Monthly Archives: February 2012

I see that you are an art history major, so how comfortable do you feel working with numbers?

Excerpt from WSP's Ace the IB Interview Guide

This question is actually quite similar to our post last week about how to answer “why investment banking given that you’re a liberal arts major”. Except that now the focus is specifically on your quantitative skills.

The key to nailing this type of question is to draw on all of your experiences that require using numbers.  The answer doesn’t need to one that lists all of the courses related to math – it can, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Poor answers
Poor answers to this question would be generalized, roundabout answers.  You need to be specific.  If you are a member of the finance committee of the art club, you can always discuss how you were involved with budgeting or project allocation and the quantitative skills learned from the experience.  If you really want to impress the interviewer, consider taking some extra financial training courses (like Wall Street Prep) as such courses will make it easy for you to discuss your quantitative abilities.  If you still have time, consider enrolling in quantitative courses (statistics, physics, chemistry, finance, accounting, calculus, etc.).

Great answers
Great answers to this question again are specific and focus on individual quantitative skills.  Another acceptable answer is one that is honest.  If you haven’t taken quantitative courses (generally acceptable if you are a freshman or sophomore in college), be honest about it.  The worst thing you can do is try to fabricate your quantitative abilities when nothing on your resume supports your answer.  If you are a junior or senior and haven’t taken any math-related courses, your best bet is still to be honest.  Tell them that you were passionate about your major and wanted to take as many courses in that field, but given that you want to go into investment banking, the plan is to take some financial training or online quantitative courses BEFORE the job to learn the quant skills necessary to be successful.

 Sample great answer

“Even though my university doesn’t offer any finance or accounting courses, I have taken numerous calculus, statistics, physics, and computer science courses to help me develop strong problem solving skills.  In addition, as a member of the Rock Climbing Club, I work on budgeting and have budgeted the next 3 climbing trips to the dollar using a simple excel model that I created from scratch.  I recognize that the position I am interviewing for is an analytical position, that is very much part of the appeal.  I love analytical challenges and feel confident that I can handle the analytical rigor of investment banking.”

More Information:
Investment Banking Interview Prep Guide

I see that as a member of the Class Council, you managed to raise $12,000 for your class.  Tell me about this.

Excerpt from WSP's Ace the IB Interview Guide

This question is testing your understanding of processes, and an opportunity for you to tell a story that puts you in a positive light .  In investment banking, the entire deal is a process from start to finish.   You want to make sure that you provide organized steps of the process from a higher level and then what you specifically did to raise the $12,000.  Investment banks / financial firms are looking for leaders – people to run with projects with little guidance.  This is your chance to shine and show how you take initiative and need little “hand holding.”

Poor responses
Poor responses to this question include ones that focus on “we.”   I know that sounds strange because you hear that everything done in the corporate world is done in teams.  This is definitely true, but an investment bank/financial firm is not hiring a packaged team, they are hiring you.  So, without sounding pompous, you need to illustrate the impact that you personally have on teams.  Other bad responses are too general and don’t provide specific actions / statistics.  To say “we raised $12,000 for the class as a team” is not good enough.  You need to provide specific details.

Great responses
Great responses to this question include ones that clearly depict you as a leader without sounding arrogant.  You want to give responses like “took initiative to go to each dorm and market the event to dorm reps and bargained with vendors to get prices for food and drink – reducing original prices by 15%.  The aggressive marketing coupled with reduction in prices allowed us to raise approximately $12,000 in funds for my class.”

Sample great answer

“As a member of the Freshman Class Council, I joined the Social Committee which was responsible for raising money and holding social events for the freshman class.  In that role, I managed to help raise $12,000.  At a high level, the event consisted of having a student band perform and offering $20 tickets to the event which included free food and soda.  I decided to take initiative and focus my efforts on both marketing and cost-cutting.  To market the event, I went to every dorm on campus and strategically placed catchy fliers on bathroom doors, at the entrances to the door, in the laundry room, and in each stairwell.  I also had the Dorm President of each dorm include a blurb about the event in their weekly blasts.  Lastly, I went to some of the major places on campus including the Library, dining halls, and Student Center and posted these catchy fliers also in strategic places.  We had close to 800 freshman show up for the event – I’d say that was a success given our class size of roughly 2,000 people. 

