Why Do You Want to Work for Us Question - How to Answer This Tough Banking Interview Question

Although you're more likely to get asked the why investment banking interview question, it's still worth considering this question, because if you don't use the answer during any interviews you'll at least use it in your cover letters.
When all the banks seem to be carbon copies of each other, how are we meant to answer this question?

Well, you could take the easy road and just trot out the same things every student does for every bank in every interview. Almost verbatim from some crazy Vault Survey or D grade investment banking interview guide, students will say;


"Work with the smartest people, access to world class training, program rotation, steep learning curve, real responsibility, meritocracy, entrepreneurial culture and top transaction experience" or some variation of that.


But if you want to stand out and make it look like you've actually given this question some thought, first mention three bank-specific things you love. E.g. a particular training program only they have or a group's focus on certain types of deals.


The smartest way to find this information is by asking the banks own analysts why they joined the analyst program and why they like working there.


Not only is this method painless since you only have to attend a networking event or email an alumnus, but it can also yield real 'insider' reasons that you can't pull off a recruitment website, e.g. a recently implemented initiative at the bank.


Bonus marks up for grabs with this interview question.


You'll turn in a 10/10 answer if you relate your reasons "why work for Goldman Sachs" back to an experience you mentioned in your story and/or to a banker you spoke with.


Combining good research with thoughtful self-analysis like this will convince bankers you genuinely want to work for them. What else do you need to crush the why Goldman Sachs question?


Apart from what a bank's analysts may tell you, it's wise to mention that you are attracted to the bank because of the people you have met there, followed up with their names and the stories of how you know them. This alone can put you in the 'inner circle'.


Feel free to rattle off 3 standard reasons for wanting to join them at the end of your answer. The #1 way to deliver this like a good little sycophant-in-the-making is by saying "and obviously Goldman Sachs works on the leading deals, has the best people in the TMT world and offers first-class training".


As you can see these seemingly tough investment banking interview questions aren't so difficult once you have inside advice on how to answer them. Get more free advice on banking interview questions now, including the hugely popular why investment banking interview question.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.


Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting Inside Investment Bank now.

Article source: ezinearticles.com

Investment Banking Interviews - First Round Interviews Decoded

First of all, we're talking about the formal "give me a job" type of first round interview here. Not about the investment banking informational interview, which is simply a meet and greet.


First Rounders are where your banking lives really kick off and their importance comes down to the simple fact that if you mess up here your banking life is DOA - dead upon arrival!


For target school kids first round investment banking interviews will frequently take place on campus when the banks roll into town and will often be with an analyst or other junior banker who's an alumnus of your school.


In other countries it might take place at the bank's HQ and be with a representative from the IB's HR department - or a junior banker.


For non-target school kids who manage to get a formal recruiting interview it might take place at a nearby school or at the bank. More likely though you'll start out with informal interviews over coffees - aka investment banking informational interviews - thanks to your networking, which can then lead to formal interviews at the bank's HQ.


But location is the least of our worries, so let's move on.


It's more important for you to recognize that the purpose of the first round interview is to act as a quality control mechanism. Junior bankers simply aim to cull enough students so that final rounds (aka Super Saturday or simply Superday) can take place without a throng of 10,000 students storming the bank's offices.


And so they are only testing you on


1) your track record as listed on your resume,


2) your personality and


3) your basic technical skills.


Thankfully you will only be summarily grilled on these issues, because first round banking interviews don't go for that long. Think 20-30 minutes.


How can you sail through first round interviews?


Well, if you manage to 'get along' with the interviewer then you're probably through.


i.e. if you can talk about your resume for a couple minutes, get the banker smiling and answer some Basic as Ben Stiller questions about financial statements and Finance 101 valuation techniques you'll most likely get green lighted for another interview.


And if you can show you have serious passion for banking by talking about your journey over the years, how it has led you to banking and made you want it more than ever before, you're almost home.


Increasingly important in today's recruiting environment though, is your ability to handle some basic investment banking technical interview questions and brain teasers during first rounds. Banks are loading interviews with more than before, because it's the fastest and most objective way to eliminate a huge chunk of the candidate pool (an important point when supply & demand is as out of whack as it is now).


At the end of the day though these first round interviews are just about eliminating the Ben Stiller type retards - i.e. a 'basic smarts' cut. Or said with more panache, these interviews are simply about eliminating the also-rans, not about picking the stars. So don't stress.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.

