Breaking into investment banking is one of the most competitive career goals for students and graduates. Top firms like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley offer fast-paced environments, high earning potential, and the chance to work on major financial deals.
Landing a role, however, takes more than strong grades and a polished résumé. Investment banking interviews are rigorous, testing both technical knowledge and cultural fit. Good preparation can make the difference between getting overlooked and receiving an offer.
This guide walks you through the recruiting process from the first screening to the final Superday. You’ll learn what interviewers look for, how to prepare effectively, and how storytelling can be just as important as technical skills. We’ll also review sample questions and show you how to structure confident answers.
By the end, you’ll know how to prep for the toughest questions and stand out as a strong candidate.
The investment banking recruiting process is highly competitive and structured in stages. Each stage is designed to evaluate a different aspect of your profile, from your technical skills to your personality fit. Understanding how the process works not only helps you prepare more effectively but also gives you realistic expectations for what lies ahead.
The first stage of an investment banking interview is usually an initial screening. This is often conducted over the phone or through a video interview platform. A recruiter or junior banker will assess your basic qualifications, your academic background, and your motivation for pursuing a career in investment banking.
You should be ready to discuss your résumé, education, internships, and why you are interested in investment banking. This is your first opportunity to make a strong impression and show both enthusiasm and professionalism.
If you pass the screening, you will move on to the first-round interviews. These are more detailed and may take place either virtually or in person. Candidates usually face a mix of behavioral and technical questions.
At this stage, interviewers probe into your past experiences, your understanding of financial concepts, and your ability to handle pressure. You may meet with several bankers, often including associates and vice presidents, to test both your knowledge and your potential fit with the team.
Some firms use an assessment center as part of their hiring process. Assessment centers combine tests and group exercises to evaluate a wide range of skills. Activities often include numerical and verbal reasoning, case studies, group discussions, and presentations.
This stage provides a comprehensive view of your problem-solving ability, teamwork, and communication skills, all of which are crucial for success in investment banking.
👉 Prepare for assessment center challenges with our collection of Logical Drills and Brainteasers.
Another key stage of the process is the Superday. This is an intensive day of back-to-back interviews held at the bank’s office. You will meet multiple interviewers, including senior bankers.
During Superday, you can expect a series of one-on-one interviews, case studies, and possibly group exercises. The goal is to test not only your technical and analytical abilities but also your stamina, composure, and ability to perform under pressure. Staying confident throughout the day is critical.
👉 Want to know more about the final stage of the process? Check out our full guide on the Superday in Investment Banking.
If you perform well, your interviewers’ feedback is reviewed by the hiring committee. Candidates who stand out receive an investment banking job offer. Securing an offer is a major achievement, but it is equally important to review it carefully and make sure it aligns with your career goals.
Every question in an investment banking interview has a purpose. Recruiters want to see more than your ability to memorize formulas. They are evaluating whether you can combine technical expertise, business sense, and personal qualities that will allow you to thrive in a demanding environment. Here are the five areas they focus on most.
Strong technical skills are the foundation of any successful candidate. You need to walk through valuation methods, accounting adjustments, and financial modeling concepts with clarity and confidence. It is not about repeating definitions word for word, but about showing that you understand how the concepts fit together. When you can explain a DCF analysis step by step or describe how the financial statements are linked, you prove that you are ready for the analytical demands of the job.
👉 Need more practice? Take a look at our full guide on Preparing for Technical Questions in Investment Banking Interviews.
Investment banking is about solving complex problems quickly. Interviewers want to see how you think when faced with a valuation exercise or a deal scenario. The best candidates break the problem into clear steps, work through the assumptions logically, and arrive at a reasonable conclusion. Even if your numbers are not perfect, a structured approach demonstrates that you can handle the type of challenges bankers face every day.
Technical skills alone are not enough. Banks want candidates who understand the bigger picture. That means staying up to date on markets, industries, and recent M&A deals. Being able to discuss a transaction and explain why it made strategic sense shows that you are curious about business and not just focused on spreadsheets. Commercial awareness signals that you can connect financial analysis to real-world decisions, which is exactly what clients expect from bankers.
