Five Interview Questions for Risk Managers

When they need a risk manager, firms look for professionals who know their technical stuff, but are also diplomatic enough to solve problems in a snap. When you’re interviewing for one of these positions, be ready to answer these five questions.

Tell me about your education.
Experience trumps degrees in most cases, says says Jim Langan, a partner at Winter Wyman. For those with less than five or seven years’ experience, hiring managers want to see an MBA or progress toward an advanced degree. Risk managers need to be experts in process evaluations, process improvements and reenergizing, as well as assessing the effectiveness of controls and control mitigation strategies – all skills taught in MBA programs. Even better are designations like Certified Risk Manager or Financial Risk Manager. These build instant credibility and show your career commitment. If you don’t have these designations, work towards them.

What do you know about COSO?

The of the Treadway Commission is considered the best-practices framework to assess and monitor an organization’s internal controls. So understanding it as a critical skill for risk management positions. COSO understanding also adds a layer of industry knowledge that can set you apart.

Are you ready for a brain teaser?
Managers love to ask complicated problem-solving questions to see how you think and respond under pressure. You can’t prepare for them, but you can prepare for how to respond. Take a deep breath, don’t panic, and read through the question carefully to figure out what tit’s asking. Managers aren’t necessarily looking for the right answer, but how you respond to the pressure of solving a problem in front of them.

What’s your view of risk management’s purpose within an organization?
If you can’t clearly communicate how you view risk management and its purpose, how will you be able to explain it to senior management?
Managers use this question to get a better understanding of whether your view of risk management will match theirs and firm’s approach. It also allows them to better understand the depth of your knowledge and how passionate you really are about the role. The firm might be looking for someone to help it change directions and take a different approach that can add a new perspective. Be able to provide a clear understanding or your view on risk and your firm’s view.

bank america group interview questions

Holland America Line typically hires for the following positions:
Agency Specialist, Airport Agent, Bartender, Beverage Manager, Business Analyst, Carpet Shampooer, Cellar Master, Clergy, Crew Member, Cruise Director, Deck Officer, Desk Clerk, Dishwasher, Engine Officer, Gift Shop Cashier, Gift Shop Clerk, Gift Shop Sales Associate, Guest Entertainer, Guest Relations Supervisor, Guest Speaker, Host/Hostess, Housekeeper, Houseperson, Inspector/Inspectress, International Concierge, Janitor, Musician, Night Auditor, Nurse, Physician, Piano Player, Pier Agent, Prep Cook, Room Attendant, Sales Coordinator, Security Guard, Server, Sous Chef, Technician, Wait Help, Youth Staff

Application:

View the Holland America Line Application and apply for the Holland America Line job you want.

Possible Holland America Line Interview Questions:

Prepare for your interview by reviewing the questions below. Think about how you would answer these types of questions.

• What about time off at port?
• Sea sickness – do you get it, how do you handle it?
• Can I choose the ship I work on?
• Can you share small quarters with another person?
• Can you work with a diverse crew from many nationalities?

Common Cruise Job Interview Questions:

Dont go unprepared. Review these often used interview questions and answers.

Have you done a job interview with Holland America Line before?

Tell us about it! Your feedback helps our users prepare for the interview process. General tips, questions, and helpful information are appreciated. Feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!
For example, useful information includes:

• Should I bring anything to the Holland America Line interview?
• What education level (high school or college) is required for the job?
• What other questions do they ask? How should you answer certain questions?
• What should I wear, or how should I dress for an interview at Holland America Line?
• How much do they pay? Will they ask about salary expectations, if so what should I say?
• Does Holland America Line drug test?
• What about second interviews? When should you expect a call after the interview?

