Blogs

I’ve done the Spring Weeks and summer internships. But what I’ve also experienced now is recruitment: the round tables for interns, Hirevue screening, and CV reviews for my current bank.

So the obvious question is: “what would I do differently if I applied for investment banking internships and analyst roles all over again?”

I’ll tell you right now, like most students, I spent hours studying investment banking technical questions and concepts (valuation, accounting, market sizing): I studied HARD for those interviews. I remember being sat on my dorm room floor with (genuinely) hundreds of pages of handwritten notes to every possible interview question I could think of. I found all of the resources there were online and took the best of each.

All of that got me 80% of the way there. But what truly got me over the finish line? One specific conversation with one of my many interviewers...

What banks really look for in interviews (and how to show it)

I was on the phone with a Director (now MD) and we were chatting about something I can’t even remember now. But somehow, we ended up discussing a deal I told him I read about and had piqued my interest. Turns out, he had been on that very deal, and we ended up having a lively discussion.

Looking back, I realised it was more than a stroke of luck. That conversation wasn’t really about the deal. It was about turning an interview into a genuine discussion between two people (regardless of seniority). One where I could show my personality and he could show his. I essentially passed his test of “would I choose to work with you at 2am?”

And that’s literally all there is to it. EVERYONE has an answer to “walk me through an LBO”. Being prepared for those technical conversations isn’t an advantage, it’s simply an expectation.

If I were to go back in time, once I nailed those answers, I would be working on the energy I was bringing forward: the soft skills that defined my first impression within the first 7 seconds of meeting the interviewer.

Because, honestly, if I hadn’t connected with that specific interviewer, I don’t think I’d be here today in this role, or even this industry. Now, what if I had taken the time to connect with all of my interviewers in the same way? I certainly wouldn’t be second guessing whether I performed well. The answer would have been obvious and the application process would have been a breeze.

I need to re-iterate this again. Because I’m telling you the secret formula from someone who’s been there, done that and has now been on the other side (the interviewer’s side) multiple times across all application stages. WORK ON YOUR INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. PERFECT THEM. That is the KEY to acing your interviews, I promise you!!

And that’s exactly why AnalystDen exists! We’ve got you covered with your fundamental, base case interview skills for investment banking (y’know, your technical questions, behavioral scenarios) but we also have made it our mission to give you the best opportunities to hone your interpersonal skills (via our Analyst Mastery course).

Start here and build the exact toolkit we know you need to sail through your interviews and your time as an analyst (from behavioral and technical questions, to mastering the ultimate "2am test").

Hey guys! Ever wondered what a typical day in investment banking looks like? Follow an Associate in London through a 17-hour Tuesday: come see what I really get up to as an investment banker.

It’s mid-September as I’m writing this - meaning: we’re in the middle of a BUSY period. Clients have come back from the summer, and that’s when we tend to ramp things up again - with the workload usually calming down once we approach November / December.

Don't get me wrong, 17-hour days aren't always the norm. Investment banking hours, at least in my case, tend to go up and down quite frequently, meaning my work-life balance also looks different day-to-day.

8am: I logged off at midnight last night, so I set my alarm for 8am today. Like most investment banking associates, the first thing I did when I woke up today was check my work phone for anything urgent.

When I was an analyst, a lot of it was to check if there were any urgent to-do’s from my associate. Now I’m the associate, I’m checking for:

1. Urgent overnight work from clients / seniors

2. Any questions from my analyst that I can answer, so I’m not the bottleneck for any work they’re doing on our project

Replied to a couple emails - nothing urgent that can’t wait til I’m at the office.

8.45am: Opened up my Spotify playlist and hopped on the tube to Bank station. Checked my emails again during my commute.

9.15am: Arrived at the office and replied to some more emails. A few rolled in from the accountants on our deal - one of our clients called to check for a quick morning update on to-do’s for the day. I pulled up my tracker, gave the update and passed this conversation onto my VP and analyst to keep them in the loop.

10am: Emails. Emails. Emails (+ a couple calls). Since I got promoted from an analyst to an associate, I’ve found myself spending most of the day (my 9-5) answering emails from 5-6 different parties (accountants, other external advisers, buyers, our client). We’re at the peak of one of our deals at the moment and, as the sell-side adviser to our client, we act as the point of contact for all parties.

