Interview Guide

How a first-round actually runs and the full range of technicals you get tested on.

1
How a first-round interview is structured
The order a first-round IB interview almost always runs in, and the hard truth underneath it: at the analyst level the technicals are what decide it. Ace the fit half and bomb the technicals and it is usually a no-go, and here is why.
4 min readPreview
2
The range of technicals you get tested on
The technical universe of a first-round IB interview is smaller than it feels. It comes down to six areas: accounting, enterprise vs equity value, DCF, the three valuation methods, accretion / dilution, and the paper LBO. Here is the map, with a lesson on each.
4 min readAI AssistantPreview
3
Answer the question, then stop
The most common note in a mock interview is not that the answer was wrong. It is that it was too long. Real target lengths for every kind of question, why over-answering actively costs you, and the ordering trick that makes a 30-second answer feel complete.
5 min readPreview
4
STAR is missing a step
Every prep resource teaches STAR, and the gap it leaves is never where you would expect. Students tell a complete, well-organized story that contains no evidence they could do the job. The I in STARI is not a line you say. It is the breadcrumbs you plant so the interviewer reaches the conclusion themselves.
9 min readPreview
5
The 3 questions that start all interviews, Part 1: Walk me through your resume
The first question in almost every interview, and the one most people prepare least. It is not a recital of your bullets. It is a two-minute argument that ends facing forward, and every stop on it has to earn its place.
8 min readPreview
6
The 3 questions that start all interviews, Part 2: Why investment banking
The easiest question to fail. Why prestige and money answers get you dinged, why the real reason is the education, and how to prove you fit what banks look for.
7 min readPreview
7
The 3 questions that start all interviews, Part 3: Why this bank
The question you cannot prepare from a website. Why a list of people you have actually spoken to beats anything on the firm's About page, what to say about them, how to handle 'why not Firm X', and the two rules that keep you out of trouble.
9 min readPreview
8
The personal questions: not on your resume, three words, outside workUpdated
Some fit questions are not asking for a story. Tell me something not on your resume, three words your friends would use, what you do outside school, what motivates you. How to answer each in under forty seconds, keep it true, and give the interviewer something to remember.
9 min readPreview
9
Do you have any questions for me?Updated
The last question of every interview is yours, and most candidates waste it. What to ask, what never to ask, how to turn it into a real conversation, and how to tailor your questions to an analyst, a VP, or an MD.
9 min readPreview
10
Talking about markets: deals, stocks and ratesUpdated
Tell me about a deal you have followed. Pitch me a stock. Where are rates going. How to keep two deals, one stock and one view ready in twenty minutes a day, a structure for every market question, and what to say when the follow-up goes past what you know.
12 min readPreview
11
What would you do? Situational judgment questionsUpdated
You find a mistake in a model you already sent. Two senior bankers need something at the same time. A colleague emails the wrong document to a client. The four principles behind every 'what would you do' question, and a short model answer for each of the scenarios interviewers actually use.
11 min readPreview
12
The superday: how the final round runsUpdated
Back to back interviews, a lunch that counts, sometimes a case or a modeling test. How a superday actually runs, how to prepare for it, what to say when you get a technical you cannot answer, how to handle a one-way video interview, and how to close.
9 min readPreview
13
Strengths and weaknessesUpdated
Two of the most predictable questions in any interview, and two of the most often fumbled. How to pick a strength the analyst job actually uses and prove it in under a minute, how to pick a weakness that is real without ruling yourself out, and why you need a second of each ready.
13 min readPreview
14
Defending your profileUpdated
Almost every candidate has one part of their profile an interviewer will push on: a low GPA, no return offer, a school banks rarely recruit from, a gap, a late switch into finance. How to find yours before they do, and the calm answer that gives the fact, the reason and then the evidence, without a single excuse.
12 min readPreview
15
AI is on the desk now: the free courses worth a line on your resume
Every bulge bracket has put an AI assistant in front of its analysts. The free courses from Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, IBM and Harvard that carry a name a banker recognizes, what each one costs once you want the certificate, the order to take them in, and how to put it on a resume so it reads as evidence rather than a buzzword.
11 min readPreview