Bank america phone interview questions

Let's face it; no one likes the interview process. Well, certainly not the people being interviewed anyway. You have to be on your best behavior, you only get one chance to get it right, and it's like taking your driving test all over again. Over the years I've been to countless interviews. To get my first job out of college I attended some 15-20 interviews a week. Whether it was in Britain or over here in the States, the questions never really seemed to change from job to job. Not only that, but the answers to them are usually the same, with your own personal interpretation of course. Here I present 23 questions you're likely to be asked, and how I have learned to answer them. Why 23? Because I had more than 20 and less than 25. Remember, being interviewed is a skill, and if you do the preparation you should ace it every time. (See also: 12 Unique Ways to Score a Job Interview)

1. So, tell me a little about yourself.
I'd be very surprised if you haven't been asked this one at every interview. It's probably the most asked question because it sets the stage for the interview and it gets you talking. Be careful not to give the interviewer your life story here. You don't need to explain everything from birth to present day. Relevant facts about education, your career and your current life situation are fine.

2. Why are you looking (or why did you leave you last job)?
This should be a straightforward question to answer, but it can trip you up. Presumably you are looking for a new job (or any job) because you want to  and get a position that allows you to grow as a person and an employee. It's not a good idea to mention money here, it can make you sound mercenary. And if you are in the unfortunate situation of having been downsized, stay positive and be as brief as possible about it. If you were fired, you'll need a good explanation. But once again, stay positive.

3. Tell me what you know about this company.
Do your homework before you go to any interview. Whether it's being the VP of marketing or the mailroom clerk, you should know about the company or business you're going to work for. Has this company been in the news lately? Who are the people in the company you should know about? Do the background work, it will make you stand out as someone who comes prepared, and is genuinely interested in the company and the job.

4. Why do you want to work at X Company?
This should be directly related to the last question. Any research you've done on the company should have led you to the conclusion that you'd want to work there. After all, you're at the interview, right? Put some thought into this answer before you have your interview, mention your career goals and highlight forward-thinking goals and career plans.

Bank Interview Questions Answers

Discover The Secrets To Nailing Your Investment Banking Interviews, And Land Job Offers From Investment Banks Paying You $75,000 Plus Bonuses, Right Out Of College

Bank Interview Questions Answers

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Interview Questions amp Excellent Sample Responses 49-56 Here Are 8 Of The Typical Job Interview Questions Job-seekers May Be Asked When I Had A Client Come Into The Bank Where I Worked And Request A 5000

Interview Questions amp Excellent Sample Responses 49-56 Here Are 8 Of The Typical Job Interview Questions Job-seekers May Be Asked When I Had A Client Come Into The Bank Where I Worked And Request A 5000

Bank Teller Interview Questions And Answers May 28 2009 A Bank Teller Is One Of The Most Prominent Members Of A Bank39s Employee Base Simply Because Of Their Sheer Visibility And Due To Them Being


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Bank Interview Questions Answers

Bank Of Scotland North America Interview Questions

General Interview Questions

• Tell me about a time when you observed a coworker doing something inappropriate and how you ha...
   Ethics questions can be very tricky, since your answer needs to demonstrate your integrity...
• The job you are interviewing for requires you to wear a lot of different hats You have never d...
   Something along the lines of even though my primary functions were X and Y, in most of my ...
• What would be your ideal work group? How would you define a good-fit work environment? Do you ...
   The answer to any queasiness like these (relating to work alone or with others, in large o...
• What do you see as the major trends in our field?
• how do you react when you are angry?

Bank of America interview questions sample

As you consider an opportunity with Bank of America, you should spend some time developing or updating your resume. Your resume offers you a chance to market your skills, abilities, accomplishments and experience. A good resume defines your qualifications as a job candidate and provides the hiring manager with a favorable first impression of you.

Getting Started

Regardless of the position you are interested in, the starting points for building your resume are the same:

1. Determine the job or types of jobs you are interested in and research the responsibilities and qualifications of those positions.
2. Think about why you can do the job and make a list of your skills that are relevant to the job.
3. Identify experiences and accomplishments that show your proficiency in the skills required for the job.
4. Summarize your abilities, accomplishments and skills to a brief, concise document.

Do's and Dont's

As you develop your resume, keep these in mind:

Do be brief. Resumes should be 1-2 pages in length.
Do be upbeat and active in your wording.
Do emphasize what you have done clearly and concretely.
Do be neat and well-organized.
Do have others proofread and critique your resume. Spell-check the document. Make it error-free.
Do use high-quality, white or light-colored 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Use a laser printer if possible.