You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting https://insideinvestmentbanking.com now.

Article source: ezinearticles.com

Investment Banking Superday Explained in Plain English

You will likely face a varied range of bankers from analyst level to MD. But given you are within touching distance of a $100,000+ offer, the interviewer-sheet will be stacked towards the senior side, which means less junior bankers than first rounds and definitely no HR reps.

Numbers wise, you could face anywhere from as little as 3 interviews to as many as 7 or more.

As you can imagine a true banking Superday can last anywhere from 3 hours to the good part of an entire day. And sometimes they can even spill into the night.

But fear not. Banks tend to err on the side of less is more, because it's an insane logistical task to organize more than 5 interviews per student and overall it's a surprisingly exhausting use of bank resources.

We are referring to senior bankers' time here of course - not the $20 an hour analysts! Note the sliding scale with respect to range, interviews and length; the bigger the bank and the recruiting drive, the greater the range/ interviews/ length. No wonder BBs (bulge brackets) are the source of infamous Superday war stories then, as opposed to the middle market i-banks and lower end boutique investment banks.

Why does the focus of each superday banking interview differ?

Different interviewers will be staffed with testing you on different things. This is often decided based on their level.

Consequently students can experience 40 minutes of technical questions when interviewing with Analyst Chuck Chuckford and 40 minutes of "Tell me about yourself" mind numbing questions during MD Larry Larryson's hour of power.

Let's break it down very clearly though...

The younger monkeys (analysts & associates) will throw down the technical questions gauntlet as they try to objectively assess you for brains. Think McGee in NCIS. If you've got some finance and accounting study or worse - a banking internship - under your belt expect to be pushed a lot harder than someone with a liberal arts major.

Although the technical finance questions might hurt, the investment banking accounting interview questions won't - they're comparatively easy.

Meantime the graying apes (MD Larryson and the other BSDs) will go 'fit' and 'you' crazy as they try to answer the question "Would Richard make a strong member of the team and do I want to work with him?". For this think Gibbs in NCIS. But don't forget Larry will also enjoy asking you (with a deadpan face) "How many 128-slide pitch books would fit in a chartered Lear Jet to Greenland?"*. In other words, interviews with the graying apes will often involve both technical and fit questions. The Masters of the Universe will give you a taste of everything!

Finally, it's worth noting that multiple interviews at the one bank can also overlap in both theme and the specific questions asked. This is done on purpose. Just like a computer-driven personality test, this process of repetition allows bankers to spot inconsistencies in your answers over time when they share notes at the end of the day.

Were you actually lying about your leadership experience at Chucky Cheese? Either way they'll find out.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.

You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting https://insideinvestmentbanking.com now.

Article source: ezinearticles.com

Superday Banking Interviews Vs The Rest - What's the Difference?

What's the difference between Superday investment banking interviews and normal final round interviews?

Both are final round interviews, but that's where the similarities end.

Some banks will do the simple second round interview which involves a panel of 2-3 bankers grilling you with all the common investment banking interview questions. i.e. an MD, associate and analyst squaring up against you non-stop for 45 minutes to an hour in a small dimly lit room! It's an hour of hell, but then it's over.

By contrast other banks like to do a series of 1-1 and 2-1 interviews in one day...hello, investment banking Superday.

The questions are the same, but the interview format is different and the day longer...much longer! Plus there can be all sorts of add ons like group lunches, aptitude tests and slight electric shock therapy. Oh and superday dinner!

It's hard for me to advise you on which type of final round interview you will get, because it differs from bank to bank, and from country to country.

But generally speaking, Superdays are the norm and simple second round IB interviews the exception. For those of you outside the major IB regions, we've been seeing a shift towards Superdays there too (e.g. SE Asia) as more and more banks adopt the American approach to IB recruiting.

What are banks trying to work out about you during final rounds?

Whilst first round interviews help them decide whether you are 'normal' and in possession of half a brain, final round interviews are more about figuring out whether you can match wits with an MD and whether you will get along with the team.

ie during final rounds the bank is not simply trying to flush out the Ben Stillers (basic smarts), instead it's trying to identify the Neos...the Chosen Ones (MD-level smarts and team fit). Because final rounds are the last line of defense between your inexperienced ass and a fat paying job, expect the rearguard to put up a helluva bigger fight here than they did during first rounds.

