The Investment Banking Interview: Superday Guide
“If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight, and if not split and reevaluate. “
-Sun Tzu
How do you prepare for superday interviews? What should you expect when you go to interview for investment banking summer internship positions?
Every bank is different, so it’s difficult to generalize here and say exactly what to expect in every situation.
But there are a few general guidelines and tips I can give you on what to expect and how to prepare Most of these apply equally to full-time and summer analyst superday interviews, though summer analyst ones tend to be easier.
How Many People And How Long The Day Will Be
This varies greatly by bank, but at the minimum you will speak with at least 1 banker at every level – Analyst, Associate, VP, and MD.
Often you can go much higher than that and Superday can last all day, from 8 AM to 6 PM, with 20 or so interviews.
Bulge brackets tend to conduct more interviews on Superday compared to boutique and middle-market firms.
But most of the time, the number of interviews is at the lower end of the spectrum and Superdays usually last half a day rather than a full day.
If you think going through 20 interviews is a pain, just imagine what a logistical headache it is for banks to organize 20 interviews.
Fit Questions
Fit questions are more important than the technical questions, for 2 reasons:
- Unless you’ve had a previous investment banking summer internship or other full-time experience in finance, you will not have significant technical knowledge that can be assessed.
- The senior bankers who interview you will focus more on fit questions and they are the ones who decide if you get the job.
I covered a lot of fit questions in my guide to getting investment banking jobs, but just to recap a bit, your “story” is the most important part and consists of you giving a 3-5 minute pitch on your background, how you got interested in banking, and why you want the job.
And if you come from another field like engineering or corporate law, your “story” needs to show why you want to break into investment banking now.
Come across as being interested in business/finance, eager to learn, and willing to work hard, but don’t be fake or act like you know exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life.
When you get asked the usual, “Are you a team player?” “Can you work hard non-stop and get results?” “Are you really interested in this job?” questions, make sure you have specific examples to back up everything you’re saying.
I suggest preparing 2-3 “mini-stories” based on your work experience that you can re-use for all of these standard “fit” questions.
The biggest problem when answering fit questions?
Lack`of enthusiasm.
If you memorize all your answers word-for-word or you read directly from a script any banker can tell within 5 seconds.
You need to inject your own personal flavor into your responses – find your hook, and find what makes you interesting compared to everyone else.
Technical Questions
There are 3 types of technical questions you may be asked:
- Valuation/Modeling Questions
- Accounting Questions
- Brain Teasers
For more on these, refer to my investment banking interview guide.
Valuation
You need to know the three main methodologies:
1) Comparable Company Analysis – looking at publicly traded companies and the multiples they trade at, then applying those to the company in question.
2) Precedent Transaction Analysis – looking at what buyers paid for sellers in similar industries and with similar financial profiles and applying the multiples to your own company.
3) DCF – using a company’s projected cash flows, discounting them for the time-value of money and cost of capital and summing those to find the company’s present value.
Know those and the various trade-offs among them.
Modeling Questions
If you get modeling questions, they are likely to be on merger models – looking at what happens when a company acquires another company – or Leveraged Buyout (LBO) Models – figuring out the return a private equity firm can get by buying a company with a combination of cash (equity) and debt.
The most important aspect of a merger model is the accretion/dilution – will a company have a higher or lower earnings per share (EPS) after acquiring another company?
The merger model is an analysis of the trade-offs between using cash, stock, or debt to finance an acquisition. Using any of these or any combination of these will result in a different EPS, and you have to take into account how much debt the acquirer can actually afford, how much stock can really be issued, and how much cash they have.
Other factors, such as tax rates, synergies, the companies’ projections, and the companies’ balance sheets also come into play – but the above points are the most important to get across when explaining a merger model.
With an LBO model, you’re trying to figure out the private equity firm’s return on investment (IRR).
Think of it like buying a house with a mortgage – you have a down payment (the equity in an LBO) and the mortgage (the debt used to finance an LBO). The LBO model is a measure of how much the company’s value grows and how much debt is paid off. The most important drivers are purchase price, exit price, amount of debt used, and the company’s growth rate and profitability.