No matter how strong your technical skills are, they will not help you if you cannot explain your ideas clearly. Investment bankers spend much of their time presenting to clients and collaborating with colleagues. Interviewers look for candidates who can structure their answers, speak concisely, and remain calm under pressure. A clear and confident explanation is often more impressive than a technically perfect but confusing answer.
Finally, interviewers want to know whether you are someone they can rely on during long hours and intense projects. Cultural fit is about resilience, motivation, and teamwork. Through behavioral and fit questions, banks assess whether you are motivated for the right reasons and whether you will contribute positively to the team dynamic. Showing genuine enthusiasm for finance and the ability to work well with others will make you stand out.
Preparation for investment banking interviews is a long-term process that combines technical mastery, market knowledge, and strong communication skills. Unlike university exams where you can cram last minute, IB interviews require structured preparation over several months.
Start by reviewing the core finance concepts tested in every interview:
👉 Check out our Finance Interview Basics for in-depth explanations and practice questions.
Technical skills get you noticed, but fit determines who gets the offer. Banks want candidates who can handle pressure and fit their culture. Prepare stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for questions like:
👉 Learn more about personal fit questions in finance in our Finance Interview Basics.
Almost every interview includes deal or market questions. Build a “deal sheet” with 1–2 recent transactions you can discuss in detail. Follow reliable sources like the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Financial Times to stay on top of industry trends.
The best way to improve is through mock interviews and professional coaching. It is helpful to keep a log of mistakes and refine your answers continuously.
👉 Partner with peers via our Meeting Board.
👉 Work with a professional coach for tailored feedback.
Now that you understand the investment banking interview process, what interviewers look for, and how to structure your preparation, we’ll go step by step through essential techniques and common interview questions so you know exactly how to succeed.
One of the most important parts of the investment banking interview is your ability to tell your story. Your interviewers want to understand your background, and motivations, and get a clearer picture of what makes you a unique candidate. Crafting a compelling narrative can help set you apart from the flood of other applicants, and highlight your ultimate fit for the role.
First, be sure your story is well-structured. This means following the tried and true three-part structure of an introduction, body, and conclusion. In your intro, you’ll briefly introduce yourself, along with your education and relevant industry experiences.
The body is where you will want to highlight formative experiences that have shaped your interest in investment banking. Talk about anything here, even internships, projects, or coursework that shows off your passion and skills. Finally, your conclusion should tie it all together, while wrapping it all up. Explain why you’re specifically interested in advancing your career in investment banking.
What you’ll want to showcase in your personal story is the key experiences that make you stand out as a candidate for an investment banking role. Instead of just saying you interned at a particular location, give details about what you did. Don’t just say “I interned at Widgets Inc.”, but say something like “During my internship at Widgets Inc., I analyzed financial statements and developed valuation models for potential acquisitions, helping to identify potential investment opportunities.”
One of the most crucial things you can do when telling your story is show your genuine enthusiasm for the field. Talk about what initially sparked your interest in the field, and what keeps you interested or excited about it. This might be a specific deal you read about, a particular class that has inspired you, or even a mentor who may have impacted your career choice.
Make sure that your story has a logical flow, and that it draws a link between the experiences of your past and the goals you hope to reach in the future. Detail how each step in your journey has helped prepare you for a future career in investment banking. If you have experience in engineering, perhaps explain how analytical skills and attention to detail are critical when it comes to modeling and analyzes.
Even the best, most well-crafted personal story can be reduced to rambling gibberish if it isn’t delivered naturally and confidently. Practice telling your story out loud while you focus on clear enunciation and genuine enthusiasm. Try to avoid rote memorization, and try to hit a more conversational tone that allows you to be flexible, based on the interviewer’s questions.
Questions about your fit or behavior are staples of interviews in the investment banking space. These types of questions help your interviewer evaluate whether you have the right work ethic, attitude, and ultimately, cultural fit, for the investment firm. Knowing ahead of time what might be asked can be a tremendous help in creating structured and efficient answers.