Don't be dishonest, always tell the truth about yourself in the most flattering light.
Don't include salary history or requirements.
Don't include references.
Don't include accomplishments that do not support your professional goals.
Don't include anything that isn't relevant. For example, don't mention your fondness for swimming unless you want to work on the water.
Don't use italics, underlining, shadows or other fancy treatments.

Ten Interview Questions for Investment Banking Associates

Becoming an associate requires you to not only know how to build financial models but to have an understanding of how the bank relates to things like risk and the various businesses within the bank.
Here’s a sampling of questions you might have to answer during your interview.

1. Provide examples that demonstrate your managerial skills?
You might discuss the experience you’ve had running a team of peers, supporting the bank’s deals. Talk about leading the team in conducting research on deal background and financials on multiple deals over the past year.

2. Discuss your experience working with clients.
Associates will need to have solid client service skills. Here, be able to demonstrate your ability to work with bankers, lawyers, company managers and executives. Be sure to emphasize that your work with clients has included both marketing and banking work. You should also respond by asking for clarification on the role client service will play in your job. For example, would the amount of client interaction increase? Would the client facing be the same or more intense?

3. It’s ten minutes before a big client pitch and you notice a mistake in the pitch book. What do you do?
This one’s designed to see how you’d handle a pressure situation. There’s no right answer, says Joanna Moody, North American Recruiting Manager at JPMorgan. An interviewer is trying to gauge your thought process and your ability to manage unpredictable situations effectively.

4. Why did you get into investment banking?
Besides wanting to make your first million, it’s important to demonstrate a passion for the job. Be sure to provide examples where you’ve been successful as an associate. Show that you’ve done the analysis on deals, but also understand the big picture. This is the time to go well beyond your B-school knowledge. It’s about ideas. Talk about how you’d help a client raise cash in on capital markets or advise in a merger or an acquisition. Always provide real-life examples to show off the experience and personality traits that an investment bank and interviewer are looking for.

5. Describe your experience with risk and how you made decisions that involved risk.
As an investment banker, you’ll inevitably face tough decisions, notes Jeff Leader, partner at Global Search Partners. How you handle yourself in situations involving risk – to the bank’s money and clients’ success – is critical. Your answer should show that you possess sufficient analytical skills. This is best achieved by pointing to examples of situations in which you managed risk in a deal. Enumerate any assumptions made during your analysis on a transaction.
You can stand out by asking the interviewer how the bank approaches risk as it relates to your role. Ask whether specific valuation models are used as templates to evaluate deals, for example Be sure to ask about risk parameters, and who’s responsible for determining them and how they’re applied to specific deals, says Brian Berger, senior vice president at Glocap Search.

bank call center interview questions

Prepare for an Interview

It is our objective to provide a good candidate experience based on our Equity Principles.
If your profile matches the job requirements, a member of our HR team will contact you for a phone interview. During this interview you will have the chance to understand more about the role and its related responsibilities as well as the next steps of the process.

PHONE INTERVIEW

What you can do to increase your possibility of success

• Prepare to answer basic questions about yourself and your interest for the position
• Prepare for an interview in a second language. If you applied as a bilingual candidate (French, Mandarin, Cantonese or Spanish, part of your phone screen may be done in the second language)
• Find an adequate place to talk where you will not be interrupted by noise or other people. If you are using a cell phone, ensure you have good reception and your battery is fully charged
• Ask the recruiter how you can better prepare for next steps

A recruiter or hiring manager will contact you directly to schedule one or several interviews with our recruiters and/or hiring managers. Some positions might require you to take part of a second interview, typically in the form of a panel interview.

INTERVIEW

What you can do to increase your possibility of success

• Prepare for the interview by reading in detail the job description
• Prepare to share past experiences with the interviewer by describing specific situations where you applied specific skills related to the job. Follow these steps to guide your answers:
  a) Briefly describe the situation
  b) Summarize the actions you took or decisions made
  c) State the outcome
• Prepare questions that will allow you to better understand the job and the culture
• Leave a lasting impression: keep your principles of good etiquette during the overall process
• Identify three persons who could attest to your work performance and employment history. When considering your reference choices, please select individuals who have been your direct supervisors. Also, it would be helpful for you to obtain your student number from any academic institutions or schools that you have attended

bank america interview questions

Making a good impression can help you get the job. The interview is your chance to show potential employers that you're the person they're looking for. Make the most of your interview process, determine if a job is right for you and learn how to shine.
Before the interview.
During the interview.
After the interview.
Common interview questions.