Accounting Questions
For accounting questions, make sure you know how the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements link together and be able to walk through simple changes like adding 10 to depreciation.
Depending on your level of finance/accounting knowledge, you may get more in-depth questions, like the differences between GAAP and non-GAAP accounting, multiple changes to the 3 statements, and the impact of different types of revenue recognition.
Brain Teasers
Maintain your calm during the interview and resist the urge to panic. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get one right, but it’s a bad sign if they ask you brain teasers at all – it means your interviewer is annoying, doesn’t like you, or both.
Superday Dinners
Everything that transpires on Superday is part of the interview, even if they try to position a dinner as a “time to relax” and “get to know others.” Never let down your guard, and DO NOT GET DRUNK. And don’t even think about models and bottles.
Avoid asking too many nerdy finance questions or too much about investment bankers’ own jobs. No one likes the guy who starts talking about WACC during dinner.
Talk about your own interests and try to come across as an interesting and ambitious person who can also have fun.
Think, “Work hard, play hard” – that is the best way to describe bankers’ mindset and lifestyle.
If you do something stupid during the dinner, that could easily be the end of your investment banking offer.
Judgment is an extremely important part of your job as an investment banking analyst, and the Superday Dinner is a quick way to evaluate whether or not you have good judgment.
How Many Get Offers
This one is tough to generalize because it varies by the bank and the particular group you’re interviewing with, how many analysts they need, what location you’re at, etc.
Generally 1-2 out of 10 superday interviewees will receive immediate offers. Most of the rest will be put “on hold” and they may receive offers if others back out or accept investment banking summer internships elsewhere.
So the odds aren’t great, but if you follow all the advice here, you’ll be at a big advantage compared to the competition. Also check out how to close your investment banking offers if you’re having trouble landing anything.
When You’ll Hear Back
It is a very good sign if you hear back immediately. If you’re getting an offer you’ll hear back the day of the interview or early the next day, because the bank will be eager to get you to accept.
It isn’t the end of the world if you don’t hear back immediately. Sometimes people will end up getting a “yes” response a few days to a few weeks afterward, but usually it’s because they were put “on hold” and others in front of them did not accept offers.
If you don’t hear back quickly, do follow-up and contact the bank every so often to show your continued interest in the position. Just don’t be annoying about it and call them every day.
What Not to Worry About
- What to ask the interviewers at the end.
- Thank you notes.
Bankers form an impression and make a decision about a candidate within 5-10 minutes of the interview starting. While it’s nice to ask some thoughtful questions at the end, they aren’t going to make or break your offer status – just ask something rather than nothing at all.
Similarly, sending a thank you note has no effect on getting an offer. Decisions are made very quickly following the interview and no one will even read your note before deciding.
It’s a nice gesture, but if you’ve interviewed with 20 investment bankers in one day, don’t worry about sending personalized thank-you notes to everyone.
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Thanks for the guide, very helpful. Can you discuss “stress” interviews – e.g. interviewer blatantly ignores your answers or argumentatively interrogates you? How often do these occur, what is the purpose, what is the best way to handle them (play it cool or be bold?), etc.
Thanks Blue Horseshoe, I’m glad you found it helpful.
As far as “stress” interviews, they’re basically the same as getting brainteasers – the point is to see if you get stressed out or not, and it’s usually best to play it cool. The most important thing is to answer their questions without getting nervous, they don’t even care as much about the answers as they do about whether you remain calm or not.
Personally I did not encounter these all that frequently, maybe had a few but none of mine were that intense.
I wouldn’t worry too much in general, these are not very common in summer analyst recruiting either.
This is a very helpful post. I wish I had it when I was going through interviews. It truly offers some unique and invaluable advice.
Thanks Prince, glad you enjoyed. Thanks for the shoutout on your blog as well.
[...] this great post from M&I. It is basically the best guide The Prince has come across on how to get [...]
Good post yet again. I’ve always wondered how you are even able to find the time to post given your work schedule. Maybe you know a secret that I’m not privy to yet?
I’ve added you to my blogroll since I realize I spend almost as much time here as I spent on my site. Maybe some of my readers might enjoy your blog also.
