2022 - Page 5 of 9 - Finance Interview Coach

Published On - September 3, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Private Equity

Why private equity? (1 min)

There are two or three ways you can answer this question. You can tell a story about how you became interested in private equity, or you can list a number of reasons you’re interested in private equity, and back them up with examples from work or even school. You can also combine these two methods...

Published On - September 2, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Financial Modeling, Investment Banking, Private Equity

Walk me through a deal you’ve worked on. (1-2 min)

First, you should provide the context of the deal and company. Explain the target business in an easy-to-understand way, and describe its key segments. Provide a quick overview of the acquirer and its strategic rationale. It’s important to explain upfront why the deal is happening and what the ind...

Published On - August 27, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Finance & Accounting, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Real Estate

What are your three greatest strengths?

You should just be relatively honest about your three greatest strengths, while avoiding overconfident answers like intelligence. Passion, attitude, leadership, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, and resilience are some examples. First, list your 3 strengths. Then use this opportunity to tell a qui...

Published On - August 26, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Finance & Accounting, Investment Banking, Private Equity

What is your greatest strength?

This is a personal question and you should generally just be honest about your greatest strength, but make sure the wording is right. Passion, attitude, leadership, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, resilient; the list goes on. Don’t say something that makes you seem cocky, like intelligence (ev...

Published On - August 24, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Investment Banking

Why this bank / firm?

To master the “why this firm” question, it’s best to speak to somebody in the firm to ask what they like about the firm, and what the people in the team are like. It’s very hard to tell the true culture or strengths of a specific group in a specific bank. You should split your […]...

Published On - August 18, 2022

Josh Behaviorals and Fit, Investment Banking

Why investment banking?

There are generally three approaches to this question. You can list a number of reasons (e.g. 3) and explain each reason. This approach is the most easy and logical. However, you can also tella story about how you became interested in investment banking, and mention a few concrete reasons during the...

Published On - April 5, 2022

Josh Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Financial Modeling, FP&A, Investment Banking, Private Equity

If Company A is 30% equity, 70% debt currently, but will have a capital structure of 50% equity, 50% debt in year 5, which capital structure do you use for your DCF?

The 50/50% capital structure would be used. When calculating WACC, we assume the optimal target capital structure, which is the capital structure the company will have in the long term and the optimal capital structure for a company in that industry....

Published On - April 4, 2022

Josh Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Financial Modeling, FP&A, Investment Banking, Private Equity

What are some key debt metrics, and why are they important?

The leverage multiple, debt / EBITDA, is a common metric comparing debt and EBITDA. EBITDA is a proxy for cash flow that can be used to pay back the debt. It’s also a measure of the core profitability of the business that remains neutral in terms of capital structure, tax jurisdiction, and account...

Published On - April 4, 2022

Josh Corporate Development, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Real Estate

What type of multiples would you use for a company in real estate?

P / FFO Per ShareP / AFFO Per ShareP / NAV Per Share FFO = Funds from Operations, which adds D&A and subtracts capital gainsAFFO = FFO + capital expenditures + rent increasesInterest is core to business, so debt is consideredNAV = Net Asset Value (Assets – Liabilities) -> Note that this is a d...

Published On - April 4, 2022

Josh Corporate Banking / Commercial Banking / Private Debt, Corporate Development, Financial Modeling, FP&A, Investment Banking, Private Equity

Do private equity companies add more value to portfolio companies through financial engineering or operational improvements?

Operational improvements adds more value as the impact is far more permanent than temporarily playing around with the capital structure. Strategic shifts or operational improvements may last a lifetime, while capital structure changes and financial engineering will only affect the company until the ...