Asha Kiran

10 Secrets to Investment Banking Interview Success

January 26th, 2012 |

You have worked very hard on your resume and have finally rewarded with an investment banking interview. Where are the interviewers looking for, and how can you bring about the best of you in an interview? Follow these 10 secrets to Investment Banking Interview Success and get your second round with ease.

#1. Observe A Star Salesman
You may wonder what this is all about – I’m not interviewing for a sales position here! Well, you have to sell yourself to the recruiters in order to get hired. Every candidate is a sales in a way and this skill is going to critical as you move on to the next rounds of interviews. The good news is, this is a learned skill and everyone can do it with diligence and practice.

#2. Listen Well
Surprised? All salesmen talk, but good salespersons listen. In order to promote your product (yourself in this case), you have to figure out what your customer (the recruiter / interviewer) is looking for.

In general, the firm asks them to look for someone with strong quantitative skills and good attention to details; but each recruiter has his/her own personal preference and it helps immensely if you can address directly to that.

#3. Look For Commonalities
If you observe and listen well you will bound to find some common points between you and the recruiter or interviewer. It could be the same gender, interests, background… it doesn’t matter what it is but the purpose is to build a relationship between you, and relationship implies trust.

At this point, you can frame your experience based on these commonalities – are you both interested in volunteering? Focus talking about your experience in this area. Maybe both of you aspire to own a business someday and you can then pull in your entrepreneurial experience in college.

#4. Prepare A Perfect Self-Introduction
90% of the time your first question would be “tell me a little bit about yourself”. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself as someone relevant and valuable to the firm. How? You can do this by highlighting experiences that best represent the attributes of a good junior investment banker, e.g. a fast-learner, work well under stress, and paying attention to details.

#5. Lead Your Interview To Ask the Question You Want
This is key. Try your best to end your answer mentioning an experience that is both interesting and can highlight your strength. The trick to make it interesting is to say something positive about it.

For example: “I have a rare opportunity to take part in this project where I learn first hand to how to work under stress and deliver results on time.” The interview will most likely be interested to learn more.

#6. Pack Your Answers With Catchy Keywords
Now that you have gained your interviewer’s trust, it’s time to deliver a quality presentation. You will do yourself a big favor by throwing out good keywords throughout the interview. Classic keywords include “analysis”, “business”, “strategies” as well as the attributes mentioned above. You should also take advantage of action-oriented verbs such as “lead”, “initiate”, “build”, similar to what you have done in your resume.

#7. Frame Yourself To Fit Their Needs
Understanding isn’t enough to get you the job, of course. You should present yourself based on the experience relevant to his/her preference. A relevant internship in a bank or major corporation would be ideal. If there isn’t any, don’t stretch it – in many cases being a generally hardworking, enthusiastic and friendly person with some interesting college experience is enough to get you into the entry position as an Analyst and Associate.

#8. Ask The Right Question
In an interview or any occasion that you want to impress someone, asking the right question can help you find out more about what the person is looking for in a candidate.

Since you have already gained his/her trust through the newly established “relationship”, your recruiter will be more open to talk about what he/she really likes and dislikes. That’s THE information you need, and the easiest way to impress.

#9. Create A Good Experience For The Interviewer
In a successful interview, both the interviewee and interviewer talk a lot. The trick is to engage the interviewer into lively conversations so he/she has a good interview experience with you and thus more likely to pick you for the next round.

#10. Practice Makes Perfect!
It is quite a challenge to carry on a conversation with all these in mind, but you can only get better and better with practice. Try talking to recruiters within and outside of the banking industry. By the time you have the interviews you should have mastered the art of selling yourself.