Why investment banking interview question

Hope this has helped you learn some important question and answers on investment banking topics and brings you steps closer to crack the high profile interviews. All the best Kindly note we have only touched upon the technical questions and their types, apart from these you would also have to prepare for the personal questions, why investment banking Interview questions and brain teasers which are usually part of testing the candidates.

In this guide, we list the top 28 most common asked Investment Banking Interview Questions and Answers that you must know. It is going to prove quite helpful for my interview preparations. Also if you could prepare a similar guide for the personal questions that could be asked in the HR round of interviews it would be great:.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Free Investment Banking Course. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you. Forgot Password? Top Investment Banking Interview Questions and Answers The purpose of this Investment Banking Interview Questions and Answers is simply to help you learn about the investment banking About The Investment Banking Investment banking is a specialized banking stream that facilitates the business entities, government and other organizations in generating capital through debts and equity, reorganization, mergers and acquisition, etc.

The three main financial statements Main Financial Statements Financial statements are written reports prepared by a company's management to present the company's financial affairs over a given period quarter, six monthly or yearly.

These statements, which include the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows, and Shareholders Equity Statement, must be prepared in accordance with prescribed and standardized accounting standards to ensure uniformity in reporting at all levels.

Speaking about their significance, the income statement provides the revenue and expenses of a company and shows the final net income that it has made over a period of time. It is categorized as current liabilities on the balance sheet and must be satisfied within an accounting period.

Or should I even explain before that why banking? I just finished an internship this summer at a merchant bank this summer, so now I have finance experience to put on my resume so I can apply bigger firms in the IB position. My prior experience is all retail such as grocery and clothing stores, which has nothing to do with IB. Should I still put them on my resume to show I have been active and busy while being a student?

Or should I just put my summer internship experience on there? You might still want to list your experience in retail briefly.

List your impact and what you did there. I wish i read this site a few years ago. Ok, so in short, i just turned 27, have a us bachelor economics degree and a master in management degree from a prestigious european school, i started my own company and its not doing bad, but its in a really bad market my home country which is pretty poor.

So my question is can i still try and break into IB, and do I have a chance for an MBA even if i dont have work ex with major companies. Thank you so much. I think I understand the differences in the functioning and purpose of the different divisions at a bulge bracket, but what kinds of differences in day to day work, lifestyle, atmosphere, pay, etc. Are some easier to get into from a more quantitative background vs. Great article. I was an undergraduate psychology major, then worked for a real estate company as a project manager in an emerging market for 3 years and was recently accepted to a top MBA program in the US.

I am looking to break into IB, specifically real estate investment banking. My long-term career goals are to provide developers in emerging markets with financing options as well as advise real estate companies on business decisions.

Is that a good long -term goal? And how would I link working in a developed country such as the US to a goal I have that is related to emerging markets? Hi i am doing an Honers degree in International Business Management and i want to get into investment Banking. I am not sure about my answer for this question: I usually start out by saying IB is my personal fit because I am a competitive person. Then I explain that I am studying 5 class, work for 2 internship and 2 part time job.

I love being busy and under pressure. Maybe tell a story that attracted you to IB or something…. I actually add on 2 others reason that I like the transaction business curious abt strategy behind the deals,etc and learning opportunities. I had a Banking experience before and realized that I thrive in a fast paced, multi-task,pressured environment where I have lots of responsibilities.

Do you think that sounds better? Should I spend sec to tell my banking experience to personalize it? If you had banking experience before, yes, definitely talk about it and use that to set yourself apart. You would know better than I do why you decide to get a grad degree. Difficult for me to help you on the comments page. I am currently a sophomore majoring in economics. I have never had a banking or even business internship, however I am interested in applying for an internship position at an IB firm this summer.

I have never worked before and do not have much of a resume to speak of. What should I say as my reasons for wanting to go into the field of investment banking. You should ask yourself why you want to get into IB. Where can I learn how about the technical questions they will ask me, I have a good amount of time to become a wizard at these technical questions years so how should I go about learning the content that they could possibly ask me?

Great article, this site is one of my favorites on this internet. I wanted to ask what your prediction for investment banking will be going into the future. I am currently a high school senior interested in finance and was wondering, once I get out of undergrad, will there still be as much money and opportunity in investment banking or I guess finance in general as there is now or do you think it will diminish in the coming years?

It will always exist because companies always need to buy, sell, and raise capital. Trading is more likely to suffer than banking because regulations there have gotten stricter. Average pay will come down, but you will still make more than in any other field unless you start your own company and are mega-successful.

I even got a call from HR because of him. It helps a lot. Now forget about the fact that you came from a non-target and focus on your interviews! Also, do they ask BOTH walk me through your resume and why investment during the interview or do they just ask one question?

What makes you so eager to get into IB? They are quite similar. I have attended a number of networking events and talks. In particular the events organised by Women in Business Society and the UK India Trade Event, gave me greater motivation to become active in the industry. What do you think of this?

Would they go really deep into it? It depends. Go w the flow. When timing is appropriate talk about why banking. Pls refer to previous answer I posted. Talk 20 secs. Then talk.. Hi, so I am interviewing again this year. I would take your advice to say I have completed investment banking internship and are more interested in joining them.

My question is if they ask why did I fail last year, is it ok to explain like this, I applied on the last day before deadline, or I was not well prepared for the interview? Does it sound I was not serious with them? If you can get someone w the hiring power to like you, you will increase your chances significantly. So would you recommend me to continue networking with more senior level people in the firm?

