The following is to help get your head around interview process for Investment Banking internships

Online Application 

(approx. 750 applicants)

• Be aware of cut-off dates. Normally mid-July of each year. Each application will take approximately one hour on average to complete, so put aside plenty of time to do them.
• Resume / cover letters must be grammatically perfect, easy to read and well laid-out.
• Key thing to avoid is arrogance – rather come across as competent and confident. No need to outline all of your achievements in a cover letter. Mention them, draw interest to them, and provide further detail in your resume.

 

Interview Preparation

• Be well aware of what is happening in the financial markets. This usually requires a good working knowledge of at least the previous 6 months worth of activity in the relevant field that you are applying for (i.e. mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, debt capital markets, sales and trading).
• Know about the banks you’re applying for, their operating structures, the deals they’ve done, their key employees and their performance compared to competitors (through league tables – e.g. Thompson-Reuters / Bloomberg).
• Revise finance-related courses that you have studied, particularly Fundamentals of Finance, Portfolio Analysis and Corporate Finance, with an emphasis on valuation techniques and efficient market theory.

 

First Round Interviews
(approx 50 – 100 applicants)

• Expect two to three first round interviews, normally over the phone. These are normally half an hour long, with different interviewers, 1 senior banker (VP / Associate) and 1 junior banker (Analyst).
• The first interview will normally be personality focused, and will discuss you, your background, your interest in finance, your thoughts on the current market situations, your interest in investment banking, your understanding of what it is that bankers do etc.
• The second interview is likely to focus on more technical questions related to valuation methods, finance, and possibly logic / reasoning questions.

 

Final Round Assessment Days
(approx 10 – 25 applicants)

• Final round interviews are conducted in Sydney, and take about 6 – 8 hours to complete.
• There are normally different stages through the day, including:
  • A social function, typically a breakfast or a dinner.
  • A coffee with a recent graduate.
  • Four or five interviews of about 20 – 30 minutes duration, on the following topics:
    • Technical knowledge (finance theory, valuation techniques etc)
    • Market knowledge (recent deals and important market news)
    • Your interest in banking (what is required of you, and why do you want it)
    • Your personality / goals / ambitions / background
    • Your interest in the particular firm (why that firm over its competitors)
• A qualitative reasoning assessment (case study based), which in many cases will also require you to present to a group of bankers, either individually, or in a group.
• A quantitative assessment (normally also case study related) which may or may not be incorporated into the presentation.