Investment banking application tips - what would I do differently now I'm on the other side?
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").