Currently,I am at middle level management. I intend to do a MBA from an international school and am interested in getting into investment banking in the healthcare industry. The desire is driven by my basic strengths — analytical, strategic and learner. Request your opinion on this shift at this point of my career. To land an interview, network extensively during your MBA. I was interning at a PE firm before and now would like to try ibd for a summer internship.

No, because working on buy-side can just be as challenging. Thanks for the response! Moreover, do you think is a good idea to network with as many people as possible with one firm, since some of them might be the ones who interview me? In terms of networking, I met this MD in person a couple months ago, and we had a good chat, but after a while I tried to set up another coffee chat with him, which he did agree and forwarded to his assistant to arrange it but his assistant never did, and afterward whenever I tried to e-mail him, he never replied back.

Since now is recruiting season, do you think is a good idea for me to call him up? So, basically I should do an MBA after working for a few years? Are there any internships I could do before though?

I get only about weeks in Summer and a month during Christmas. Most of the companies I looked up offer an internship for a minimum week period.

Will this be a problem? If you know you want to be in finance, focus on finding internships in finance so you have a better idea of what working in finance is like—this will allow you to better make decisions down the line. I have nearly 1 year experience in a trading firm. What are opportunities for me to get into investment banking jobs??? Gain some modelling experience.

Get an internship w a bank. Try to understand what IB is about and why you want to get into banking. Network extensively. Otherwise, your chances are low. Just think of a concrete story that attracted you to banking. If they press what you want to do in the LT, make up something that you actually somewhat believe in — maybe you envision urself climbing the ladders, eventually helping banks originate clients, etc.

Anyways, I am a graduate student in public policy, with an internship in management consulting, project finance, and currently as a federal employee researching financial regulations. I am interviewing for an analyst position at a middle market Ibank. Just to add to that: Say that you wanted to do consulting to learn more about business, but realized you liked finance more and so you wanted to apply your pub policy background to project finance.

Hi, I was in an interview not too long ago and I got asked a very tough question. What is the correct way to answer that? Incredible site, entertaining and very informative. Two consulting internships, specialized workshops, clubs — ready for an MBB run. I applied to a few banks last year and, miraculously, did walk away with one internship offer despite zero finance knowledge , but went with my consulting one instead. Is that too little? I am 22 looking for an internship and really dont have any family members in the field of finance or any good stories too add.

I wish I had come to this site earlier!!! I am doing a wealth management internship at a BB right now and I am majoring in Statistics and Economics. I have a very high GPA, above 3. The problem I am having right now is how I sell myself.

I am legitimately interested in I-banking, not like some people who are only for the money. Do you know how an interviewer might see my background and what you suggest is the most important thing I focus on right now in going after a full-time analyst position?

Thank you so much, really wish you had a donate link!! Yeah I would focus on how wealth management was good to get you exposed but you wanted something higher-profile; skip the quant classes as that will make you look even rose.

Also, sorry but what do you mean by even rose? Thanks for the kind help, I am planning on buying your kit soon! What would be a good response to that? Thanks Brian! Your articles are really helpful and they give me a lot to think about. I am a rising sophomore at a pretty good college and currently having an intership in a hegdge fund company.

Can you give me some advice? Just say you thought trading would be more interesting but over time realized you like working on longer-term projects and getting to play a role in what entire companies are doing. Great articles. The thing is though, I go to UMass Amherst. Anything I should do to help my case?

Thanks for any help, again, I love your articles, I need to seriously get back to work at this internship haha. Sorry, last one haha.

I am a final semester engineering undergraduate expected to graduate in July from University of New South Wales. I have developed keen interest in joining IB. I have a 3. However, I do not have any finance related industry internship. What do you think is my chance of breaking into IB with my current background I am aiming Australia and Asia due to my personal background and I would really appreciate any advice in terms of securing a graduate position in one of the bulge bracket banks.

You have a chance, mostly because fewer people do internships in Australia. In other regions it would be nearly impossible with no finance-related internships. I recently graduated from a top undergrad B school and did an ibanking internship at a boutique in NYC. However, I decided to pass on their offer or try to move to a bigger bank and instead took a consulting position at a start-up consulting firm.

I am a final year undergraduate student from a top Australia university. I am now interning at morningstar equity data team. I will graduate by the end of this year, so I will participate into the upcoming graduate recruitment in fall. Which one do you think better for me to apply later?

Great article, I am not sure if my story however would cut it… I think that while it is genuine, I feel it might come across as a bit thin? Basically I want to get into investment banking because I love business, and I enjoy reading about too many different industries to actually pick one to work for in particular… so I figured that investment banking gives me exposure to many different industries, as well as being able to perform the role of finance which I find interesting valuation etc.

Thats my primary reason, however I dont know if it will cut it with the interviewer. My father used to be the director of the retail loans division for one of the top 4 banks in Australia and ran the short term money market operations in the same bank at one point. Through this I gained an insight into the banking world and loved his crazy stories about the ridiculous hours and awesome things that happened whilst he was working in these positions.

It seems as a more tangible link to interest rather than a embedded interest that I have developed over my time in university. Awesome site by the way, I have been trawling it the past week or so gleaning every single piece of information I can get from it! It promises a return of all Investments at their maturity date. The health of a stock portfolio always depends on its constituents and the correlation between them. For example, investors can search for stock that is negatively correlated to protect their market portfolio.

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Corporate Training. Technical Skills. View all Recent Articles. Learn Online Now. Key Learning Objectives. In This Article 1. How do you value a company?

What is the appropriate discount rate to use in an unlevered DCF analysis? What is typically higher — the cost of debt or the cost of equity?

How do you calculate the cost of equity? How would you calculate beta for a company?