Finance Interview Outline

Finance Mock Interview Outline
Can this person do the job? (Ability) Will this person make good decisions? (Judgment) Does this person know what he or she is getting into? (Commitment) Would I want to work with this person? (Fit)
The objective of the interview is for you to answer these (and related) questions. Bankers are all about data points, and will try to get as many pieces of information as possible. Your job is to show interest and enthusiasm in telling your story. Remember to work your story into all of your answers. Try to be as concise and to the point with your answers as you can without leaving anything important out. Typical Investment Banking Interview Outline 1. Housekeeping Items a. Smith GPA (may be asked for specific classes accounting, finance, statistics) b. GMAT c. SAT (know your breakdowns) d. College GPA Walk me through your resume a. Why did you choose (everything you have ever done!)? b. What did you learn? Why investment banking? a. How does investment banking fit into your goals? b. Commitment (The interviewer wants to know that you will be excited about doing this job) c. Knowledge of the industry Why us? a. Programs rotation versus group interest b. Bank culture why are you a fit? c. Other factors geography, specialization, etc. Behavioral a. Strengths b. Weaknesses c. Examples of leadership and teamwork d. Personality questions (the little things you put on the bottom of the resume) Technical a. Accounting questions b. Finance questions c. Three ways to value a company Any questions for me? a. Anything that shows interest b. Close with a wrap-up of your credentials c. Make sure that your interviewer is comfortable with your story d. Next step in the process
2. 3.
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Question Categories Tell me your story Walk through your resume? Why did you choose X? What did you learn? Tell Me About Yourself Why did you go to X College? Why did you transfer? Why did you go to Y Co. after school? Why did you change jobs? Business School Why did you decide to come back to business school? Why Smith? Where else did you apply? Where else did you get in? If you knew you wanted to do finance, why did you come to Smith? Interest and commitment Show me that you know what this is and why you want to do it
Themes
Clear/Concise Smiling/Positive Decisionmaking/Judgment Personality/Fit

Commitment Banking Why do you want to do investment banking/sales & trading/research etc? What do bankers/sales&trading/research analysts do? What would you do as an associate? How do you feel about New York (or other geography)? What do you see as the differences between the banks? (ex. culture, structure of program, rotations) What specific area of interest in banking (group/product) do you think you would be most interested in? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? The Firm Why this firm? What other banks are you interviewing with? What are you impressions of other firms? What do you think of our firm? Who are our competitors? What differentiates this firm from our competitors? If we gave you an offer right now, would you take it? Behavioral Strengths and weaknesses, examples of leadership, personality questions Leadership/Maturity Skills What are strengths? What are you weaknesses? What kind of finance background do you have? Team Player Presence/Poise Overall Potential Culture Intellectual Curiosity
What do bankers do? Judgment Processing Client Service
What skills do you bring to the job? Why should we hire you? What is your greatest accomplishment? What are two (three) concerns we have should have from your resume? What has been your biggest failure, professional or personal? What did you learn? Discuss an unsuccessful/successful team? What would your teammates say about you? What skills do you bring to the job? I see many qualified candidates, why should I hire you? Why do you think that you would be successful at this job? Give me an example of your leadership abilities? What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? What business publications do you read? What do you think of ______ article in that days WSJ or NYT? What recent deals have you been following? If I gave you a million dollars, how would you invest your money? How would you manage an analyst who was underperforming? Would you fire him or her if there were no improvement? If you were a managing director and the client told you that he wanted to move his stock price up, what would you suggest as potential strategies? How will your background add to your ability to contribute at the firm? How would you rank yourself from one to ten? Why? Do you work well under pressure? What qualities do you think are important to this job? What makes people successful in this area? Tell me about a time when you were creative. Explain a project where you did the analysis from beginning to end? Give me some example of doing more than is required in the course or job. How would you describe your leadership and/or management style?
Technical Skills Accounting and finance questions

Smart What is your GPA at Smith? Grades in Finance, Accounting, Statistics? GMAT score? What kind of quantitative skills do you have? Prove to me that you have quantitative skills. If I gave you a $100,000, where would you invest your money? What stocks would you invest in? How would you value a company? Lead me through a Discounted Cash Flow valuation. What is Free Cash Flow? (How is it calculated?) What is the average P/E ratio within the S&P 500? Is Googles P/E higher of lower? What is it? Is Black & Deckers P/E higher or lower? What is it? Why is that? Would I offer to buy a company at its current stock price? (Not typically. There is generally a control premium above and beyond the value premium deemed appropriate.) Two companies: an oil/gas company and a consumer products company. How do I look at them differently in terms of debt capacity? Lead me through the Statement of Cash Flows. Where do I find Capital Expenditures on the Income Statement? If Accounts Receivable goes up during the period, how does that impact cash? What is 5,000,000? Accounting Finance (1) What are the interrelations between the IS, BS & CS? (1) How would you value a company? (a) Comparables/multiples No earnings? (b) Discounted Cash Flow CAPM Beta What discount rate to use? (2) What are accretion/dilution? (1) Average P/E of the S&P individual company P/E ratios? (2) Where did the NASDAQ or Dow close recently? (3) What are some stocks you follow? What deals are you following in the news? Analytical ability
Other
Wrap-up Wrap-up of credentials close with four or five themes
HELPFUL REMINDERS
General Go in on fire. Impressions are made in first few minutes. Be energetic. The energy in the conversation must come from you.
Know the 4-5 major points/themes you want to get across and make sure that you do. Remember - you need somebody to stand up and say, We should hire this person!
Keep the goal in mind.
Be Prepared You know the questions theyre going to ask. The more time you spend preparing, the more you will find our about yourself and the more sincere you will sound during the actual interview. Focus on your story and make sure you fill in the obvious gaps. Know how they will respond to your story. Know yourself well. They will probe beneath the surface. If you have a weakness, they will find it. Do not be overconfident. Be Clear and Concise Keep your answers short and to the point. Bankers are conducting the interview! Find a way to get across the information you want to convey to the people with possibly the shortest attention spans on the planet. Its fine to structure your answers like an outline. It helps you keep on track and it ensures that they will take away what you want them to take away. Be Confident Think of positive reasons for everything. Dont apologize for anything GPA, GMAT scores, or Smith.

Its okay to say, I dont know, but this is how I think Id do it Keep Cool Remember theyre asking questions to find out about your line of thinking and to find out how youll react under certain conditions. When in doubt, take a deep breath and talk it out. Practice, Practice, Practice What sounds good in your head, may not necessarily sound good out loud. Practice out loud to friends, in the shower, while at the gym. Ask classmates to give you mock interviews. Last Words Eat and sleep well. Relax and have fun.

Finance Interview Outline

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Finance Mock Interview Outline

Clear/Concise Smiling/Positive Decisionmaking/Judgment Personality/Fit

Finance Mock Interview Outline

What do bankers do? Judgment Processing Client Service

Technical Skills Accounting and finance questions

Finance Mock Interview Outline

Wrap-up Wrap-up of credentials close with four or five themes

Finance Mock Interview Outline

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