Said differently, final rounds are going to be tough! They'll make first round banking interviews look like easy street.

At the end of the day though, you might only experience subtle differences in the types of questions bankers ask during final rounds as compared to first rounds - but don't forget the standards and follow-up questions will always contrast starkly.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.

You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting https://insideinvestmentbanking.com now.


Article source: ezinearticles.com

Investment Banking Phone Interview - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

First of all we'll say it up front - we hate the phone interview. We think it's to be avoided if you can possibly help it. Treat it like you would an offer from Billy Bumford in Back Office for a Resume Pass - "thanks, I guess".

The formal investment banking phone interview (not to be confused with investment banking informational interviews) can take place during formal recruiting if you don't go to a target school or you didn't quite make the cut for a face-face interview; or if you have taken up the Uzbekistan Sachs option (applying from abroad)! Whether it's conducted by investment banking HR (6/10) or a junior banker who went to your school (4/10) it's bad.

With half of communication gone (non-verbal) it's stupendously harder to build rapport and yet this is the #1 key to interview success - in our opinion. Plus there's all the misunderstandings, pregnant pauses and other bitter tasting side effects of phone conversations to deal with.

But the efficiency is beautiful for both the bank and you, and the chance of getting an 'interview' consequently higher - i.e. a 5 minute phone interview is 10 times easier to secure than a 30 minute in-person chat.

Plus you can cheat with notes, which will allow you to deliver a 10/10 story, answer questions about the bank and market with nous, and destroy any technical questions that come your way - you can have a freaking computer and calculator on standby if you want. Although you should be able to do all of this without crib notes, because eventually you will have to do a face to face interview!!

Regardless of whether you like it or not, you need to practice for the investment banking phone interview, because it is a different beast to in-person interviews in terms of content, format and style. I know this may sound extreme to many of you - and feel a little stupid - but you should arrange a mock interview with a friend over the phone to practice.

Or try out BankonBanking's mock investment banking interview service if you want a more authentic experience.

How would we sum up the phone interview?

It will be a shortened version of normal first round interviews - so prepare as normal, but expect the bad boy questions like "Tell me about yourself", "Can you explain this part of your resume", "Why investment banking", and "Why us" to pop up. As with ordinary first round interviews there shouldn't be a huge technical focus - but prepare for the basics.

Final thoughts? Stand up, smile like a douchebag, get passionate, pump & dump, shout RECO and do all that other stuff you saw in Boiler Room and you'll be fine.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.

You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting https://insideinvestmentbanking.com now.


Article source: ezinearticles.com

The "Why Investment Banking?" Interview Question - How to Give a 10/10 Answer

In a sea of over achievers who are equally talented, likeable and prepared, the "Why investment banking?" interview question can be the only differentiating question left for bankers to ask; making it both a popular & decisive question.

Whilst for college students who don't look like aspiring bankers on paper (i.e. no fin/acc major, business degree or relevant work experience) it's of epic importance. After all, you guys need to be able to explain why you want to do investment banking when your past decisions don't suggest anything of the kind.

How do you give a 10/10 answer to the "Why investment banking?" interview question?

There's a huge selection of points you could make, but keep it short and sharp. Generally a good answer will contain 3-5 solid reasons why you're interested in IB.

Typical examples like world class education, skills development, type of work, the challenge, real responsibility in billion dollar transactions etc. are all acceptable.

But try not to trot out the same BS as everyone else.

Importantly, avoid reasons that are self-centered in a 'bad' way.

Let me explain. As a banker interviewing you I'd be OK if you mentioned investment banking attracts you because of the learning opportunities, as this is a selfish reason that also, and ironically, benefits the bank - passionate 24 year olds put in 100-hour work weeks with ease after all.

But if I heard you wanted to do IB simply in order to 'build your resume' and/or to secure an exit opportunity I would - in my mind at least - throw you out the freaking door and then proceed to lay a BlackBerry beat down! Being made to feel like a halfway house for financial vagrants, a mere stepping-stone, is not my idea of good times you see. So even though everyone knows investment banking is attractive for the resume & exit oops don't say it!

What can help you avoid a BlackBerry Beat Down? Well, you would get me extremely interested if you answered the "Why investment banking?" interview question by talking about how you have older friends in banking who have over the years shared with you what it's really like to be a banker - both the good and the bad.