Before the interview

• Research the company you're interested in. Doing a little homework helps both you and your interviewer save time. You can find information on many companies online.
• Understand your strengths and needs. A bit of pre-interview introspection will help you when you're asked to explain why you're the best candidate for the job.
• Think about your past extracurricular or work experience. Having all of your relevant experiences ready will increase your confidence and help sooth pre-interview jitters.
• Make extra copies of your resume. Don't assume that everyone you meet will have it.

During the interview

• Arrive on time. First impressions are important, and arriving on time can only help your chances of getting the position you want.
• Make your answers and questions direct, clear and concise. Be sure to answer the interviewer's questions concisely. Give specific examples and anecdotes to highlight your skills and experiences.
• Emphasize the positive. When discussing your background, and in general, use positive language. Negativity is a turn-off for many potential employers.
• Ask informed questions, make comments and pay attention.

After the interview

• Send a thank you letter. Sending a thank you letter shows that you have good manners, reminds the interviewer of your meeting and emphasizes why you're the best candidate for the position.

Common interview questions

• While there's no guarantee that you'll be asked the following questions, preparing for them can help you handle any interview situation confidently.

Background questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why are you interested in this position?
• Describe your personality.
• Can you work overtime or on weekends?
• Can you travel?
• Why are you leaving your current position?
• What kind of position are you looking for?
• What are your career goals in the next five years? What steps have you taken to accomplish them? What do you consider to be your career path?

General questions

• What are you major strengths?
• What are your greatest weaknesses?
• What does the word "success" mean to you?
• Define your ideal job/boss/department?
• What interests you most about this kind of work?
• What do you know about our organization?
• What do you think determines a person's success in this position?
• Based upon what you know about our industry right now, how does your ideal job match up with this position?
• How do you ensure that your work is error free?
• What have you done for your professional development in the last three months?
• What kinds of job activities do you find most boring? Most exciting?
• What are the standards of success in your job? What have you done to meet or exceed those standards?
• How do you know that the quality of service you provide has met you customers' needs and expectations?

Experience questions

• Tell me about the last time you came up with an idea that improved a situation or solved a problem?
• Tell me about the last time you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to complete a job?
• Have you ever made an unpopular/fast decision with little information? What happened?
• Tell me about a situation where you had to deal with a difficult client or customer. What did you do?
\
• Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
• Describe your most significant accomplishment for which you received recognition. What was it? What did you do? What was the result?
• Describe a situation in which you gave your all but failed. What did you learn?
• Tell me about a complaint you have received from a customer. How did you respond?
• Tell me about a time when you weren't pleased with your performance. What did you do?
• Give me an example of when you had to quickly learn new information?
• Recall a time when you were unable to meet a commitment. How did you handle it?

Management questions

• How can you add value to the organization in this position?
• What are the biggest decisions you have made in the last year? How did you go about making them? What alternatives did you consider?
• Provide an example of how you adapted your leadership style to your organizations culture?
• Have you ever put together a team, a work group, or task force? Describe how you went about it and why you made the choices you did?
• How do you determine the best coaching strategy for each of your direct reports?
• How do you keep track of your department's performance against your business plan? What do you do when you are not meeting the plan? 

