Q&A: The IB Interview

One of our mentors will be doing a private webinar this Saturday covering all aspects of the investment banking interview.

Please submit your questions here and she will answer them during the webinar.

I will @mention you once the webinar is posted on WSO so you can hear the answer to your question.

 
Best Response
  1. I noticed that very often the outcome of my interview is dependent on how well the interviewer asks poignant questions. How do you, as an interviewee, steer the conversation towards where you want it to go in terms of your experience?

  2. Related to 1. I noticed that my superday interviews especially with senior bankers tend to be much more relaxed and conversational but I often end up feeling that I didn't end up selling myself enough or didn't point to to the more interesting parts of my experience before they ask me if I have any more questions for them. How would you try to sell yourself at this point?

  3. How do you sell yourself in superday interviews without coming off as too aggressive/obnoxious? I just feel like its a bit contrived to end every response to every question with how it relates to banking, but maybe its just me?

  4. What do you think most often separates the candidates that gets offers vs. the candidates that are almost there/get placed on hold?

After getting dinged like the NYSE bell this will be very helpful. Thank you.

 

How do you prepare efficiently for the interview?

I feel i have spent many good hours looking up the wrong information.If any tips are provided for preparing without dropping hundreds of dollars on guides that would be awesome.

When you are offered a drink (water or anything else) do you accept or decline? Serious

When you research your interviewer and the connections don't come up naturally, but you can lead the conversation casually in a way that brings up their experiences, should you do it?

 
BillieJean:

How do you prepare efficiently for the interview?

I feel i have spent many good hours looking up the wrong information.If any tips are provided for preparing without dropping hundreds of dollars on guides that would be awesome.

When you are offered a drink (water or anything else) do you accept or decline? Serious

When you research your interviewer and the connections don't come up naturally, but you can lead the conversation casually in a way that brings up their experiences, should you do it?

Guides contain the information you want, basically handed to you on a silver platter. Why aren't you prepared to invest in a couple guides to maximize your chance of success? There are no excuses - make the damn investment instead of wondering 'what if'.

 

Do interviewers have a bias for students who are from target schools vs. non target schools?

" I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." Benjamin Franklin
 

Hi,

I have 2 questions:

  1. How exactly does a superday work? If you were to talk about what usually happens in the major investment banks in their Superdays using specific examples (maybe details about the interviews or assignments/ projects that they work on). Do you use the same guidelines to evaluate candidates in a superday that you use during first rounds, or is it more in dept? Examples will be highly appreciated.

  2. Not everyone has the same level of knowledge about the markets, financial modeling and other finance related technical skills, so is everyone expected to know the same things or they will be asked technical questions based on their level of prior exposure to the field?

Thank you very much.

 

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