11am: Caught up with my analyst to check in on their progress and come up with a game plan for the afternoon while I’m stuck in my inbox. We popped out for a quick coffee break - an excuse for some fresh air and a break away from our screens.

11.25am: Back to work! My VP stopped by my desk and wanted to discuss the model I sent him last night. We called over the analyst as well. This is one of my favourite parts of the job in all honesty. We spent some time debating my assumptions and figuring out the best way forward.

During my analyst years, for a long time, I didn’t get much opportunity to own the modelling workstream. I found myself staffed on lots of urgent executions, and so my associate would usually have to take on the model - was just a matter of circumstance.

The last 6 months before my promotion, I got to spend a lot more time working on my modelling skillset - the key to it was working with seniors who I got on well with, and who were invested in my learning.

12.30pm: Lunchtime! A bunch of us went to a sushi place down the street - one of the local spots for our team.

I’ve started building up a habit of eating away from my desk - something I didn’t do a lot of in my analyst years (even though I could have, looking back).

Kept an eye on my phone for anything urgent - thankfully nothing :)

1.30pm: Back at my desk - I took another look at our signed-off weekly call agenda for a Zoom meeting at 2pm with the client.

2pm: Led the call - it’s mainly a quick update from our end each time and then passing it to the other parties on the call - nothing technical but super important that these weekly project calls happen so we’re all aware of the latest status for each workstream.

3pm: Cleaned up the model for our discussion points from earlier and sat down with my analyst to go over the “what” and “why” of the latest model.

My analyst then took it over to output while I wrote out some of the key messaging slides on my plate + responded to moreeee emails :)))

6pm: I reviewed the latest slides from both our ends, and combined them into the latest draft of our deck - shipped off to the VP for any comments.

6.30pm: DINNER. I feel like I mentally plan around my meals - writing out this blog right now has made me hyper aware of that fact!!

By now, the MDs are packing up and leaving the office (will still be online later in the day though).

This is my team’s dinner routine: we all have our go-to’s at this point from Deliveroo and order at the same time. Then it’s dinner in the big meeting room as a group - I don’t know how that comes across through the screen but honestly, it’s a nice part of the day. We just chat about anything and relax while seniors are heading off / reviewing our work.

8pm: Ok, now it’s time to focus and try to get out at a decent time. My analyst and I sat down on our evening game plan - split the slides and comments from my VP, and got to work.

11pm: Slides done. My analyst cleaned up our daily tracker while I reviewed our slides once more.

11.30pm: Shared back with the VP and headed home while we waited for comments / sign off.

00.30am: Email from the VP - “looks good, thanks. Please share it with the DG." Great!

I popped a message to my analyst, asking them to share it with the seniors in PDF format - it’s important to create opportunities for your analyst to get their name out there in senior emails. My mentor did it for me, and I’m doing my best to be conscious to create that space for my colleagues now as well.

1am: Email from the MD - “thx, will review in the morning.”

Set my alarm for 8am and I’m off to bed!

Final word

Every day in investment banking looks different. Some are more fast-paced, others are less so. In my experience at least, I never know what my day will fully look like when I walk in at 9am. It forms over the day and really depends on our client’s needs.

The one I laid out above is a pretty uneventful one, but I’m all about sharing the realistic ups and downs with you guys.

The work can be tough, but I find it’s actually incredibly satisfying when you’ve got a mentor you respect, and juniors you’re invested in training up. The amount you learn in just a couple of years is crazy to think about, looking back.

AnalystDen was created very intentionally to give you guys the opportunity to practice and perfect the skills we require every day in the job. Writing emails where you need to manage client relationships, or checking slides quickly for miscalcs etc... the higher you climb the ladder, the more you'll find your days consisting of these kinds of tasks. If you start on the desk, and you're already a pro at operating at (or above) your level, you'll make a killer first impression and be top of the class rankings.

That's why we're here. Go try out our inbox simulator and slide checks for free now! Replicate the same workflows I experience on the desk.

