Introduction

The investment banking interview process can be stressful and intense! Phone interviews, on-campus interviews, superdays, 4 to 8 back-to-back half hour interviews, all while flying across the country from west to east coast. This process can feel overwhelming considering all that is expected of each candidate.

In addition to the time commitments there are so many other factors candidates have to consider. The resume has to be formatted with exact precision and consistency, must have at least a minimum GPA of 3.5 or above, which means getting good grade's in school, following the markets daily (ie. reading the Wall Street Journal daily in addition to text books), knowing what major events are happening, understanding and knowing finance and accounting principals, and having basic interviewing skills perfected, all while balancing school, work, extra-curricular activities, and of course a social life!

I found that balancing all of these tasks at once can be very challenging but not impossible. I flew out to NYC on my own money seven different times to meet and interview with different investment banks. I set up appointments with everyone from analyst to managing director in order to find out what I needed to know and how I needed to present myself in interviews to get the job. This blog is my way of sharing the information that others so gracefully shared with me.

Over the past year and a half I have interviewed with multiple investment banks, from boutique to middle market to bulge bracket. My background is in Mathematics from a "non-core school", meaning most banks do not regularly recruit here. I have found through my own approach and experience, that this does not matter if you take the right approach while showing people that you know "your stuff".

I currently have a position to start work at Bear Stearns in July of this year as a first year investment banking analyst. I know what it takes to make it through the interview process. In addition to myself, I have and know many other classmates that have all made it to Wall Street in investment banking or other related finance fields. Companies include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, and many others to name a few.

This blog is aimed at providing useful insight, ideas, answers, and resources to those preparing to interview for an analyst position at an investment bank.

After thousands of dollars in plane tickets and hotel rooms, constant networking, and meeting with bankers, this is what I discovered.