be more fit-oriented.
Regardless of which pool you fit in, I would recommend knowing the 1) 3 financial statements and how they flow together and 2) the 3 main valuation methods.
I know that Econ + the finance that you need to know for IB are pretty independent, but would they treat Econ majors as "liberal arts?"
CNI,
They're not going to expect you know to hardcore finance as a Duke Econ Major unless you've taken like accounting or some finance course. Econ in college is rather theoretical.
They know it doesn't have an undergraduate business school.
I would, however, recommend familiarizing yourself would what I stated in the previous post.
I was an econ major, the technical questions I saw in all of my interviews were very basic, i.e. how would you value a company? What is WACC? I personally wasn't given any accounting questions, but as devil's advocate mentioned you should be familiar with the 3 financial statements and how they are linked up. The basic accounting material isn't rocket science, not hard to pick up in one sitting. As ChelseaFC mentioned, don't regurgitate, know the logic behind the material so you can speak comfortably about it. A good interviewer will spot memorization immediately.
Expect some econ questions and general finance knowledge, especially regarding current events. Obviously you'll have to be tuned-in to what's going on right now in the markets. I would agree with DA in that your interview will probably be more "fit" oriented, along with the ubiquitous "why banking" and "why this company" questions, which you should have down cold. Good luck.
why is it that liberal art majors and whatnot have an easier interview than finance majors? doesn't really make sense to me.
Not everyone finds fit interviews to be easier than technical interviews.
Besides, interviews are always tailored to your existing knowledge. It wouldn't make sense to ask a finance and polisci major a financial technical question of equal difficulty.
With the finance major, the question is going to be:
Ok well this kid studied finance for 3 years, so does he definitely have an understanding of A, B, C, and D? Let's find out.
With the polisci major, the question is going to be: How do we know he/she has a true interest in finance?
Is he/she intelligent enough to learn the material quickly? Which is why liberal arts major are sometimes subjected to brainteasers and quick math.
Has this person show initiative in familiarizing herself or himself with basic knowledge? (I.E. questions on valuation methods, WACC, flow of the statements)
It's different strokes for different folks. A person with little exposure to finance courses is not going to find it easier to learn the basics than someone who has taken finance for 3 years and as a result is asked some advanced questions.
...and I got asked some finance related questions about valuation and what not.
I find it funny when people ignorantly assume that because you are an econ major, you will know all of this accounting and finance stuff. Ask me about the manipulation of M' or the effects of US farm subsidies on the cotton economy of Benin or 100 other complex topics that if I answer intelligently, would probably indicate that I am more than capable of handling being a Excel and PowerPoint slave for you over the next 2 years... (always AMAZED out how some undergrad finance/accounting majors with 4.0's from memorizing their textbooks know nothing of what is going on in the world of international business and economics... maybe they don't need that to be successful in entry level IB, but if they want to run a PE shop, I'd imagine they will be in trouble)
... of course if you took a financial markets class within the econ deptment your going to need to know things like Black Scholes and CAPM as well...
anyway, my 2 cents.
Degree of technicality in SA IBD interviews (Originally Posted: 12/07/2012)
What degree of technicals can one expect in an SA BB interview if they have had basic modeling experience in an internship previously?
I know questions about the basic valuations methods, FCF from net income, and financial statements are to be expected but further than that how deep will they dig into DCF modeling?
Also -- in what round (first round vs. superday) are technicals most usually asked? One or the other, or both?
if you say you did a DCF on your resume, they might dig deeper (e.g. how did you account for the stub periods, calendarizing, etc). Usually more technical in first round, but mainly depends on who's interviewing. Associates/analysts tend to ask more technicals, MDs ask more fit/brain teasers
what are stud periods?
Material Needed To Ace IBD Summer Internship Interview (Originally Posted: 06/12/2012)
Hey guys,
I'm starting to plan my preparation for IBD summer internship interviews and I would like to know 1. what you guys think about my preparation strategy and 2. what interview prep guide you suggest.