After my marketing efforts, I focused on cost-cutting.   I contacted various local food vendors and found out their prices for catering an event like this.  After finding various vendors, I managed to talk down prices by 15%, thus increasing the gross profit of the event.  Getting such a discount was not an easy feat, but what helped was telling the vendor that they would be our “go to” for all future events and we already had four events in the works.  Establishing this relationship was critical in getting prices reduced.”  

More Resources:
Investment Banking Interview – What to Expect & How to Prep

Walk me through your resume

Excerpt from WSP's Ace the IB Interview Guide

The key to this question is providing an in-depth answer that lasts roughly 2 minutes in length. You need to make sure that you give enough info without providing a novel of an answer. You should briefly mention where you grew up, where you attended college (and better why you decided to pick the college), what your major is (and why your choose it). When discussing your college experience, be sure to highlight any summer internships (professional) even if they are non-finance related and any clubs where you have a leadership role on campus. Be sure to focus your response on professional internships (lifeguarding doesn’t count) and clubs where you serve as a leader – much more powerful than discussing clubs where you are simply a member.

Poor answers

Poor answers to this question include ones that ramble on. If you are giving your life history to the interviewer, you are surely failing the question. The interviewer is looking to see whether you know how to present a succinct response again in case they ever decide to put you in front of a client. The other purpose of this question is to see whether you know how to separate essential information from non-essential information – an important skill in finance.

Great answers

Great answers to this question include ones that are planned out. Your response should actually be memorized. You should plan out the response to this question well in advance of an interview because you will most certainly receive it at some point. The best thing to do is literally write out a response hitting the key points you want to make and literally time it.
If you find your answer is more than 2 minutes (give or take 30 seconds), trim down some of the “fat” in the response.

Final thoughts, don’t underestimate this question. Believe it or not, it is a deal breaker for some interviewers and is one of the few questions that you can prepare for because you should be expecting it.

Sample great answer

“After graduating from high school in Basking Ridge, NJ, I decided to attend the University of Notre Dame. I chose Notre Dame because of the school’s strong academics and strong athletics. Having lettered in three sports in high school all four years, I wanted a school where students pack the stadiums but also take academics seriously. Notre Dame was the perfect choice for me.

At Notre Dame, I majored in finance and was actively involved in student government as a Class Council Rep and as a Senator. I chose finance because I knew that it would lead me to a career that was both quantitative in nature and involved significant interaction with people. During my college summers, I decided to enter the corporate world at the end of my freshman year and started my career at General Electric.

The next summer I worked at Goldman Sachs and the following summer at Merrill Lynch. Such experience was invaluable because it singlehandedly shaped what I want to do with my future career. Having been a summer Analyst both at Goldman and Merrill, I know for certain that investment banking is the right career path for me and I’d very much like to work for [insert company name].”

More Resources:
More Investment Banking Interview Tips

I see that you are an art history major (or any other non-business major) in college, so why investment banking / finance?

Excerpt from WSP's Ace the IB Interview Guide

This is a tricky question which tends to lead candidates down the wrong path if answered incorrectly.  Many people enter the industry with the obvious intention of making a great deal of money and/or because of the myriad of exit opportunities.  You want to be careful about being “too honest” in your answer.  I am not saying lie, but you don’t want to show your entire hand either.

Poor answers
Poor answers to this question would be answers that somehow indicate you are going into the profession to earn large amounts of money or because you eventually want to go to business school/private equity/hedge funds.  While all this may be true, you want the interviewer to think that you are committed to the industry even though he/she knows that more than likely you’ll be one of the Analysts that decides to leave after two years of service.  As an interviewer, it is better to hear the “reassuring” answer rather than the brutally honest one even though the interviewer knows you are being political.

