The hardest Investment Banking interview you've ever done

Personally, as a student without much IBD experience I only have this one to share regarding an an off cycle interview for a M&A boutique.

They closed me in a room without the internet, my phone etc. Then they asked me to develop a FCFF/FCFE --> DCF model from the scratch with only a few details provided.

I failed it, but I learned a lot.

How about you?

 

One of my first interviews a few years back was at a PE shop. Thought it would be a standard 30 min interview but was 6 hours long and was grilled for a solid hour from basics to recaps and exits (IPO vs sale, how much to sell in IPO, what multiple). Didn't really get to the techs until 4 hours in or so and was so fried at that point. Really didn't belong in the room. Interviewer eventually started finishing the answers.

Had no fucking clue why they emailed me to come in and chat. Also they failed to mention it was unpaid until the end. Wouldn't have pursued it if I knew that in the first place. Learned a lot and never risked another shit show like that.

 
Best Response

Wow. Unpaid yet they grilled you as if they were hiring you as an investment director or something. What a fucking joke if you ask me.

As for me, had an interview for an internship position at a boutique, and the guy kept hounding me on technicals, from basic accounting to shell premium calculations etc. None of that was too bad until he wanted me to do an LBO at the top of my head, no paper to work on or anything. Just kinda stared at him blankly for asking me to do something that retarded.

When he said to me towards the end "your grades are pretty shit" I just mentally stopped giving a crap and stopped paying attention for the remainder of the interview. He gave me a verbal offer but then later rescinded it because he felt I "lacked the technical knowledge". Later got an offer from a firm 10x the size of that one, and twice the pay, and all they cared about was "are you good with Excel?"

Funny how things work out.

 
notbad4aquant:
Wow. Unpaid yet they grilled you as if they were hiring you as an investment director or something. What a fucking joke if you ask me.

As for me, had an interview for an internship position at a boutique, and the guy kept hounding me on technicals, from basic accounting to shell premium calculations etc. None of that was too bad until he wanted me to do an LBO at the top of my head, no paper to work on or anything. Just kinda stared at him blankly for asking me to do something that retarded.

When he said to me towards the end "your grades are pretty shit" I just mentally stopped giving a crap and stopped paying attention for the remainder of the interview. He gave me a verbal offer but then later rescinded it because he felt I "lacked the technical knowledge". Later got an offer from a firm 10x the size of that one, and twice the pay, and all they cared about was "are you good with Excel?"

Funny how things work out.

if i didn't care about relationship with HH, i would have gotten up and just left. life is too short to put up with this kind of shit

 

I find a lot of it depends on who you're with. If someone wants to be a d-bag, then they will, and they will ruin your life for an hour or two...but if you're actually good and have done your homework, you move on and like NotBad said, can get an offer at an even better group.

Does the Tiger fire the Monkey? Does the Tiger transfer the Monkey to another branch?
 

What were your grades if you don't mind?

notbad4aquant:
Wow. Unpaid yet they grilled you as if they were hiring you as an investment director or something. What a fucking joke if you ask me.

As for me, had an interview for an internship position at a boutique, and the guy kept hounding me on technicals, from basic accounting to shell premium calculations etc. None of that was too bad until he wanted me to do an LBO at the top of my head, no paper to work on or anything. Just kinda stared at him blankly for asking me to do something that retarded.

When he said to me towards the end "your grades are pretty shit" I just mentally stopped giving a crap and stopped paying attention for the remainder of the interview. He gave me a verbal offer but then later rescinded it because he felt I "lacked the technical knowledge". Later got an offer from a firm 10x the size of that one, and twice the pay, and all they cared about was "are you good with Excel?"

Funny how things work out.

 

Somehow felt that that has something to do with trying to find the best value candidate for the cheapest possible cost. I mention cost and not salary because they literally treat ppl as a piece of machine, and only care about maximum output but giving minimum input/cost. Had this experience with one firm I've been before who wants the best/solid 3-5 years experience but only willing to fork out a fresh graduate salary, hiding this info once all of that interveiw is over. This is why it's important to ask about salary range in the beginning, esp for a experienced level hiring.

 

Wow. You have to question why a firm is wasting 6 hours interviewing someone for an unpaid internship.

I'll add mine: interview for a hedge fund out of undergrad. Consisted of 1 brain teaser, which I couldn't figure out. Interviewer gave no assistance, just looked at me, then got up and told me to take 15 minutes to figure it out. Came back, I still had no clue, so that was the end of the interview. Mind you this was in their office and after a first round. Glad I traveled to NYC for that, waste of time. Guy was weird and after that I had no desire to work there (not like I would've received the offer anyway).

 

FCF would have been quite easy... I was given 45 mins to read annual report + company profile and prepare a 1-page letter highlighting why a foreign investor should consider investing in that company, and prepare reclassified statements for the firm. It required reading almost 30 pages of reports/statements/notes.

45 minutes.

 

Maybe not the hardest but the most painful interview ever was actually a non-IB job early in my career lasting 6 hours:

  1. First three hours - interviews with 3 different groups a total of 6 people
  2. Fourth Hour - Writing test where you had to do a several page essay on a topic in the industry
  3. Fifth Hour - Had 30 minutes to prepare a presentation based on a case study. Then had to present to a team who asked question
  4. Sixth Hour - SUPER AWKWARD team project. You had to work on a problem with a team of the other applicants for the exact same position while being observed by the interviewers

Note that this was not for some amazing job or opportunity. Didn't get the offer and never applied to that company again even years down the road as a result of interview process.

 

Not an ib interview but interiewed with a PE fund last week. I'm a junior so they just asked me brain teasers for an hour.

1) 7x7x7 2) Cube root of 1,000,000 3) What place are you in in a race when you pass the guy in 2nd place 4) You're in the top corner of a cubical room, whats the fastest route to the other corner without jumping? 5) Some perpetuity question where I had to think in an abstract way to find the interest rate

 

Not exactly a hard interview story, but definitely the weirdest one I've had.

I interviewed with a MM boutique for a SA position, and they set me up for a phone interview with one of their international offices. The phone was supposed to be with senior bankers, so it was 2 VPs, 1 Director and 1 MD (big line-up for a SA interview I know but I guess it's probably because that office is very small)

When I got on the line, one of the VPs has not joined the con call yet, and one of the guys just went "oh just give her a second, she's in Germany at her ex-husband's funeral".

Dead Silence for about 20 seconds on the line. And then she joined the call.

and no she was not in a good mood, and I did not get the job lol.

 

had an interviewer throw me a technical question about calculating beta for a private firm; didn't necessarily have a great answer. interviewer straight up told me to my face something along the lines of 'yeah i think we're done here, you can leave'. interview lasted 10mins.

I was a sophomore. what sophomore would know how to calculate beta of a private firm?

 

Hardest interview was for a MM boutique. 2-on-1, with an MD and a VP. They kept drilling into my past experience - which was totally fair, until they asked me increasingly specific details about a model I had built for a deal I had listed 18 months prior. They eventually caught me in a mistake ("I think the growth assumption was 3%" / "If the growth assumption was 3% then the deal wouldn't have closed"), at which point they told me to leave.

I made it about a block away until I started crying.

Then they made me the offer.

Turned them down.

 

I have a superday on Friday for a job that I don't want all that much.

Just got an email from HR saying to show up before 7am, at 7am there will be a one-hour written exam. After the written exam we will eat breakfast during a brief presentation about the company. We will begin interviewing after the presentation and conclude at 6pm...No mention of lunch.

I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young, they bring you up to do like your daddy done
 

Qui autem et quia quas dolore. Aliquid vitae velit ut earum delectus voluptatem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”