BUFC Recruiting Workshop

Sunday March 18, 2018

Agenda

● Networking

● Resume + Cover Letters

● Behavioral Interview Prep

● Technical Interview Prep

How Do You Find Alumni?

- LinkedIn

- YFIF alumni list

- Asking current Juniors/Seniors

- Asking Junior Alumni

- Asking friends in BUFC

How to Stay Connected?

- Follow up emails with updates

- Follow up emails asking for advice

- Meet them at BUFC events

Keeping Tabs

Keeping Tabs

Initial Alumni OutreachCold email format:

Hello Urja,

My name is Justin Bartenbach and I am a rising junior at Boston University. I have recently applied to summer analyst opportunities at Goldman and am looking to hear more about the firm and employees' experiences.

If you have any availability for a brief phone call, I’d love to hear about your experiences at GS within the Investment Banking Division. I am available Monday from 1-2PM, Tuesday from 3-5PM, or Wednesday from 9-11AM, if any of those times work for you.

[ I have also attached my resume below for more information]

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,Justin

Keys to a successful email:

● Professional

● Actionable → asking for a

brief phone call

● Short! Busy analysts are

much less likely to read your

email if it has many

paragraphs and it is hard for

them to read

● Always offer 3-4 times that

you are available. That way,

they do not have to look at

their schedule and offer times

● Attaching resume? Optional

Phone Calls With Alumni - General- Keep it simple and behavioral- Let them do most of the talking- Have questions prepared ahead of time- Learn about their background via LinkedIn/google before phone call- Always scribe during the phone call and archive- Follow up email

Phone Calls With Alumni - S&T- For S&T, it’s much more common to ask traders or salespeople about their actual job and talk about the markets. For

example: “what aspects of the market do you follow?”, “what’s a trend that’s affecting your group?”, “how is the increase in interest rates going to affect your product?” and so on.

- People in Trading are much more direct so make sure to have a lot of interesting questions about the role prepared instead of just relying on talking about random stuff like you would with someone who works in banking.

- Always ask if there’s anyone else they think you should talk to. - will help you to build your network.

Networking during Career Fairs

- Make sure resume is in good shape

- Prepare before the career fair

- Try to connect with recruiter and get information contact information

- Ask insightful questions about the company

Resume

- One page only

- Education, work experience, leadership experience

- Tailor resume for different roles

- Make bullet points specific

Useful Resource for banking interviews:

https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-resume-university-student/

Cover Letter

- One page only

- Avoid irrelevant details

- Don’t stress too much about this

Useful Resource:

https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-cover-letter-template/

Crafting a Story

● Almost every interview (first round, super day, even networking call) will begin with you explaining

who you are or “walking through your resume”○ You should have multiple versions (more concise version for networking calls)

● It is imperative that you are able to articulate in a clear and concise manner who you are, what

you’ve done, and how that has lead you to this interview today○ 1-2 minutes maximum. Interviewers WILL cut you off if you go too long

● Sample structure (source: Mergers & Inquisitions):

Crafting a Story (ex.)My name is Justin Bartenbach and I am a rising junior at Boston University, concentrating in Accounting & Finance. I am originally from Newport, RI, and have lived there my entire life. In search of something bigger than my small town, I chose to attend a university outside of Boston named Bentley University. A few short months in, I

realized that Bentley was not for me, and chose to transfer to Boston University in search of more intellectual diversity.

At BU, I really enjoyed my introductory finance and accounting courses, and I strove to supplement my education with real-world experience. I did this through various finance internships: one at a small investment management firm doing equity research, and another last summer doing municipal credit research at BNY Mellon. At BNY, I

really enjoyed learning about municipal debt and being able to observe the interactions between sell-side and buy-side credit investors at credit roadshows throughout Boston.

However, I realized that I found the strategic aspect of the sell-side to be much more interesting. While refinancings are important for companies, I wanted to be a part of the pivotal moments of a company’s life when strategy and due diligence are extremely important. That has lead me to interview for fixed-income product groups within Investment Banking today; I believe that I can bring the credit analysis skills that I have learned from BNY Mellon and apply those to exciting, strategic-based deals at your firm.

Why (insert industry)?

