The best books and resources for investment banking recruiting

Which resources are actually worth it?

There are a handful of resources nearly every successful candidate uses, and a long tail that repeats them. Here is what each one is good for, described in our own words. Free first, paid only when the free ones stop teaching you something.

• Mergers & Inquisitions (free site): long articles on every part of banking recruiting, from groups to interview questions. The best place to start before spending anything.
• Breaking Into Wall Street, 400 Investment Banking Interview Questions and Answers (paid guide): the standard technical question set. Most people in your superday will have read it, so treat it as the floor.
• Rosenbaum and Pearl, Investment Banking: Valuation, LBOs, M&A, and IPOs (book): the textbook on how bankers value companies. Read the valuation chapters, then use it as a reference.
• Paul Pignataro, Financial Modeling and Valuation (book): a walkthrough for building a full three statement model. Use it while you build one yourself.
• Wall Street Oasis interview guide (paid guide): a second technical set for when the first one feels too familiar.
• Street of Walls (free site): short technical explanations, good for a quick review before an interview.
• Macabacus (free site): model templates that show how a DCF or merger model is laid out on a real sheet.

In what order should you use them?

Order matters more than the list. Reading the technical guide before you understand accounting turns it into memorization, and interviewers can hear memorized answers. This sequence builds understanding first and tests it second.

1. Freshman spring or summer: read the free articles on how banking works, the groups, and the recruiting timeline.
2. Summer before sophomore year: learn accounting and build a three statement model with the Pignataro book beside you.
3. Sophomore fall: read the valuation chapters of Rosenbaum and Pearl, and build a DCF on the same company.
4. Sophomore fall into winter: work through the 400-question guide, answering each one out loud before checking.
5. The week before interviews: review on Street of Walls and drill your weakest set until it is no longer weak.

Do you need to buy the paid guides?

Not all of them. The free sites cover how recruiting works and most of the concepts. The one paid guide most students find worth buying is the 400-question set, because it is what your competition studies and it gives you a complete list to drill against.

Buying a second or third paid guide has diminishing returns. If the first one feels easy, your time is better spent practicing answers out loud, with another person if you can, than reading a different phrasing of the same questions. Check whether your school or club already has a license before paying.

How do you know you are ready?

Reading is not readiness. You are ready when you can answer a technical question out loud, in under a minute, in your own words, and then handle the follow up. The questions below are drawn from the IB bank. Try them now and see which ones you can answer without looking anything up.

What about books for the other paths?

If you are recruiting for two paths, each has its own standard reading. For sales and trading, Larry Harris's Trading and Exchanges explains how markets are built. For quant, Xinfeng Zhou's green book is the standard problem set. For consulting, Victor Cheng's Case Interview Secrets and Marc Cosentino's Case in Point cover cases. For private equity, the LBO chapter of Rosenbaum and Pearl still applies.

Every path page lists its reading in full, with what each one is best for.

Questions students ask

What is the single best book for investment banking interviews?

For technicals, the Breaking Into Wall Street 400-question guide, since it is the common baseline. For understanding valuation properly, Rosenbaum and Pearl.

Do I need to read Rosenbaum and Pearl cover to cover?

No. Read the valuation chapters closely and the LBO and M&A chapters once. Use the rest as a reference when a question confuses you.

Are free resources enough to get an IB internship?

For learning, mostly yes. What free resources cannot replace is practice out loud. Most students who struggle in technicals read enough; they did not say the answers aloud enough.

When should I start reading?

Freshman spring or summer for how banking works, and the summer before sophomore year for accounting and modeling. Technical drilling belongs in sophomore fall, before applications open.

Should I read the forums?

Yes, for recent interview reports and firm-specific notes, read with care. Posts are anonymous and uneven, so check anything important against the firm's own site.