We sat at the internship round tables. What’s one of the key skills that lands analysts in the “you’re hired” camp vs the “reject” camp? Not spotting their own mistakes and letting us find them.

It’s not always about being the smartest. It’s about being the one who doesn’t send the client a slide riddled with errors, or let the MD catch a miscalculation in the footnotes.

Let’s get this out of the way first: we’re not saying you can’t make mistakes. Everyone does. Including MDs. In fact, we encourage you to get your “major” mistakes out of the way in your first 6 months – and to learn from them.

But what’s important here is:

• Can you stand behind your calculations?

• Do you make repeated errors?

• Can your seniors and clients trust your work?

Think about it like this: if you consistently send miscalcs, or messaging that doesn't fit the data shown (or vice versa), your seniors are going to start to question if you understand the concepts or if you've just memorized certain steps without getting the "why" of it all.

QA – quality assurance – is how you protect your team, your work: your reputation is on the line.

Slide-check reviews that build real execution and quality-assurance habits.

Our slide checks show you investment banking pitchbooks packed with subtle, truly realistic errors that bankers see every day on the desk:

• Calculations that don’t tie

• Formatting inconsistencies

• Messaging that breaks flow

• Incorrect valuations or assumptions

• Branding or footnotes that slip past unnoticed

You’re forced to think like an analyst – not a student.

Tagged and tracked.

Every slide check:

• Is tagged by skill

• Gets scored and tracked in your dashboard

• Helps you benchmark how sharp you are

This isn’t busywork. This is what your associate is hoping you catch before they send the deck out. This is how you help them – your team – and build up your reputation (or otherwise risk damaging it).

Final word

QA is how you stop making rookie mistakes. It’s the difference between “good enough” and “great work, send it”.

Want to build analyst-level precision? Try reviewing our investment banking slides and pitchbooks for free at AnalystDen - start catching what others miss, like a top-performing analyst would.

Investment banking interview questions designed to prepare you: simulating the investment banking interview room before you’re even in it.

Practicing for interviews is tough when it’s all theory – we get it. There were countless days and nights where going over a DCF is all our brain’s turned to mush for.

You rehearse your story, you memorize how to walk someone through an LBO – but no one’s really putting you under pressure, except yourself or your other friend doing the same applications.

That’s what this feature is for. Our real interview questions aren’t just warmups – they recreate the feeling of being in the room or doing the video interview: feel the time pressure and get the sometimes harsh (virtual) senior feedback until it doesn’t faze you anymore.

Real prompts across 6 key chapters of investment banking interview prep.

You’ll get open-ended interview questions across:

• Behavioral

• Market Sizing

• Technicals (valuation, accounting, and more!)

• Communication & Judgement

• Execution

• Work Habits

Each one is tagged by skill, grouped by chapter, and structured to reflect the kinds of judgment calls and communication challenges you’ll face in actual interviews.

We've taken the time to ensure each question mirrors what you'll face in your interviews, whether for a Spring Week, internship, or assessment centre. AnalystDen is here to prepare you for questions about DCFs, LBOs, market awareness, judgement calls, and more - with confidence.

We’ve been on your side and theirs: screening applicants and interviewing stellar candidates. What are bankers wondering in the room?

• Can this person communicate clearly AND naturally, even under pressure?

• Do they actually understand the concepts they’re explaining, or have they just memorized them all?

• Would I trust them to take ownership, even at the smallest level?

• Do they seem humble enough to take on constructive criticism?

• Would I want to work with this person at 2am?

Notice how none of these questions are about the intricate specifics behind “Walk me through a DCF?” or whatever else.

We’re not saying don’t prepare for your technicals. You definitely should take the time to do so. But tell us this – how does that make you stand out from every other applicant who has nailed the classic answers?

Investment banks don’t want a robot. They want someone who wants to be useful from week one. They’re looking for a proactive team player – someone they’re genuinely happy to invest time into training up.

And that’s why you’ll see more than just technical mock interviews on our site. Go check out our Analyst Mastery chapters – we’ve provided the tools and content: you just need to click and learn.

What happens when you answer?