And then how that's made you realize 3 specific things about banking which make it stand out above any other graduate job.

Not only will I believe you still love banking despite the war stories, but that you've actually given it some thought beyond "I need a salary of Blankfein proportions if I'm ever going to pay off these student debts".

What I'm trying to say is that a great answer will list unique and specific reasons 'why investment banking' and it will connect them to the sources you learned them from whether they be friends, professors, books etc.

Want 6 specific reasons 'Why investment banking' that are sure to work? Try talking about how you love the...

1. Cornerstone role investment banks play in deals and/or the role they play more broadly within the world of business - IBs are to business what the White House is to the world...central hub HQ! And this is why bankers are called masters of the universe. So bring up this point, albeit laced in more formal language and without ever mentioning 'masters of the universe'!!

2. Coalface exposure to industry and financial markets, which is unique to IB - there's not a graduate job on the planet that puts you closer to the action than banking.

3. Results-driven deal-oriented approach - this point distinguishes banking from so many other professions like law, consulting etc, where players often get paid for simply 'doing', as opposed to 'achieving'. And by specifically mentioning this point you will show bankers that you've got the right mentality and that you're not an increment-fiend like lawyers. PS Once again be sure to phrase this in a more professional kinda way!

4. Type of people that work in banking - talk about this from both a learning and enjoyment point of view, and most importantly reference people you know in banking (particularly at that bank) to avoid looking like you're simply shining shoes and kissing ass!

5. Nature of the work - analyzing, problem solving, real-world focused. If you are going to talk about this then make sure you bring up a handful of examples in passing; e.g. 10k analysis, spreading comps, deal structuring etc.

6. The specific industry/product group you are interviewing with - this is a must! By talking about why IB through the lens of that specific group, you'll really narrow the reasons down to specific, tangible, relatable ones - and that means bankers are more likely to believe you and like you. e.g. If you say to Goldman Sachs TMT that you want to do investment banking because you find the business/investing side of the tech industry fascinating after working as an unpaid intern at a social media start up over summer, then you'll hit the "Why investment banking?" question out of the park!

Whatever you choose, be sure you can talk intelligently about it if probed by the bankers.

Special note for those of you with non-banking experience.

If you have work experience in accounting, consulting etc. then tell the bankers that whilst your time at KPMG or BCG or wherever you worked was a terrific experience, it didn't offer...[reasons why you love IB].

This is a hidden opportunity to further explain your story, point out why you want to change into banking now and assure them again that IB is what you truly want above all else.

Any comparison you make should be delivered subtly though. Not because your interviewer might have worked at KPMG or BCG, but simply because it looks unprofessional to blatantly badmouth others. Negativity in any form doesn't look good.

Special note for aspiring investment banking analysts.

PS: for those of you who get this question in an investment banking analyst interview (i.e. not a summer internship interview), you'll need to push your story of why IB even harder to convince bankers to take you on. This is because bankers hate offering permanent spots to candidates who might quit the minute things get tough.

Passion is a banker's best insurance policy against this - so make sure you show it guys!!

If you want to go one step further and really impress the bankers with your answer, then tell them how you became interested in IB years ago and point to the real life things you've since done that have confirmed your passion; studies elected, college clubs joined, people met, friends talked to, books read, jobs taken.

Showing a long and considered journey to get into investment banking is the idea here.

What's the final secret to a magic answer here?

Recognize the downers of banking, not just the uppers. Bankers you see, want to hire students who aren't being drawn to banking based simply on Hollywood-hype or CNBC-glamor. They want to know you are realistic about the job, prepared to do grunt work, and yet still super passionate.

After all, the Jimmy Cramer fan club and the Gekko Wannabe students will never be able to hack it when they find out what investment banking really involves - and this sort of drop out costs the banks a bomb.

So with all that in mind, during your answer briefly mention how your friends in banking have clued you in on the realities of the job too - the long hours, sacrifice and other downers which we'll talk candidly about in the Inside Investment Banking System when it comes out this fall.

Of course, don't end your question on a downer - meaning be sure to follow up any reality checking with your 3 main reasons why IB repeated in very very short form, kind of like "...but of course banking is an easy choice for me, because of...".

Now that you've conquered the "Why investment banking?" interview question, check out our advice on other common investment banking interview questions and answers now.

Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.

Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.

You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting https://insideinvestmentbanking.com now.


Article source: ezinearticles.com