- The main part of your answer should be anecdotal/personal and convey your interest.- The other part of the answer can be used to demonstrate certain characteristics that people will be looking for. Ex:

- For trading - entrepreneurial, meritocratic, fast paced environment, interest in markets. - For research - intellectually stimulating, more academic, getting to be analytical and build extensive

knowledge, can be an expert. - Banking - transaction driven environment, steep learning curve, result driven, high responsibility

- If you’re interviewing specifically for a division within Investment Banking know how to answer: Why coverage? Why M&A?

Why (insert company)?- Every bulge bracket bank is similar in terms of the opportunities and services they offer and what their capabilities

are, so the only real way to answer this question is to talk about the one thing that makes the banks different, namely, their culture and their people.

- Mention the people you’ve talked to - can definitely name drop - and how they’ve been great mentors/resources/idk.- Talk about what they’ve mentioned as reasons for why they like to work there and what the culture is like.- Talk about why this is important to you.- Example response:

- I am interested in Bank of America because after speaking with many current employees it is clear that the firm has a collegial and welcoming culture. “X”, an associate in “X group” explained to me the CRO program, which I think is a clear message that the firm is invested in making the analyst/associate experience valuable.

Other Behaviorals- It’s impossible to know every single question so just be prepared to improvise. - Strengths/Weaknesses - for the weaknesses question, don’t say that you’re bad at something that is integral to the

role you’re applying for, but aside from that you can be honest. Emphasize how you’re overcoming that weakness.- Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years? - Answer that you’d like to do whatever you’re interviewing for for

the next couple of years. As for 10-15 years from now, you can answer honestly, just make sure that it’s somewhat related to finance or Wall Street.

- What do you like to do for fun? What are you most proud of? Tell me something about you that’s not on your resume. Who do you look up to?

- What does an (IB/S&T/Research) analyst do?- Why should we pick you over someone else - what differentiates you? Why are you qualified?- Why banking and not consulting? Why trading and not banking? - want to make sure you fully understand the role and

that you genuinely want to do this versus something else.- Why is your GPA so low?

Situational Questions - “Tell me about a time when…”

- Have 5-6 anecdotes that demonstrate the qualities and skill set that they are looking for and an idea of how to reuse them for many of these situational questions.

- Teamwork- Leadership- Adversity / Failure / Challenge - Faced an ethical dilemma- Completed work under time pressure

IB Specific - Tell me about a deal you’ve read about.

- Preferable to choose an M&A transaction.- Give a summary of the deal - State: who the buyer and seller was, what was the purchase price and multiples

(purchase price / revenue, purchase price / EBITDA, % premium)- Company and industry information- Deal rationale: Why did this transaction happen? What were the dynamics of the deal? Was anyone else interested in

buying out this company? What implications does this deal have for the industry? - Ex: Increase market share, carve out a niche space in an overcrowded market, expand to new countries or

customer segments, etc.- Give your opinion on the deal. Give supporting evidence and data points to support your opinion.

Resume questions

- Make sure to know everything on your resume. They will definitely dig deeper on the experiences you have listed there.

- If you’ve had Banking experience - “Tell me about a deal you’ve worked on and what was your role.”- “What did you do at X firm?” - “What are you currently doing at your internship?”- “What was your performance feedback/review?”- “What was a challenging assignment you got in your internship?”

Valuation Questions● With technical questions, always just directly answer the question - don’t give the interviewer extra information.● Intrinsic vs relative valuation.● What are the common ways to value a company?

○ Of the three you mentioned, which typically yields the highest valuation and why?○ What are the pros and cons of each valuation method?

● Walk me through a DCF.○ Unlevered vs. levered cash flow○ WACC questions - formula; cost of debt, cost of equity. What is cheaper, financing via debt or equity and

why?○ CAPM questions.

● Can you walk me through a comparable companies analysis? A precedent transactions?● Difference between equity value and enterprise value.● M&A questions - Why do companies merge? Accretion vs dilution questions. ● Walk me through an LBO.

Accounting Questions● Walk me through the three financial statements.

○ Just focus on stating the major line items of the financial statements.○ How do the three financial statements relate to one another.○ How does an increase of $10 in depreciation affect the three financial statements?

● “Company A has $100 of assets while company B has $200 of assets. Which company should have

a higher value?”

● Why are increases in accounts receivable a cash reduction on the cash flow statement?

● What is goodwill?

● What are deferred tax liabilities/assets?