Interviewing the interviewer
Part of the interviewing process is deciding if a position is right for you. Some good questions:

• What are the "unadvertised" aspects of this job that aren't contained in the formal job description?
• What characteristics would help a person succeed?
• What are the most challenging aspects of the job?
• What kind of training and development would I receive?
• Tell me about the people I would be working with?
• What's the most exciting aspect of the position?
• What's the career path for this position?
• Do you have any questions about my background that I haven't answered?
• What's the next step?

bank assistant manager interview questions

A prominent banking industry name, HSBC interviews a large selection of prospective sales, customer service, and management personnel to staff a wide variety of professional and entry-level opportunities. To earn employment consideration, interviewees may need to participate in drug tests, behavior exams, and background checks during the HSBC job interview process. According to career aspirations, HSBC interviewees may attend multiple stages of phone, group/panel, and 1:1 job interviews. HSBC interview questions cover a vast assortment of subject areas, including customer service, banking operations, education, and work history.
Dress professionally to attend an HSBC job interview and make a good impression on human resources personnel. Demonstrate banking knowledge and answer all interview questions with honesty, care, and brevity throughout the HSBC hiring process. Maintain eye contact with each interviewer during the HSBC interview process. Do not expect to learn hiring decisions during an HSBC job interview. Contact an HSBC personnel manager within two weeks of the final interview to learn of potential job offers.

Positions:

HSBC typically hires for the following positions:
Accountant, Administrative Assistant, Anti-Money Laundering Quality Assurance Specialist, Assistant Manager, Auditor, Bank Teller, Bankruptcy Specialist, Bilingual Account Opening Supervisor, Branch Customer Service Representative, Branch Manager, Business Banking Specialist, Collections Representative, Data Entry Clerk, Intern, Loan Servicing Representative, Management Information Accounting Analyst, Manager Marketing Strategy, Officer, Personal Banker, Project Manager, Records Administration Specialist, Retail Mortgage Consultant, Sales Associate, Senior Credit Policy and Risk Analyst, Teller, Unit Operations Manager

Application:

View the HSBC Application and apply for the HSBC job you want.

Possible HSBC Interview Questions:

Prepare for your interview by reviewing the questions below. Think about how you would answer these types of questions.

• Do you have any previous experience in finance? Explain.
• What skills make you a fit for this position?
• What differentiates you from othr candidates interested in this position?
• What was, or is, your best subject in school?
• What is the difference between our checking and savings account products?
• What do you know about our financial products?
• Tell me about a time you were faced with an unhappy customer. How did you handle it?

Common Interview Questions:

General interview questions and answers used by many employers to learn more about their candidates.

Interviewed with HSBC before?

Help our users! How should they prepare? What should they expect for the job interview process at HSBC. You can submit any tips, questions, or answers that my be helpful below.
For example, useful information includes:

• Should I bring anything to the HSBC interview?
• What education level (high school or college) is required for the job?
• What other questions do they ask? How should you answer certain questions?
• What should I wear, or how should I dress for an interview at HSBC?
• How much do they pay? Will they ask about salary expectations, if so what should I say?
• Does HSBC drug test?
• What about second interviews? When should you expect a call after the interview?

Bank Manager Interview Questions

A bank manager interview questions are the questions asked to an individual who is sitting for an interview for the position of a bank manager. The questions are asked to evaluate the person’s knowledge in the field of banking. The questions also help in analyzing the managerial skills of an individual and also give the information about the person’s work experience in the field of banking.

1. Would you like to tell us something about yourself?
2. What is your total work experience in the field of banking?
3. How good do you feel are your managerial skills?
4. What do you think are the main responsibilities of a banking manager?
5. How do you feel that the current economy can affect the banking sector?
6. You have done your MBA with your specialization in finance. Do you feel this would help you in your work experience?
7. On a busy day when there is a rush in the bank, how would you motivate your team to work so that they are not affected by the work pressure?
8. How many types of banking accounts are there?
9. What would you do if a customer is facing problems in opening an account and after getting frustrated, wants to meet the bank manager?
10. How would you inspire an employee against whom you have been receiving a customer complaint?
11. What is the pay package that you are looking forward to?
12. In how many days would you be able to join us?

Real Interview Questions

Questions related to Bank:

• 1   Do you support privatization of banks and why?
• 2   Where an insurance company does invests its funds?
• 3   Who is governor of RBI?
• 4   What is CRR?
• 5   What was the name of first bank established in India?
• 6   What are the tools with RBI to control liquidity in market?
• 7   What is the difference between Savings account and Current account?
• 8   What do you know about NIACL?
• 9   Which bank recently got submerged in SBI?
• 10   Which bank faced financial crises recently?
• 11   What significant trends do you see in the future of the bank industry?