Shane – thanks, glad you enjoyed the post. I’ve added you to my blogroll as well, I’m sure we’ll have some mutual readers.
As for how I have time to post, I do far less work in my second year than I did in my first. Plus, the market downturn has severely affected deal flow (doesn’t matter to me since I’m done recruiting).
I also try to queue up posts as much as possible so that even when I’m busy they still get posted on the site.
i’m transitioning from wealth management into banking, and i had my first phone interview today. as you suggested, i was more focused on coming across as willing to do anything for the job. that i’m able to work multiple projects under a tight deadline, i am ready and able to accept the challenge, and that i’m eager to gain a tremendous amount of experience, i learn quicky, work well in teams or individually, and understand the amount of time and work that goes into the position. also that i look forward to working with a smaller firm because i will gain that much more experience and i will be able to add more value.
I did fumble however when she asked the technical question. she asked me how i would value an ipo and how i would value a private company. I knew the answer to it, however i got caught off guard and i may have blew it. i know you weren’t there, but judging from your experience did i cost myself the offer. she let me know that she will finish interviews and talk with the md’s and get back to us no later than a week from now to let us know who gets a sit down. she did ask me if it would be a problem to come down for an interview since i live over 100 miles away. thanks in advance for the feedback.
Best,
Akash,
Hard to say but think you’re generally fine. Usually technical questions won’t sink you unless you outright lie about something and are then caught – it’s a good sign that they want you to travel to interview.
I have two questions that may have been answered somewhere on this site, so if it has just direct me to the link.
1. If the first thing the interviewer says is “So tell me about yourself”, should we take this as “Walk me through your resume?”, should we answer in 30 seconds about ourselves personally such as age, interests, anything unique in our personal lives, or should we ask if they are wanting to know about us personally or professionally? An extension to that question is, when asked something in an interview, is it inappropriate to ask them to clarify what specifically they are referring to, in questions such as the one I just mentioned, or say “Tell me about a time where you failed at something and how you learned from it”..this could be answered as a personal experience or professional, so should we ask…ever, or does it signal an inability to answer questions decisively?
2. How long should we spend on the “Walk me through your resume” question. I just practiced mine and it took 20 minutes. I could be very generic and take 5, but it may risk the opportunity to explain some important information.
20 minutes is way too long, your “story” should be 3 minutes – an interview itself is only 30 minutes and any banker would cut you off way before the 20 minute mark.
You should focus on presenting a coherent story about how each experience you’ve had has made you into a better (potential) banker. Skip interests, favorite colors etc. unless they are somehow relevant.
Keep in mind that bankers hear HUNDREDS of these pitches over a few weeks so no matter how unique your story is, you need to keep it brief.
And yes, “Tell me about yourself” = “Walk me through your resume.” I would not ask for clarification on simple questions like the “time you failed” one but if it’s more complex you can.
i had a feeling..thanks
[...] Management School and two pages from Mergers & Inquisitions (an investment banking site) with a Superday Guide and information about the selection process. This simple search in Google seemed to give me all the [...]
This is a great site. anyway, I just had my phone interview… and i believe it went very well. I feel i won them over with personality. I have my first in person interview tomorrow. One thing that i am worried about is that i dont have a finiancial backround. My degree is in marketing. After college i went into sales, so i have been a logistics broker for the past 2 years. What do you recomend for someone like me with out an economics or accounting degree?
thanks
The key is to tell a great story about why you want to do finance now, come across as personable and know the bare minimum technical knowledge you need to answer questions… don’t go crazy trying to be on-par with finance/accounting guys.
Hi, Thank you for all the great advice posted on the website. It is very helpful. I am a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Accounting and Finance with a 3.73 GPA. I plan on taking the CFA Level 1 test this June. I have held accounting internships in the past, but have no experience in I- Banking. I am attempthing to contact banks in the Seattle area (not to many) for a chance of a non paid internship so I can gain experience before I apply for bigger markets (SF & LA). I am wondering what I can do to improve my chances for landing an analyst job at a botique firm. What are my chances of even recieving an interview. I have been accepted into a Masters in Accounting at UW, and plan to use this as a back up if I do not hear any responses this Spring and Summer. Would obtaining a CPA assist at all in this field? Also, Have you heard of the Investment Banking Institute? Is this a program, which could significantly improve my chances? Thank you so much!