Great answers
Great answers to this question focus on skill-building, networking, and love for difficult challenges.  You want to emphasize that being a non-business major you are excited to learn the complex accounting and finance skills involved on the job and eventually transform into an Analyst that has potential to significantly impact the group.  You also want to relay that you are excited to build a large network of elite professionals (financial and industry) and are looking forward to pushing your limits from a work standpoint.  You ultimately want to come off as a positive, “go-getter” type.

Sample great answer

“I do not regret majoring in art history.  That said, my interests have evolved towards more analytically challenging pursuits.  This past year, I have taken more quantitative classes like computer science, economics, and accounting, and believe that investment banking is an exciting challenge that marries my interests in critical thinking and quantitative analysis.

Specifically, banking interests me because it presents an opportunity to develop substantive analytical skills, while developing a close network of colleagues. While working long hours is scary to some, to me, it is in a strange way exciting. I have a very strong work ethic and I am excited to be involved in work that helps companies be better off strategically and financially.”

More Resources:
Investment Banking Interview – What to Expect & How to Prep

Excerpt from WSP's Ace the IB Interview Guide

I see that you have a 2.8 GPA.  Typically, we hire 3.5 and above.  What’s going on?
The GPA question – a great lead question for students on the summa cum laude track and a nightmare-inducing question for students who party/partied a little too hard.  The unfortunate reality of the financial world is that academics play a key role in resume selection.  The nice thing about getting this question in an interview for both good/bad GPA candidates is that the recruiter felt you were good enough to move you past the initial resume screen.  For poor GPA candidates, you clearly got the interview because of other things on your resume.  This is a good thing to know because you can better strategize your answer.   When answering this question, you want to be cautious about what you say.  You don’t want to spill your guts out and say that you were at the bar Saturday through Thursday and class just on Friday, but you also don’t want to give the impression that you are academically struggling and can’t handle the coursework at your university.

Poor answer
Poor answers to this question include ones that paint you as one of the main characters from Animal House.  It is ok to tell interviewers that you like socializing and having fun with your friends on weekends, but I wouldn’t focus/bring drinking into the question.  Tame your answer down and take the more “conservative” approach.  To say that you go out with friends for dinner and drinks (only if you are 21 and over…be very careful about this as your interviewer may be testing you) is much better than saying you play beer pong from 1pm – 8pm and then hit the bars until close.  Interviewers were once college students and know what actually goes on, but this question is also testing if you know how to sensor your answers in case they decide to put you in front of a client.  On the flip side, if you were one of those that lived in the library and simply are not good test takers and thus don’t get good grades, do not also spill all your beans.  At the end of the day, investment banking/finance is a knowledge industry.  Many of the best and brightest from the most prestigious universities in the world enter the field.  Your interviewer wants to know if you can handle the analytical component and you don’t want to give them the impression that you can’t.

Great answer
Great answers to this question include ones that provide justifiable reasons why you are not performing.  For example, if you have above a 3.5 every semester, but a 1.0 in 1 semester because of family issues (i.e., death of a family member, etc.) mention this.  Everyone goes through hardship at some point in their life and unfortunately for you it happened in college.  If this is the case, illustrate this on your resume.  Show your GPA with all semesters but the bad one and then your cumulative GPA.  If you are active on campus (i.e., student government, active in many clubs, varsity athlete, community service coordinator, etc.) or are working as a full-time student and you were either a partier or bad test taker, craft an answer that pretty much says you were very busy with extracurricular activities and given your difficult coursework and commitment to extracurricular activities, it is difficult to balance both.  In such a response, while you are taking ownership of your GPA, you are also helping your candidacy by showing how active you are outside of class.  This last response is typically the best approach.

Sample great answer

“Frankly, I made some bad decisions as a freshman which I have been able to partially reverse through a lot of hard work over the last few years.  My very 1^st semester at Notre Dame I did not manage my time well between extracurricular activities and academics and received a 1.8.  After reflecting on my poor performance that semester, I realized that I needed to get my priorities in order and started to focus more of my energy on my academics.  Excluding that first semester, my GPA would have been 3.5. In fact, I have continued to improve every year and over the last year I have maintained a 3.8 GPA.”