1) This is what I'm planning to go through to understand the important concepts:
Interview prep guide
Rosenbaum's Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions
Vault guide
Brealey's and Myer's Principles of corporate finance - ONLY FOR OCCASIONAL REFERENCE
Is it enough/too little/too much material? Is it an effective preparation plan?
Please note that I'm looking for material that explains concepts in an intuitive way, I don't want to regurgitate deifnitions at the interview
2) Which Interview Prep Guide do you suggest? I found a few around the web
Wall Street Prep (premium package or basic package?)
WSO INTERVIEW GUIDES (investment banking prep pack)
BREAKING INTO WALL STREET GUIDES (Excel & Modeling Fundamentals or Premium package?)
Training the Street (which of these? excel best practices, financial modelling, Fundamentals of Financial Accounting & Analysis, corporate valuation, merger modelling)
WALL STREET TRAINING (which of these? ACCOUNTING BOOTCAMP, PACK 1: BASIC & FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS, PACK 2: CORE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS, PACK 3: ADVANCED FINANCIAL MODELING, PACK 4: VALUATION MODELING TOPICS, PACK 5: MERGER MODELING TOPICS)
Thank you!
WSO guides are the best in my opinion.
What is your background? What you're studying in school will have a big impact on what I would recommend for you.
Other than the banking guides, I suggest you review accounting. Back in the day, Introduction to Accounting for Finance by Adkins Matchett & Toy was great. I'm not sure if there's a better product out by now, but I doubt it.
@gordo - Why are WSO guides the best?
@SECfinance - I completed my undergrad in Economics (in the UK) and next year I'm starting MSc Finance in France. Haven't really studied business/finance before though
@wallstaks - Isn't the accounting knowledge needed covered in interview guides though?
I think almost everything you would need to know for an SA interview (as far as finance/accounting knowledge) will be covered in your MSF classes, but I don't know too much about the typical curriculum in those programs.
Most of the accounting knowledge will be covered in interview guides, but I recommend a textbook as a resource so you actually understand the concept instead of just memorizing what the guide has to say on the subject.
SA interviews are generally pretty light on technical stuff. If I were you, I'd spend (in equal proportions):
Just run a quick search on the forum as well to double check that you have all the resources you need, there has been some good shit posted in the past.
@ Azimut - thanks will do. By industrial knowledge do you mean knowing some M&A/IPO deals?
@ secfinance - sure I see. Do you think a corporate finance textbook will do, or a financial accounting source is more appropriate?
@bep bep12 - I did look around and there are different opinions about all the different interview guides. There's generally positive feedback about all of them. WSP is not menitoned very often, BIWS seems to be quite good/popular. Which one do you suggest?
Industry knowledge means you know what's going on in the markets, recent deals/transactions the bank you're interviewing with has worked on, if they are industry-specific/a boutique understanding their industry in a little more detail, etc.
You'll need a financial accounting source, most corporate finance textbooks don't explain accounting.
I suggest BIWS and WSO.
WSO guides, MI guides, Pearl and Rosenbaum book, and BIWS introductory modeling course. Read the Journal and keep up on current events. If you go through all of these you will most likely be set.
SA BB IBD Interview (Originally Posted: 12/01/2009)
I have a SA IBD interview coming up with a BB. I am curious as to what type of technical questions I can expect to receive. I know what fit questions I should expect, and brainteasers are just something you have to answer on the spot, so technical questions are all that is left. Should I just be prepared to walk through a DCF and have opinions on recent deals and where the market is going?
I do not attend a target school so interview preparation resources on campus are limited. Thank you in advance for any help!
That site should cover pretty much everything
http://www.ibankingfaq.com/category/interviewing-technical-questions/
Damn! Already? Which BB if you don't mind me asking?
Agreed, that site is ridic.
rrrrr01 - That site is amazing. Thank you so much for the help.
Yacht_man - I don't want to say which bank for identity reasons. However, this interview is extremely early/unique situation and the main chunk of SA recruiting for the firm won't start until after the new year.
Check out the Vault Guides or the WallStreetOasis guides. Both provide very detailed questions and answers for interview prep, both technical and behavioral. I tend to like the WSO guides, and like to support the site, but the Vault is good as well.
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