mcintire investment institute - uvacollab : gateway · pdf fileinternship and interview ......

MCINTIRE INVESTMENT INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Internship and Interview Workshop

Prepared by J. Wulkan| Nov. 7, 2013

McIntire Investment Institute 1

“The best defense is a good offense”

… Machiavelli


AGENDA


Your Options

Networking

Interview Techniques

Sample Questions

(SOME OF) YOUR OPTIONS: INVESTMENT BANKING, CONSULTING, FINANCE


IB PAYS THE MOST, HAS THE MOST EXIT OPPORTUNITIES CORPORATE PROVIDES BEST WORK/LIFE BALANCE


Fewest Hours (40-50) Most Hours (100+)

Least Pay ($55-70k) Most Pay ($130k)

Finance / management at major corporate

Consulting Investment banking

Typically work 40 hours per week

Wide range of work, all with

one company

Geographies include entire United States

Rotational programs provide

broader experience

Typically work 60-70 hours per week

Specialize in one field,

work with many companies

Geographies include entire United States with frequent

travel

Typically work 90-110 hours per week

Can specialize in product, industry or remain broad

Highly concentrated in

New York

Highly finance-focused

EACH HAS ITS OWN PROS AND CONS




Pros: Better work-life balance

Start / stay with the company you love

More internal promotion opportunities

Broader range of projects

Cons: You focus only on one

company

Harder to sell yourself as a “hard worker”

Fewer exit opps

Pros: Better work-life balance

Excellent b-school exit opportunities

Exposure to C-level people

Brand-name firms are broadly recognized in all fields of

business

Cons: Travel can become tiresome

Fail to build hardcore finance skills

Harder jump to buy-side

Pros: Excellent buy-side exit

opportunities

Excellent valuation skills

Exposure to C-level people

Ability to sell yourself as a “hard worker”

Cons: No work-life balance

Bankers viewed as poor problem solvers

Pigeon-holed to certain industries or products

NAMES YOU SHOULD KNOW (WHO RECRUIT AT UVA)




WHAT SHOULD MY GOAL BE FOR THE SUMMER?


First Year Second Year Third Year Fourth Year

Takeaway: Don’t stress too early about jobs; enjoy the free summers you have

Goal: Enjoy summer

Ideas: Travel

Coach a team Work at local

company *Volunteer

Goal: Get full time job

Ideas:

Return offer Leverage FT offer

Re-recruit in different field

Goal: Intern in your chosen field

Ideas: IB internships

Consulting internships Rotational internships

Goal: Get any internship

Ideas:

Local companies Local funds

Diversity programs at major

companies

NETWORKING: GETTING THE FIRST ROUND


INTERVIEWS ARE HARD TO GET


•  How not to network: –  Skipping info sessions –  Trying to talk to everyone at the

sessions –  Forcing conversation –  Asking “too much”

•  How to network: –  Attend lots of info sessions –  Focus on one person with whom

you are sharing a genuine conversation

–  Always follow up with short thank you emails

“Never tread lightly. Leave a deep impression wherever you go.” … K. Rafferty

150-400 resumes

35 interviews

3 offers

SAMPLE FOLLOW-UP EMAIL

Person X, Thank you for taking the time to talk to us last night at Company X’s information session. I really appreciated the chance to talk to the firm’s representatives. I’d love to follow up with a brief phone call to ask a few more specific questions I had. Please let me know if you have availability later this week. Thank you for all your help, Candidate X


INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES: HOW TO STAND OUT


THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT…


IMPRESS EVERYONE YOU TALK TO


•  How not to interview: –  Looking at the ground –  Saying “I don’t know” –  Not understanding the position you’re interviewing for –  Not thanking the interviewers

•  How to interview: –  Make strong eye contact, and SMILE –  Saying “I’m not quite sure, but let me see how far I can get and I’d love to hear the

answer after” –  CRUSHING the “why this firm” question –  Sending follow-up emails to all your interviewers

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” … E. Roosevelt

SAMPLE QUESTIONS


RESOURCES FOR PREPARATION


GENERIC QUESTIONS


Behavioral (fit): Why this industry? Why this firm? What specifically about this position interests you? Give an example of a time you worked in teams. Give an example of a time you lead a team. Why should we hire you given all the other strong candidates we’re interviewing? Why did you choose UVA? Why did you choose to do Commerce? Why didn’t you choose to do Commerce? What class did you do worst in and why? How would your best friend describe you in three words?

FOCUS MORE ON FIT, SOME CASE QUESTIONS



Behavioral (fit): This program is rotational… what part of the firm do you most / least want to work in and why? What is our company’s competitive advantage? What about our culture excites you the most?

Technical: Usually a case question similar to a problem you’d work on at the company Sometimes basic questions about what is going on in the news Sometimes basic questions specific to finance

STRONG FOCUS ON CASE QUESTIONS, KNOW YOUR MATH


Consulting

Behavioral (fit): What is consulting? How do you perform on projects where there is no immediate deadline? *If I was stuck with you at O’Hare airport snowed in, would you annoy me? *If I put you up front of a COO / CFO, how will you respond?

Technical: What is 14% of 70? What is the market size for diapers in the entire United States? Client X wants to release a new product in Industry Y. What should they consider?

What else should I consider? What else?

STRONG FOCUS ON FINANCE QUESTIONS, VERY PREDICTABLE


Investment banking

Behavioral (fit): WHY INVESTMENT BANKING??? Give an example of a time you pulled an all-nighter / worked hard. How did you perform? Give an example of a time you failed. Give an example of attention to detail.

Technical: Walk me through a DCF. Walk me through how to calculate WACC. If two companies have identical capital structures, what makes one a better candidate for restructuring? What are the most common valuation methodologies?

Which gives the highest value? Lowest value?

APPENDIX: LIST OF BANKS BY TYPE


STRONG FOCUS ON FINANCE QUESTIONS, VERY PREDICTABLE


Bulge Brackets (all)

Goldman Sachs J.P. Morgan Morgan Stanley Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank Barclays Citi Wells Fargo Bank of America / Merrill Lynch UBS *Jefferies Group *Suntrust Robinson Humphrey

Boutiques (some)

Blackstone (NY) Lazard (NY) Centerview (NY) Greenhill (NY) Evercore (NY) Moelis & Co. (NY / CA) William Blair & Co. (IL) Perella Weinberg Partners (NY) Houlihan Lokey (NY) R.W. Baird (IL) Rothschild (NY) Harris Williams & Co. (MA / VA)

*This list is not intended to imply a ranking by market share, prestige, pay or any other metric. This is simply the order in which we remembered these firms. **List is not intended to be exhaustive

mcintire investment institute - uvacollab : gateway · pdf fileinternship and interview ......

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