Case Studies● Some banks include a case study as part of their super day interview process

○ Usually, you have some time on your own to analyze and take notes on the case, and then later on you will have to defend your position on the case in front of 1 or more interviewers

● First step is to determine what information that you are given is useful, and what is just extra

information that you don’t need to focus on

● Important to make sure you are answering every part of every question

Sales & Trading Technicals

- There are many S&T interviews that don’t ask technicals -> reach out to alumni at that bank and ask them directly.- If you were given $1 million to invest, what would you invest in and why?- What is a derivative? What is its purpose?

- Know what futures, forwards, options and swaps are.- What is the difference between a future and a forward? A call and a put? How do you price them? Straddle example.- Could get bond questions - about things like yield. “X thing happens in Saudi Arabia, how does that affect its bonds.”- Trade idea - 1 long, 1 short- Could get a scenario: “If X happens to interest rates in US, what would you invest in?”- If you don’t know, just say that you don’t know. But also make sure to ask clarifying questions and state where your

current thinking process is at.

General Markets Questions - S&T

- One of the most important things to convey in a S&T interview is a genuine interest in the markets which you can show by being knowledgeable about what’s going on and having an opinion.

- Need to know what’s happening in the markets in general - you can potentially be asked about any major indicators.- Know the levels (what the current price is at) and general trends for the past 6 months - know why there’s been a

major dip or increase, know the market sentiment behind the moves- and where they might be headed, of the following:

- Equities: DJIA, S&P 500- Commodities: Oil, Gold- FX: USD, JPY, EUR, GBP- Interest rates: LIBOR, Fed Funds Rate, 10 Year Treasury (and some of the other Treasuries)

Tell me about something you’re following in the markets.

- This question can also come in the form: “Where do you think the markets are headed.”- You will 100% get this question in an S&T interview. It is also very common to get this in any other Wall Street

interview.- Follow the markets by reading the news about 5-10 minutes per day. On the day of the interview, read the Wall Street

Journal and at least one story in depth.- Use resources like Finimize, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg

- Have a general sense of what is going in the markets and focus on one headline that genuinely interests you and HAVE AN OPINION.

- Structure: state the main idea / headline, the supporting reasons and your opinion - whether you disagree/agree and why.

- Example:

Pitch me a stock. Tell me about a company you’re looking at. - If going in for a Research/Asset Management interview: have 2 stock pitches from different industries prepared. If

going in for an IB or S&T interview, 1 is fine.- 60-90 seconds- Intro: Give the company’s name, explain what it does- Give an industry overview and how your company fits into the overall landscape of the industry- Explain why you like this company and the price target - an easy way to go about this is to choose a favorable trend

like new/potential regulations or SaaS and find a company that can capitalize on it- Have a concise investment thesis - give supporting reasons that explain your thinking and why you think the stock’s

price and its value are different -> what is the market missing? - Seeking Alpha- Give some valuation metrics - things like P/E ratio, EV/EBITDA, etc. and compare your company’s ratio to industry

averages - FactSet, CapIQ, or Morningstar- Give potential risks - company’s 10k

Brain Teasers, Mental Math- Common in S&T and Research/Asset management interviews.- No way to really prepare for brainteasers. Just think out loud and talk about your thinking process. Make sure to ask

clarifying questions if you’re stuck. Instead of saying “I don’t know” say something like “I don’t know but this is what I’m thinking rn” or “I’m not sure but I know it’s not this...” and allow the interviewer to guide you.

- Getting the answer right is of little importance; what matters is your thinking process. Usually if you’re headed the right direction, interviewers will stop you.

- Do not give an immediate answer.- If you’ve heard the question before you can either: 1) act like you’ve never heard it before and detail your thinking

process or 2) be honest and say that you already know the answer -> option 2 is usually better because interviewers (esp. in Markets) appreciate the honesty.

- Examples: What is the degree between the minute and hour hand when the time is 3:15? Why is there fuzz on tennis balls? How many squares are there on a chess board?

Questions to ask at the end of your interview.

- Can ask about their background and how they knew they wanted to be a banker/trader/researcher.- Can ask them what they like most about their job/team or why they decided to stay at X bank.- Investment Banking - What was one of your favorite deals that you worked on or a deal that you learned a lot in?- Sales & Trading - what’s an exciting trend that’s affecting your group? - Research / Asset Management / Wealth Management - what stock are you currently following?- Always a good idea to listen during the interview and follow up on something they mentioned in passing before