Questions related to behaviour:

• 1   What are your positive and weaknesses?
• 2   Which project have you started on your own?
• 3   What do you do when priorities change quickly?
• 4   What difficulties you faced while encountering a problem?
• 5   Give an example of a situation you found yourself in and what did you do?
• 6   How will you handle the situation if an experienced and old employee misbehaves with you in office?

Questions related to Resume/General Questions:

• 1   What are your hobbies?
• 2   Why did you leave your previous job?
• 3   Name 5 powerful women in India?
• 4   Where do you see yourself five years down the line?
• 5  How many marks will you give yourself out of 10 for this interview?
• 6   Why should we hire you into our organization?

Bank Interview Tips and Guide

Example of Interview Questions

Remember the rules for self-awareness questions:
1. Predict, prepare, and practice.
2. Be honest, but emphasize the positive.
3. Keep your audience in mind.
As you prepare for self-awareness questions, ask yourself the following:
• What were the motivations and decision-making processes behind each of
the experiences summarized on my resume?
• What personal qualities do I possess that would make me a particularly
strong candidate for an investment banking analyst or associate role?
• How would other people (friends, colleagues, classmates) describe me?
58
Hitting the Road
• What are my personal and professional weaknesses, limitations, and
vulnerabilities, and how might they impede my success in an investment
banking role?
• What have been my most significant failures and mistakes? What have I
learned from each of them, and how have I applied these lessons to other
endeavors?
Question 1
Why did you choose ABC University (or XYZ Business School)?
Question 2
I see that before business school, you worked at Fix My Business
Consulting for 3 years. Since consulting firms are so focused on
developing their analysts and associates, I’m sure you participated in a
fair number of performance reviews during your tenure. What did your
last performance review say?
Question 3
Tell me about a time that you had to overcome a weakness to achieve a
personal or professional goal.
59
Hitting the Road
Capacity Questions
Remember the rules for capacity questions:
1. Be prepared for confrontation.
2. Imply—but don’t state directly—that your previous achievements prove
that you’re highly capable of doing the work.
3. Remember that capacity refers to more than just intellectual horsepower.
As you prepare for capacity questions, think of specific instances in which you
have demonstrated the following characteristics:
• Exceptionally high performance standards
• Considerable intellectual curiosity, quantitative aptitude, and analytical ability
• Willingness to work extraordinarily long (and often unpredictable) hours
• Willingness to do unglamorous and tedious grunt work
• Abilities to learn quickly and work efficiently
• Consistent attention to details, even under significant time constraints
• Ability to stay calm and productive under pressure
• Capacity for juggling several complex projects (at various stages of
development) simultaneously
Question 4
Of the academic and work experiences listed on your resume, I wondered
if you could discuss the role that required the most juggling or
multitasking of complex projects?
60
Hitting the Road
Question 5
Describe a time when something that you worked on—whether in an
academic, extracurricular, or professional setting—required considerable
personal sacrifice. How did you stay motivated to achieve your goal
despite the sacrifices it required?
Interpersonal Aptitude
Questions
Remember the rules for interpersonal aptitude questions:
1. Where possible, highlight the team-based components of the pursuits
listed on your resume.
2. No bragging, blabbering, or bluffing.
3. Get comfortable, but not too comfortable.
As you prepare for interpersonal questions, think of specific anecdotes or
experiences that will help your interviewer assess the following:
• Whether you are extroverted, social, affable, and likely to thrive in a dynamic,
team-based environment
• Whether you are likely to be a consistently positive contributor to the teams,
especially in high-pressure, time-sensitive situations
61
Hitting the Road
• Whether your communication skills will inspire confidence among colleagues
and clients (this includes both effective speaking and active listening)
• Whether you take direction and criticism well, that is, without taking things
personally and creating conflict (i.e., whether you have a “thick skin”)
• Whether you can successfully navigate intraoffice personality conflicts
(especially avoiding them in the first place!)
• Your ability to manage difficult and demanding personalities effectively,
particularly when faced with competing priorities from different deal teams
Question 6
Have you ever had to work with someone that you didn’t particularly like