The biggest thing that will help you is networking and developing real relationships with people at the firms you’re considering. That takes awhile and can’t be done overnight, but that will give you the biggest leverage.
My overall feeling is that any course/certification you take pales in comparison to networking… and then learning the proper resume/interview skills as well.
So I’d focus on that rather than going for some of the other options.
You mentioned “Judgment is an extremely important part of your job as an investment banking analyst…”
What kind of judgment is a good judgment though? I have a friend who is enthusiastic about banking and has strong opinion on virtually everything. In contrast, I believe in fairness and don’t like to give quick response and judgment. Which way will be more “fit” in banking as you said?
Thanks for any help.
hmm never really thought about this one. It’s probably better to be more thoughtful / careful, but there are times when a quick response is required – delaying things can be really bad.
hello, I’m a rising junior very interested in finance, and these articles are extremely insightful in the things to come…
the summer after my freshman year I interned with the wealth management division of an IBD, and while it was very interesting and I learned a ton about the financial industry as a whole, I really didn’t like the actual work of a FA. I’m wondering how I’d be able to politely express my non-interest in that branch of investment banking… I was thinking of saying something about how I found wealth management to be too qualitative (there was an “art” to the balancing of risk tolerance and client return demands but I’m looking for something a little more substantial), and that I wasn’t interested in becomming an entrepreneur.. but I’m worried that expressing my disinterest in entrepreneurship would look bad. would it?
I’m assuming you’re talking about how to say this in an interview – in which case, you should say something like, “I wanted to work with companies on a large scale and be exposed to a variety of different deals” and highlight the positive aspects of IBD rather than focusing on what you didn’t like about wealth management.
what would be the best answer if u will be ask “why you have not try or not able to apply for bank jobs even though my course is banking and finance?”
I’m not sure I understand your question, but just say you’ve only become interested in banking more recently
I made a huge mistake in college and failed calculus. It was my sophomore year and I was pledging a fraternity and got no sleep. I retook calculus the next year and got a 98 average, was a breeze. Should I mention this as a failure that I learned from? or avoid talking about this at all costs?
thanks a lot!
Yeah as long as you can tell a good story its fine to mention.
First off, great webite. The articles are very helpful and provide a great source of information about investment banking and how to get into it.
I have been working for a over a year in commercial finance and I wanted to switch into investment banking. I managed to get an interview (first round) with a small investment bank but its for a position in research (Research associate – mining services). Should I prepare for the interview the same way I would prepare for an investment banking position? Would the questions be the same or different?
Thanks!
It will be similar, but there will be more emphasis on the market and which stocks/industries you’d invest in. And less about financial modeling, though they’ll still cover accounting/valuation.
I’m a college senior, and I worked for a REIT this past summer. I helped do the due diligence on a transaction (and several potential transactions that didn’t come to fruition), but I was not the one who created the financial model. On my resume, I did not claim to have done any modeling, I just said I assisted in the preparation of an investment memo.
If I am asked if I did financial modeling in my interview, should I say that I was not the one to create the model but that I have a basic understanding of how it works (particularly in real estate)? I’m afraid I will get asked detailed questions about the model that I can’t answer, since I wasn’t the one who created it.
Also, I’m an economics major – would it be better to say that I didn’t create any models during the summer but that I have done some modeling in my economics courses [although of a different nature]?
Just say you gathered data and helped them input it into the model, but you didn’t actually do any model creation work yourself.
I would say you’ve learned a bit on your own but have never done it formally and never been formally trained.
Hi, great site! I had an interview last week and now am through to a Superday. I was wondering, have you ever heard of a Superday involving actually building a model, as part of a case-study? I should clarify by saying I’m applying to a bulge bracket in Australia, coming laterally as a 2nd/3rd year analyst from a boutique.
p.s., to confirm some of your other articles, the structure of the first interview was exactly as you have described, and although I got several tech qs wrong, it really had no impact on my second round offer. I would encourage other candidates to relax and concentrate on appearing emotionally mature, honest and professional rather than wasting time boning up on unlevered Beta derivations.