Here’s the process:

1. You’re given a realistic interview-style question

2. You write your full answer (or say it to your camera – your choice) – ideally under time pressure

3. Our system scores your answer and gives structured AI-driven feedback per question, and overall feedback at the end of your interview

4. You see which skills you nailed - and which need work

Interviews don’t give you a cheat sheet. They give you a question, a stare, and 90 seconds of silence. You have to speak.

Everything is tracked.

So you can make the most out of your time, all of your interview questions are:

• Tagged by skill type

• Scored using AI-driven feedback

• Tracked in your dashboard – so you can see exactly how you’re doing and what to work on next

Final word

You don’t rise to the occasion in an interview – being able to connect with them on a human level doesn’t just happen magically on the day. You fall back on your preparation. These questions simulate that moment – so when it’s real, it’s not your first time.

Try out our banker-written interview questions with AI-driven feedback for free at AnalystDen – and practice like you're already across the table.

You might think writing emails is no big deal. We did when we first joined. But anyone in banking knows your inbox can make or break your reputation. Our inbox simulator helps you master that skill early.

You won’t be “shadowing” forever. From week one of your internship, you’ll be writing emails that go to clients, associates, and senior team members.

A few months later, it starts piling up even more. By the time you’re a fully-fledged analyst (or associate), your 9-5 is spent in your inbox (or on the phone): managing relationships, responding to clients, and balancing multiple tasks and deliverables. The rest of the day will be spent on slide creation, modeling, mentoring, or running project calls. Check out a day in the life of an investment banker here to see just how evident that is.

That’s why we don’t just teach you how to walk someone through a DCF. We drop you into a simulated inbox to teach you how to communicate like a real investment banking analyst through judgement calls, timing, and tone. So you’ll start operating at an Associate level when you’re an intern (that’s how you stand out – I repeat: first impressions count).

What our inbox simulator actually does (and why it matters for your analyst training).

Our inbox simulator is designed to replicate a real investment banking environment. You’ll:

• Get real-looking email prompts – ones we’ve vetted from our direct experience on the job

• Respond under light pressure, with expectations on tone, clarity, and timing

• Write to peers, clients, associates, VPs, and MDs

• Learn how to handle senior pushback (an extremely important skill if you want to create a sustainable environment), client requests, and internal errors

We’re not just showing you what to say. We’re training you to think and write like you’re already on the job. It’s what bankers wish they could see in every intern during the summer.

Feedback, tags, and progress tracking.

Each email:

• Is tagged by skill

• Gets dynamic feedback on your tone, structure, and clarity

• Is tracked in your dashboard so you can see which skills you’re nailing – and where you need to focus next

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about control, trust, and already operating as someone who belongs in the seat.

Final word

Good writing gets you noticed. But the thing is, it isn’t just “writing”. It’s about managing relationships – your work gets filtered by each level before it goes to the client or the MD. Let them see how you handle situations first-hand through your inbox.

Precise, confident emails make your team’s life easier – and that’s how you earn real trust fast.

Try out our AnalystDen inbox simulator for free – and learn how to communicate and form important relationships like a real investment banker before day one.

Let’s be real: you’re busy. Lectures, societies, socials, exams, interview prep ... you’ve got A LOT going on. That’s exactly why we wrote AnalystDen's investment banking flashcards to work around your life.

It’s not “lazy”, it’s time-efficient. Open our banker-written flashcards for:

• 10 minutes between lectures

• 5 minutes before a night out

• A quick refresh on the morning of your interview

They’re fast, structured, and built by bankers who have gone through it all.

Customize each deck so you can fit it around your life and needs. Whether you want to refresh your technicals ahead of your interview, or revise key concepts before your assessment centre.

Not just definitions for you to regurgitate – real, thought-out answers and explanations for investment banking interviews.

Each flashcard is a key cog within a complete investment banking prep system. What are you looking for? Behavioral skills, accounting, valuation, job scenarios, testing your judgement? We’ve covered everything we can think of. Examples include (but are in no way limited to):

• Explaining DCFs and comparables clearly

• Running through specific accounting scenarios

• Answering behavioral questions without rambling

• Thinking through pressured moments - like whether to push back on a last-minute request

Each card teaches you how to think: as if you’ve already secured the offer.

