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If you could only use 1 financial statement with 5 years of data, but were given information about dividends, share buybacks, and equity issuances, which would you use to evaluate an investment?

We should use the balance sheet if we have at least two years of data, as well as dividend information, share buybacks, and equity issuances. This is because you can effectively figure out the changes in cash flow and net income by comparing this year’s balance sheet with the previous year’s balance sheet. The change […]

Tell me about an industry trend you’re following in private equity.

You should try to speak to a trend that is related to the group you’re interviewing for or the subsectors that the PE firm focuses on. For example, if the group is focused on infrastructure, you can speak to how solar power projects have been significantly boosted from the US infrastructure spending bill, and many […]

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 industry backdrop is. For example, is this […]

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 quick story about each strength and provide an example from work, school, or extracurricular […]

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 (everybody in IB is intelligent to some degree). Ideally, you […]

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 […]

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 story. Finally, you can […]