or get along with? How did you overcome personality differences to get
your job done?
Question 7
I noticed that here at Stanford Business School, you currently serve as
the co-president of the student association. I wondered if you could
describe your role in this group, focusing on the people management
(rather than the project management) component of your job. If I spent
some time here on campus and spoke to the students who worked with
you in this organization, what would they say that they liked (and
perhaps disliked) about working with you? Do you think that you were
an effective manager?
Question 8
Have you ever worked on a team that didn’t achieve its objectives? Why
do you think the team wasn’t effective?
62
Hitting the Road
Commitment Questions
Remember the rules for commitment questions:
1. Know exactly why you want to be an investment banker.
2. Examine your resume and transcript for anything your interviewer might
perceive as a gap or inconsistency.
3. Remember that investment banks love to be loved, just like the rest of us.
As you prepare for commitment questions, make sure you’ve given some
thought to the following questions:
• Why am I pursuing a job in this industry; specifically, why am I pursuing a
job at this firm, in this specific function?
• How will I walk my interviewer through my resume in a way that suggests a
logical progression to a career in investment banking?
• Are my reasons for pursuing the analyst/associate track thoughtful and
credible?
• How will this job advance my own personal and professional goals?
• Can I provide a realistic outline of the roles and responsibilities of an
analyst/associate? What does an analyst/associate do every day? What is
appealing to me about assuming those responsibilities?
• Do I understand the extent to which the profession requires personal
sacrifice? How can I convince my interviewer that I have thought this
through?
• If I secure an offer at this particular bank, will I accept it? Why? What makes
an offer from this bank more appealing than an offer from another?
63
Hitting the Road
Question 9
Describe what you think the role of an investment bank is.
Question 10
Why do you want to be an investment banker? Explain how you arrived
at the decision to pursue an analyst position in investment banking.
Question 11
So I know why you want to be a banker, but why here specifically? I
mean, if we at ABC Bank give you an offer, are you going to accept it
over your other offers?
Question 12
Aside from the hours, what do you think you’ll like the least about
investment banking?
64
Hitting the Road
Technical Questions
Remember the rules for technical questions:
1. Keep your answers short and sweet.
2. Think concepts, not formulas.
3. If you don’t know, then just say that you don’t know.
As you prepare for technical questions, keep the following things in mind:
• For finance, accounting, and economics majors: What was the most
complex or difficult concept you encountered in your quantitative studies?
Would you be able to explain this concept to your grandmother so that she
would understand it (or at least so that she wouldn’t lapse into a coma)?
• For nonquantitative majors: Can you use your common sense, analytical
reasoning, and business intuition to walk through a case-style interview
question on valuation? If faced with a technical question regarding valuation,
what top-line concepts will you draw on to craft an effective answer?
• For MBA candidates with banking experience: Do you know the deals
cited on your resume inside and out? Can you answer detailed questions
about the financial projections, transaction structure, and valuation behind
each transaction?
• For MBA candidates without banking experience: Have you reviewed
your graduate-level finance and accounting courses so that you know the
material cold? Can you demonstrate a strong enough foundation from these
classes to hit the ground running as an associate?
65
Hitting the Road
Question 13
If you had $10,000 to invest—but you had to invest the money in a single
common stock—which company’s stock would you choose, and why?
Question 14
I see on your resume that you worked on the acquisition of Company B
by Company A. I wondered if you could tell how the buyer arrived at a
value for the seller, and tell us whether you think it was a good deal.
Question 15
So far, we’ve talked a lot about multiples: You’ve mentioned EBITDA
multiples in your discussion of the analysis you did at Morgan Stanley,
you’ve talked about P/E multiples in your analysis of a common stock. I
wondered if you could tell me what a multiple really is—to say that a
company is trading at “eight times.” How would I make sense of that?
How is that meaningful to you? What does it tell you about the
company?
Question 16
If I asked you to tell me what a skyscraper in Manhattan was worth—
let’s say the one we’re sitting in right now—how would you go about
valuing that skyscraper?