Interview, internship, analyst – one learning system.

What you learn here helps at every stage:

• Interviews: You sound smart, not rehearsed

• Internship: You’ve got the technicals and soft skills already covered

• Full-time: You’ve built the habits that make you fast, reliable, and top of the cohort

It’s not fluff. It’s the foundation.

Final word

If you’ve ever said “I’ll prep when I have more time” – these are designed for you.

Spread it out in whatever way you like, even 5-10 minutes at a time. On the train, between classes, whenever.

Start with our banker-written Interview Fundamentals flashcards for free at AnalystDen - and build career-changing habits for your next Spring Week or internship, while everyone else plays “catch up”. Here's to preparing smarter!

The most successful people in investment banking that I've seen didn’t wait to "level up" – they just started operating like they already had.

The truth is: the way you show up in interviews, Spring Weeks, day one of your first analyst role, and beyond - it’s all part of the same journey. The candidates who stand out in interviews are already thinking like interns. The interns who get offers? They already operate like analysts. And the analysts who get top-rated? They already push ahead like associates.

Look, we get it. We were in your position just a few years ago. You want the smartest, most time-efficient way to break into investment banking. And then you want to relax the rest of the time and enjoy your uni years as much as you can.

There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, we created AnalystDen to help you do exactly that - to work smarter, not harder.

We did the Spring Weeks, internships, landed the full-time offers, and spent the next few years climbing up the ladder as associates.

Everything we’re offering you on this platform (including our future updates) - from our mock interviews and flashcards, to our job simulations and AI feedback - was all born out of our experiences, pre- and post-job offer. We’ve gone through the extreme highs and lows, so you don’t have to.

Nailing the behavioral scenarios and technical case studies is one thing (and don’t worry, we’ve got you covered there – go check out our mock interviews and banker-written flashcards!). But if you want to break into investment banking – or even figure out if this is the right industry for you – you’ll want to be exposed to more and start acting like you're already an analyst.

What are you really being judged on in the interview room?

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Hirevue, or a final-round coffee chat, or day one on the desk.

We’ve been on the other side: screening applicants and interviewing stellar candidates. Here’s what bankers are wondering when you’re in the interview room:

• Can this person communicate clearly AND naturally, even under pressure?

• Do they actually understand the concepts they’re explaining, or have they just memorized them all?

• Would I trust them to take ownership, even at the smallest level?

• Do they seem humble enough to take on constructive criticism?

• Would I want to work with this person at 2am?

Notice how none of these questions are about the intricate specifics behind “Walk me through a DCF?” or whatever else.

We’re not saying don’t prepare for your technicals. You definitely should take the time to do so, and our Interview Fundamentals course exists to help you do exactly that. But tell us this – how does that make you stand out from every other applicant who has nailed the classic answers?

Investment banks don’t want a robot. They want someone who wants to be useful from week one. They’re looking for a proactive team player – someone they’re genuinely happy to invest time into training up.

And that’s why you’ll see more than just technical mock interviews on our platform. We’ve built a complete set of investment banking features:

• Our Analyst Mastery course to practice exactly how to stand out in a room of investment bankers,

• Our Inbox Simulator for key communication and client management training, and

• The Simulation, to create an investment banking environment for you to challenge yourself and operate under real analyst pressure.

Go check them out here – we’ve provided the tools and content, you just need to click and learn.

The whole journey is just one loooong interview.

Here’s how it goes:

1. Interview phase: Show that you’ve already started thinking like an intern.

2. Spring Week/Summer internship: Prove you can do the small things with speed and care.

3. Final internship reviews: Earn the return by being the analyst they don’t need to worry about – the one they’re happy to mentor because they see your potential.

Each step builds on the one before it.

Final word

This isn’t about cramming valuation methods the night before your interview (I mean … you technically could if you wanted to: we’ve vetted all the content; you just need to log in and get started). It’s about showing - consistently - that you understand what it means to be a strong banker team player, and you’ve already started doing it.

If you want to prep for interviews and the job that follows, AnalystDen is built to get you there by investment bankers who were in your exact position. Start now – while everyone else is still waiting for the internship to get going.