Interview questions
Investment Banking interview questions
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Interview questions
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How to Answer “Tell me about a time you had to make a decision with limited information.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you took initiative without being asked.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you persuaded someone or changed their mind.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you think about valuing synergies in an acquisition?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “Walk me through a Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) valuation.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through a Dividend Discount Model (DDM).” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does a change in accounts payable affect the cash flow statement?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does a change in inventory affect the cash flow statement?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What are pro forma adjustments and why do we make them?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “What is stapled financing and when is it used?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How would you value a company with multiple share classes (different voting rights / economics)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a Material Adverse Change (MAC) clause and why does it matter?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between a spin-off, split-off, and carve-out?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why Debt Capital Markets (DCM)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “In M&A, what’s the difference between an asset sale and a stock sale?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why Equity Capital Markets (ECM)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you received critical feedback. How did you respond?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you made a mistake—what happened and what did you do afterward?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why investment banking instead of consulting?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is the greenshoe (overallotment) option in an IPO, and why is it used?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between a follow-on offering and a secondary offering?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a rights offering, and how does it work for existing shareholders?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “What is a make-whole call provision, and how is it different from a standard call premium?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between senior secured and senior unsecured debt?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does a revolving credit facility work, and why do companies use revolvers?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “Walk me through how you would build a debt schedule (mandatory amortization, optional prepayments, interest).” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How would you value a company with negative free cash flow (cash burn)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “What are net operating assets, and why do they matter for valuation or ROIC analysis?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between maintenance covenants and incurrence covenants?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do you model revenue and cost synergies in a merger model (timing, taxes, one-time costs)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between EV/EBITDA and P/E, and when would you use each?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “What is a collar in a stock-for-stock M&A deal, and why would parties use one?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is an earnout in M&A and what are the pros/cons for buyer and seller?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you calculate interest expense in a financial model when debt balances change over time?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a go-shop clause, and when is it used in M&A deals?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you calculate ROIC, and what does it tell you about a company?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a breakup fee (termination fee) in M&A and why does it exist?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a poison pill, and how does it work as a takeover defense?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “Explain the if-converted method and how convertible debt affects diluted shares/EPS.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you forecast working capital using DSO, DIO, and DPO (days metrics)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How would you forecast Capex and depreciation in a DCF model?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “Do you include pension liabilities in enterprise value? Why or why not?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do you treat equity method investments / associates when calculating enterprise value?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you normalize EBITDA for one-time or non-recurring items in valuation?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does deferred revenue impact free cash flow and valuation in a DCF?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “When would you use EV/EBIT vs EV/EBITDA, and what are the tradeoffs?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between enterprise value multiples and equity value multiples?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through a comparable company analysis (trading comps).” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do share repurchases affect EPS and valuation?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is circularity in a three-statement model, and how do you solve it?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a football field valuation, and how would you build one?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between LTM and NTM, and when would you use each?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a bridge loan in acquisition financing, and why do companies use it?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “What questions should you ask at the end of an investment banking interview?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do you model revolver drawdowns and paydowns in a financial model?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why do you want to work in this group (e.g., M&A, TMT, Healthcare)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “In an acquisition, when is cash vs stock vs debt consideration better?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you handled multiple deadlines at once.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why do you want to work in M&A investment banking?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through the IPO process from start to pricing.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What factors drive WACC up or down?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you project revenue growth and margins in a DCF?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you choose an exit multiple to calculate terminal value?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does stock-based compensation affect free cash flow and valuation?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through a precedent transactions analysis.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How would you value a pre-revenue company in an interview?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you build a DCF sensitivity table (e.g., WACC vs. terminal growth or exit multiple)?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you pick comparable companies for a trading comps analysis?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a recent M&A deal you found interesting.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do interest rates affect valuation multiples?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How would you build a basic three-statement model?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you unlever and relever beta?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you calculate the after-tax cost of debt?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do net operating losses (NOLs) affect valuation?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “Pitch a company we should acquire and explain why.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you value a company with negative EBITDA?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why do you want to work in Leveraged Finance?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Explain a company’s capital structure and why it matters.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do operating leases affect enterprise value and valuation multiples?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you value a company with multiple business segments?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Explain the Treasury Stock Method” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Explain purchase price allocation and goodwill.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a working capital peg (target) in an acquisition, and how does it work?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do convertible bonds work and how would you model conversion?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you calculate diluted shares outstanding?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “When would you use perpetuity growth vs an exit multiple for terminal value?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is the mid-year convention in a DCF, and why do you use it?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through a merger model at a high level.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a fairness opinion in an M&A deal, and who provides it?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is a lock-up period in an IPO, and why does it matter?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is the difference between primary and secondary shares in an IPO?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do the three financial statements link together?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you value a company for an IPO?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How would you value a company?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Why do you want to work at our bank?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “Explain accretion/dilution in an M&A deal.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between a leveraged loan and a high-yield bond?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does goodwill impairment affect the three financial statements?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What’s the difference between a tender offer and a merger?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult teammate.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do you forecast revenue using operating drivers?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What are debt covenants, and why do they matter?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is an enterprise value bridge and how do you build it?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How do synergies affect a merger model?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What happens to the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement when depreciation increases?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is the difference between unlevered free cash flow and levered free cash flow?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What is beta and how is it used in CAPM?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Advanced
How to Answer “How do deferred taxes work in M&A purchase accounting?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Behavioral · Intermediate
How to Answer “Walk me through your resume.” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “What valuation multiples would you use to value a bank and why?” in Investment Banking Interviews
Technical · Intermediate
How to Answer “How does working capital impact free cash flow?” in Investment Banking Interviews
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