What a first round interview looks like in banking

How is a first round structured?

Most first rounds follow the same arc, and knowing it lets you pace yourself. The interviewer has a short list of things to check and a form to fill in afterward. Your job is to make every box easy to tick.

1. Two minutes of small talk while they pull up your resume. Be warm and brief.
2. Walk me through your resume, or tell me about yourself: about ninety seconds, ending on why you are in this interview.
3. Why banking and why this firm. Specific, with names where you have them.
4. One or two behavioral questions, often from something on your resume.
5. Three to six technicals: accounting, valuation, enterprise value, maybe a simple DCF walk through.
6. Your questions for them, usually five minutes at the end.

How do you answer tell me about yourself?

As a story with a direction, not a list of everything you did. Ninety seconds: where you are from or where you started, the two or three choices that led you toward finance, what you did to test that interest, and why that leads to this job at this firm. Every sentence should point toward the last one.

Write it out once, then stop reading it. Practice it out loud until you can say it in your own words with a different first sentence each time. A memorized pitch sounds memorized.

• Start: one line on who you are and what you study.
• Turn: the moment finance became interesting, with a concrete detail.
• Proof: what you did about it (a club, a pitch, a role, conversations with bankers).
• Close: why banking, and why you are talking to this firm.

Which questions are most likely?

The first round leans on a predictable core. The sample below is from our banking bank across behaviorals and technicals. If you can answer every question in it cleanly, you are ready for most first rounds; the superday is where the follow ups get harder.

How technical is a first round, really?

Expect the standard questions, asked plainly: walk me through the three statements, how does depreciation flow through them, what is enterprise value, how would you value a company, walk me through a DCF. You are not expected to know obscure accounting. You are expected to know the basics without hesitating.

Here is one worked through, the way you would say it. Depreciation goes up by 10, with a 25% tax rate. Income statement: operating income falls by 10, taxes fall by 2.5, net income falls by 7.5. Cash flow statement: net income is down 7.5, add back the 10 of depreciation since it is not cash, so cash is up 2.5. Balance sheet: cash up 2.5, net property and equipment down 10, so assets are down 7.5, and retained earnings are down 7.5 from lower net income. Both sides fall by 7.5, so it balances.

What questions should you ask at the end?

Questions that show you have thought about the job and that let them talk about themselves. Avoid anything you could find on the firm's website, and anything about pay or hours in a first round.

• "What did you not expect about the job when you started?"
• "What separates the summer analysts who get return offers from the ones who do not?"
• "What is a deal you worked on that you enjoyed, and why?"
• "How does staffing work for summer analysts in your group?"

How do you get a first round in the first place?

By applying early in the window and having spoken with people at the firm before you apply. Banking applications are mostly rolling, so first rounds go out while the posting is still open, and an application in the first days is read with a fuller pipeline of slots ahead of it. A referral or a banker who remembers you can move your resume up the pile.

Watch the live calendar for the firms you want, and set an alert so you apply the day a program opens on the firm's own site.

Questions students ask

Is a first round on the phone or on video?

Both happen, and many firms use video. Prepare for video: camera at eye level, quiet room, and the interviewer's name written down before you start.

How long is a banking first round?

Usually about thirty minutes. Some run as two shorter back to back calls with different bankers.

What if I get a technical question wrong?

Correct yourself if you notice, and move on. One wrong answer rarely ends a first round. Hesitating on the basics, or bluffing, does more damage.

Does the interviewer know who I networked with?

Sometimes. If someone at the firm offered to flag your application, they may have. Either way, mention the people you spoke with in your why this firm answer.

How soon after the first round is the superday?

It varies. Some firms invite within days, others batch superdays over a few weeks. Keep preparing as if it is next week.