Investment Banking Interview: Questions, Answers, Guide & Tips

Investment banking is one of the most challenging professions today. Since it is a financial position, the questions are more critical and pointed as compared to the questions in other professions.
This is simply because an investment banker looks after the investments and financial futures of individuals, families and businesses.

This article brings questions and answers for investment banking interview with tips.
The article consists of -
1. General questions.
2. Entry level investment banking.
3. Professional investment banker.

Investment Banking Interviews – General Questions

There will be typical interview questions about your education and your qualification.

The interviewer may actually ask the grades at the business/finance school, MBA business administration, finance, accounting or analyst.
It is at these times that the name and reputation of the academic institutes that you attended are important.

Make sure that you answer all the questions factually and truly. Any slip up in this department will only leave an indelible mark on your credibility and may have you lose the interview even before you actually begin answering questions that are in line with your qualifications and the job that you have applied for.

Entry level investment banking jobs: interview questions, tips & answers

Here is a brief guide for the generally asked questions to entry level jobs during an investment banking interview:

Why do you want to become an Investment Banker? Why this career?
This question is one of the common questions asked to a person who show their willingness to join a profession that is one of the most lucrative jobs in the world today. There may be many reasons, like one being interested in the job only for the money that it offers. These individuals may not be actually interested in the work that an Investment Banker has to carry out on a daily basis.

The best way to answer this question is to inform the interviewer about your genuine interest in the profession. You should also bring to their notice that you would like to act as a safeguard of people’s dreams and ambitions by imparting knowledge about what would be the best investment options for them.


Your long term career goals as an investment banker
These general questions try to gauge whether you are serious about your career and the job and whether you are serious about working with the bank in the long term. Since it is a financial job post, it is quite important for the bank to hire employees who have decided or are prone to decide to stay with the same bank for a long time.

Professional Investment Banking Interview Questions and Answers

Here is a guide for pro level interview preparations:

Why do you want to work with our Bank?
This is another question that can be termed as a trick question, but is basically a question that aims to find out whether you have done your homework and research on the profession and the job that you aim to do.
When asked this question, all you have to do is to speak about the past of the company and ensure that you get the point across that you consider working with the company a definite stride forward in your professional life.

What are the most important qualities for an investment banking career?
This question is actually a question about your academic qualifications and the thoughts with which you have decided to join the profession of investment banking.
To answer this question perfectly, you would have to go back to your books and understand the concepts that were taught to you in business school. Make sure that you put across the point that being good with numbers, being in the knowledge of current and past market status, and having a good financial strategy that is unfailing are some of the most important qualities for a career in investment making.

What was the most challenging situation (with clients) that you faced during the stock market falls?
The recession and the stock market fall are still fresh in everyone’s mind. And being a person in the financial business, you are bound to experiences during the stock market fall. This question is asked not as much as to know whether you can handle such situations.
The best way to answer this question is to be truthful about any situation that you came across as the stock market fell.

How do you secure investments? Describe your daily flow of work.
Once the interview is satisfied about your skills and that you fit the job, they will begin to ask you questions that are related to your day to day activities as an investment banker. It would be safe to say that once the interviewer begins to ask questions related to your day to day activities in the job, you have a good chance to be employed by the company.

To answer this question, you have to make sure that you have done your homework and know the ins and outs of the business. The best answer, of course, is to take the traditional way of investing a part of the money in the growing companies, while creating a small nest egg in government and government subsidized companies.


Describe your investment bank strategic in general? Way of work? Methods you take?
As and when the interview moves ahead, you will be asked several questions that seem ambiguous but are basically questions that are aimed at knowing whether you are aware of the circumstances and situations in the investor market, and what your responsibilities as an investment banker for an individual, family of company.

The other questions that can be asked are about your knowledge and use of signs and tools for evaluating the market direction, for example – stocks or foreign exchange market software.

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