Essential Reading for Investment Banking Interviews (2024)

How to Prepare for an Investment Banking Interview

1. Landing an investment banking interview. Before you land the job, you have to land an interview.
2. The investment banking interview process. Investment banking interview questions to expect once you finally land that interview. Quite broadly, there are two types of investment banking interview questions – qualitative “soft” questions, or quantitative “technical” questions. Most technical questions will be on basic accounting and valuation. But come prepared for technicals around discounted cash flow analysis (DCF), intrinsic valuation vs. relative valuation, etc. Sometimes, interviewers will also ask challenging brainteasers to gauge how you think about problems on the spot.

Investment Banking Interview: Accounting Questions

1. Accounting quick lesson.You can’t avoidaccounting questionsin aninvestment banking interview. Even if you’ve never taken an accounting class, chances are, you’ll be asked questions that require rudimentary accounting knowledge.
2. Top 10 most common accounting interview questions
3. Walk me through the financial statements
4. How are the financial statements linked together?
5. What is the cash flow statement important and how does it compare to the income statement?
6. Company A has $100 of assets while company B has $200 of assets. Which company should have a higher value?

Introductory 3-Statement Modeling Course

The 3-statement model is the cornerstone of most of the financial models and analyses performed in investment banking.

To learn the basics of building a 3-statement model, fill out the form below to access the free course.

Investment Banking Interview: Valuation Questions

1. 10 Common Investment Banking Interview Valuation Questions.The rigor of valuation questions asked is also a function of your academic and professional backgrounds. For example, if you go to the Wharton School and are pursuing Finance as a major and managed to obtain an investment banking internship as a freshman/sophom*ore at a bulge bracket, the rigor of questions will be higher because the assumption is that you have additional knowledge given your additional experience and course of study.
2. DCF Intrinsic Valuation Questions

Investment Banking Interview: Qualitative Questions

The kinds of questions that banks can ask you are not limited to finance. While technical questions attempt to establish baseline knowledge, qualitative questions seek to establish fit.

Since investment banking involves a lot of group work, fit is important in investment banking, and success in this part of the interview sometimes outweighs the technical interview component.

1. Walk me through your resume
2. Why Investment Banking?
3. Addressing a low GPA in an interview
4. How comfortable do you feel working with numbers?
5. Tell me about a time when you showed leadership.