OK, there are a million posts and threads with opinions on this topic -- I'd like to use this one to get real.
For those of you who have already read this post (as it is a replication of a post in mid-2007) just disregard it.
Please respond if you have ACTUAL EXPERIENCE in one of the following fact patterns:
-No modelling experience -Took the WallStreetPrep self-study course -Interviewers noticed and responded positively -Got the job
OR
-No modelling experience -Took the course -Interviewers didn't give a rat's -Didn't get the job
OR some other combination? Does it make a difference or notin getting an actual job? (IN YOUR EXPERIENCE)
The mainly care whether you can speak clearly and competently about the basics of valuation, uses of debt and equity, and accounting.
So you've got to ask yourself if these are things that you can read in a book and become comfortable learning. wall st. prep spends less time on these questions and more on the models, but really, plenty of non-finance majors come onto the street every year, and not all of them take the courses. Depends on how quickly you can pick up the excel shortcuts, etc. and whether the assumptions/finance in the model make sense to you.
I have ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with no modelling experience
So... Basically, Wallstreet prep is a waste of money or could it be useful: a) when discussing basic technical questions in an interview? b) look good on a CV/resumee? c) only help when you actually get the job?
what alphaholic says is right....WSP shows you how to do the model...but the book has no real conceptual information that you couldn't learn on your own....PM me with any questions
Having gone through the interview cycle and then invested in the WSP Self-Study program before the start of my FT, I can tell you that there is no point wasting your time learning the models before you have the job.
The finance you need to know for the interviews you either learn in your finance classes or you teach it to yourself. The self-study program volume 1 and 2 will teach you how to build an operating model and the various valuation models (public comps, transaction comps, dcf, lbo, accretion/dilution)
For the interviews, you should focus on knowing how the financial statements flow, being able to walk through a dcf (and explaining why you subtract/add/multiply/divide certain things), explaining the difference between transaction and public comps, and knowing some really basic lbo stuff if you really want. If you have this stuff down, practice your responses so that you are clear and concise.
Interviewers don't ask you technical stuff because you are teaching them something new..they want to see that you can talk about this stuff in a clear and concise manner as opposed to fumbling your way through and then saying "but i know how to model it real good".
Actually, in my opinion it depends on how interview savvy you are and how strong your resume is. If you feel you don't have much going for you i.e. a strong internship, etc., then proving the ability to walk through how a model is built could be very impressive and could put you back in the game.
I have seen many comments stating you do not need to model in order to get a job as an analyst. In the USA it might be so, but in small countries, like mine, where there are only a very limited number of M&A shops, they do require you to know how to build models, before entering the job. They will no way take you , if you have not done any models before. I am in this situation right now. I have interviewd with a firm (PE though and not IB), and the guy told me he will get back to me at the end of the summer, but until then, I should really get involved in financial models. So a course like Wall St Prep should be very useful to me, or to someone who is in the same situation. I am planning on getting it soon.
This is most likely due to the fact that 1) you interviewed for a PE firm and 2) as a consequence of the firm specializing in PE, they were small. However, you may have very well interviewed for Blackstone and my guesses can be inaccurate.
Before accepting my job offer, I, like many job hunters, interviewed for many a different kinds of firms, which included both PE and IB. All of the PE firms that I interviewed for not only required you to have a knowledge of modeling, but also required interviewers to complete a long case. This was not applicable to IB. I've only interviewed with bulge brackets, but I am almost certain that smaller IB firms would also test your modeling skills.
As the end of the day, it really depends on whether the OP is interviewing for a PE firm and/or a smaller firm. Small firms are lowly staffed and, so, are incapable of tolerating new analysts who have no idea about modeling.
helpful before you enter the real world
Knowing the basics of Valuation, M&A, and LBOs is helpful. I took WSP before my summer analyst interviews. I think it did help me in getting the interview but during the interview I got grilled and realized the WSP didn’t cover the basic concepts that matter a lot like balance sheet adjustments, etc. I ended up not getting any offers. For full-time someone had recommended Analyst Exchange and I decided to take another chance. AnEx helped me out a lot because they really focus on the concepts that are asked in the interviews and that help you as an analyst and associate. So I think having financial modeling is important, but knowing how to talk about it is even more important.
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