Cheers
In that case, yes, you may get a modeling case study – anyone with experience is likely to get some type of modeling test or case study, so definitely be prepared for it and do some practice beforehand.
Hi,
I am trying to break into investment banking from funds management (in Australia). I had an interview yesterday, and was asked this question “if on day 1, an MD comes up to you and says ‘I need a list of potential buyers for Agricultural Company ABC’, how would you find some?”
Frankly, I was a bit dumbfounded by this question.
1. Why would someone ask this question when they know I dont have any practical experience in the industry?
2. Should I have know the/an answer to this question? If so, where can I get these sort of answers?
3. What would a good answer have been?
Thank you, I love your site!!
Dave
They ask those questions all the time to assess how much of your own research you’ve done. You don’t need a perfect answer, but you should have some idea of why a company would buy another company – maybe they want to expand into the other company’s industry, maybe they’ve bought other, similar companies in the past, etc. I would have just said to look at larger agricultural companies first, and then expand the set based on which companies have been most active and which companies in other industries have acquired agricultural companies before.
Thanks for your response. You say ‘look at larger argricultural companies first… and whuch companies have been most active’ – where do you look? Is it just a matter of looking in the financial press, doing google searches??
Usually banks have internal databases of those companies. Otherwise, you’d look in financial news sources like Bloomberg and Capital IQ, research it online, look for similar companies in equity research, etc.
The day after my final round interviews with Barclays I got a call asking whether I had any geographic preference. A good sign or simply an HR formality? Also, wht can one expect from a S&T interview in comparison to IBD? More brainteasers / mental math ?
Hmm sometimes can just be a formality, I wouldn’t read too much into it. For S&T interviews, more focus on the markets and lots of brainteaser / probability / math questions.
Thats exactly wht I got in my Morgan Stanley Fixed Income S&T interview today. Wish i had asked you this question before and prepared for such questions.
Hello. You are so amazing you have done so much !!! Thank you for this great site. I am already feeling better about my interview at Barclays Capital that is coming up in few weeks.
I am I am 24 and from Mongolia. I am majoring in “Global Business” at a Japanese University.
I have a question. During the interview should I mention that I am married and have a baby?
I understand I am going to be working 80-100 hours per week but I don’t see a problem and I am just afraid that my interviewers might see it as a problem, that maybe I will be less committed. Of course I would tell them my husband is taking care of our baby and he is totally fine with it and this is how its been while I’ve completed my BA. Also, it’s a common thing in Mongolia to have children early but leave them with their grandparents or other relatives.
I’m thinking that I should (of course) be honest if they ask about it, but maybe not include it in my self-introduction or otherwise just volunteer it. What do you think?
Uh, no I would definitely not mention that you are married with a family. There is no reason to bring that up, and it could hurt you if you talk about it (for the reasons you mentioned).
Ok so i’m in a situation where its been 2 weeks since my super day interview and they won’t tell me for sure whether I got the job. They keep saying ‘we are in the process of reviewing your candidacy’. In the meanwhile they have arranged for me to have phone interviews with ppl in an office different from the one I interviewed at for super day. What the hell is going on? Am I simply on hold? If yes, then why have me interview even more ppl ?
Sounds like you’re on hold, and they may be trying to place you elsewhere. There isn’t much you can do at this point besides wait and hope other people drop out of the process.
I love the your blog!
I’m currently in my 3rd year at Sciences Po in Paris. Banks such as Goldman’s, JP Morgan, Lazard, Rothschild, etc. all recruit here. Do the same “rules” apply for the superdays here?
In Europe they have assessment centers and a few other differences, but most of the above still applies.
Brian;
This week I was interviewing for analyst position at a Bulge Bracket for the M&A group and the guy asked me if I prefer the an offer for the analyst position at the bank or 5 million dollars. I said the 5 million dollars, was that wrong?
