How to Answer “Why Restructuring?” in Investment Banking Interviews

Open with a one-sentence definition in plain English, then answer the question directly. For example: restructuring is advising companies and stakeholders when the capital structure no longer fits the business, with the goal of stabilising liquidity and allocating value fairly across stakeholders.

Then state your personal “why” in 1–2 punchy reasons that feel tailored (e.g., you enjoy complex situations where both downside risk and stakeholder incentives matter; you like the mix of finance and process; you want reps in scenario-driven analysis). This first step should be confident and concise—no autobiography.

Keep the motivation positive and professional: focus on helping businesses navigate stress, preserving value, and learning how capital structures behave under pressure. Avoid framing it as “I want to work on bankruptcies” without context.

Demonstrate you know what you’d do as an analyst in restructuring. Mention 2–3 concrete workstreams: building a 13-week cash flow and liquidity runway, mapping the capital structure and covenants, modelling downside cases, and doing recovery / waterfall analyses across instruments.

Add the stakeholder lens: outcomes are driven by negotiations among lenders, bondholders, sponsors, and trade creditors, often with legal constraints and tight timelines. This is where you can naturally reference how you think about valuation under stress—e.g., enterprise value ranges, going-concern vs liquidation, and why sensitivities matter.

Keep this anchored to analyst execution. You’re signalling you can handle detail and ambiguity—similar to how ib technical questions test structure under pressure, just applied to distressed situations.

Pick one specific experience that makes your interest believable: a credit-focused internship, a distressed case competition, a turnaround project, a markets/credit course, or even a well-explained self-study project. The goal is not to impress with jargon, but to prove you’ve engaged with the topic.

Use a mini “situation–action–learning” arc: what you looked at (e.g., maturity wall, covenant headroom, liquidity runway), what you built (scenario model, simple recovery), and what you learned (small changes in assumptions can shift negotiating leverage).

This proof point should connect to the team you’re interviewing for and the analyst role: strong modelling hygiene, careful assumptions, and crisp outputs for seniors—similar discipline you’d apply in a dcf interview answer, but with heavier downside and capital-structure focus.

Close by translating your interest into “why this seat” and “why now.” Mention the kind of reps you want early (live situations, creditor dynamics, rapid learning curve) and the skills you aim to build (credit analysis, restructuring modelling, communication under pressure).

If appropriate, add one firm/team-specific fit point (without overpraising): e.g., strength in creditor-side mandates, sector exposure, or a track record of complex situations.

Finish with a clear, forward-looking line that shows commitment: you want to start your investment banking career in restructuring because it builds rigorous downside thinking and stakeholder awareness—skills that compound across advisory careers and make you a stronger analyst.