Another one… the guy asked if I’m interviewing for other companies and I said the truth, YES. and he asked, and than I said other banks, boutiques and private equity. I let myself clear that I’m only looking for corporate finance position. He asked me if I prefer a Bulge Bracket of a Private Equity fund like Advent / KKR / Blackstone. I tended to say IB but I think he did not believed me and keep pushing on that question. Than I said said maybe a PE fund and explained my reason, he kept talking about that. He’s a associate senior to VP and than I said “I think even you prefer the PE fund, the money is higher the hours is less” He said nothing and changed the subject and kept interviewing me.
Is it wrong being to honest? Do you think I made a mistake?
Yes, I would have said the position at the bank because potentially it could be worth much more than $5MM in future years.
And yes, honesty can be a mistake as well. You always want to say you’re focused only on banking – never give them the impression that you might do PE, at least in the near future. So I would have said that you’re only focused on banks.
my mistake
living and learning…
thanks Brian.
Hi Brian Sir,
This is Ruquaiya and I need your help
I have been shortlisted for an Interview with JPMC(Treasury & Security services) for a team leader for different processes in their Fund Accounting team–(Like trade booking, trade validation, Financial reporting, Transfer agency, Reconciliations functions)
I am looking for your help to break this interview plsss telme where to focus to break the technical interview..as a team lead in any of the processes..
I am a Master in Commerce, CA inter–criteria for campus recruitment shortlising
Would extremely appreciate your help ASAP.MY interview is on 14th December 2009 at my college campus
Much thanks in advance…
I am not too familiar with fund accounting – I would focus on the usual technical questions and make sure you can explain everything that they actually do in fund accounting (look on wikipedia or other sources online for more on that, there’s not much on this site).
Would you feel that it is appropriate to ask “How many people are you extending offers to?” I feel as though this may come off as investigative and information that they may not want to share. I assume some would be perfectly fine answering, but I’m scared I might ruffle some feathers if I ask. Thanks for the great advice!
I would not ask that
I have a superday interview on Monday at a boutique ibank and was wondering what they might ask?
I have already been through a 20 min phone interview in which they asked some basic accounting questions and the obvious walk me through your resume, why banking, why here, etc.
After that I was invited down for a 30 min “meeting” at the offices (really another interview) with some MDs and the associate and VP who interviewed me on the phone. In this they asked more about myself and asked some basic valuation questions.
Now I have the superday interview coming up and was wondering what more they might ask, if it might be more technical or more fit, or really what to expect. Thanks for the help and for this awesome website. Also, the interview guide and financial modeling modules are awesome too.
Generally Superday interviews are not dramatically different from the 1st round. I would actually expect more “fit” questions and more assessing of “Do we like you?” as opposed to in-depth technical questions. The only exception would be if you’ve had a prior i-banking internship, in which case they may ask more detailed technical questions as well.
Hi M&I. Your site is amazing and very helpful.
A quick question: if I am so enthused about a summer analyst internship position at a BB that I am willing to do it without pay, would that increase the chance of being hired?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
At a bulge bracket bank they would never offer you an unpaid internship, so this wouldn’t work – that trick only works at local boutiques without formal hiring guidelines.
Adding one more thing: I am getting a SA interview soon at a BB, should I offer to do it without pay somewhere during the interview?
See above. No, bad idea.
“The most valuable commodity I know of is information. Wouldn’t you agree?” -Gordon Gekko
I’m going to start applying for internships soon and I just signed up for this interview guide. If the free information on this site is anything to go by then it should be well worth my $97. In fact I probably would have considered paying 5-10 times that much.
Glad to hear it – hope it proves helpful.
how could u generally tell whether an interview has been done poorly or well? I had a phone interview for an IBD internship at an Australian IB..
Lots of technical questions / brain teasers = sometimes but not always a bad sign. Interview turns into discussion of sports, travel, unrelated topics = good sign.
How would you turn the interview into a discussion of something out of the box? I mean, you wouldn’t want to ask questions or start a conversation with a different topic right?
It happens naturally… usually you bring up something interesting, and sometimes they latch onto it and start asking you questions about that. But you can’t force it.