The most common questions about personal fit will be things like “Tell me about yourself”, “what are your strengths and weaknesses”, “How do you handle high stress and tight deadlines”, or having you describe a situation or time when you were up against a substantial challenge and how you handled it.
The most effective way to structure your responses to these questions is by using the STAR format.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result, and it’s a powerful tool for creating behavioral question responses.
Start by laying out the background or context of the situation. Then, explain the task you were given, and what actions you took to address the task. Finally, share the outcome or results, and quantify the results whenever possible.
👉 To practice answering personal fit and behavioral questions under pressure, take a look at our stress question tool
Being able to answer technical questions about the role can give you a critical boost to your chances of landing a job offer in investment banking. Let’s look at five common questions that will help you get a feel for the types of questions you’ll need to prepare for:
A discounted cash flow or DCF analysis is used to give valuation to a company, based on its projected future cash flow. Here’s the general overview that you can expand on or condense, based on what your interview calls concerning detail or specificity.
Step 1: Project Free Cash Flows
The first step will be projecting the cash flows for the company for a specified period, typically between five and ten years. Free cash flow is calculated as EBIT x (1-t) plus depreciation and amortization, minus changes in working capital, and minus capital expenditures, where ‘t’ is the tax rate.
Step 2: Calculate Terminal Value
Now, using the Gordon Growth Model, estimate the company’s terminal value. This is the value of the company’s cash flows beyond the period of projection.
Step 3: Discount the Cash Flows
Next, find the weighted average cost of capital, which will be the discount rate. Discount the free cash flows and the terminal value back to their present value, dividing the cash flow by one plus the discount rate.
Step 4: Include Present Values
Add up the present values for projected free cash flows and the terminal value. This becomes the total enterprise value of the organization.
Step 5: Adjust for Debt and Equity
Finally, to find the equity value if any, use the enterprise value less the current net debt.
The three financial statements are the income statement, balance statement, and cash flow statement. The income statement details the revenues, expenses, and profits for a specified period. The balance sheet is a snapshot of the overall financial position of a company at a specific point in time. The cash flow statement focuses on cash inflows and outflows, in the context of operation, investing, and financing.
There are several ways to answer this question, depending on the situation. A DCF analysis projects future cash flows and converts them to present value. You could also compare it to similar companies based on valuation multiples like P/E, EV/EBITDA, or even EV/Sales.
For publicly traded companies you can quickly find the market capitalization by multiplying the share price by the total outstanding shares. You could also analyze past transactions of comparable organizations to find a ballpark valuation range. You could even do an asset-based valuation, adding all assets minus liabilities.
The difference between enterprise value and equity value can be best illustrated by defining each one. The enterprise value is the total value of a company, including debt and equity. Equity value or market capitalization, on the other hand, is the value of a company’s equity currently available to shareholders.
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, and it is one of the most comprehensive metrics for a company’s operational performance.
It is a critically important measurement because it removes non-operating effects like interest, taxes, and amortization. It facilitates a much more even-footed comparison between companies while giving an approximation of cash flow from operations.
Breaking into investment banking is one of the most competitive career paths in business. To succeed, you need more than a strong GPA. You need a polished application, sharp technical skills, and confidence navigating high-pressure interviews.
Here’s how PrepLounge supports your path to landing an offer:
👉 Get a head start on your interview preparation. From technical finance questions to behavioral deep-dives, our Finance Interview Basics take you through key topics like valuation, financial modeling, M&A, and market sizing.
👉 Explore our Case Library for practice materials tailored to finance, private equity, and M&A cases.
👉 Schedule live mock interviews via the Meeting Board to sharpen your delivery, improve your time management, and get real-time feedback.
Breaking into investment banking takes more than memorizing technical questions. Successful candidates combine strong financial knowledge with a clear personal story, awareness of current market trends, and the ability to stay composed under pressure. Focused and consistent preparation will put you in the best position to succeed.
Keep in mind that interviews are not only about proving your technical skills. Banks want to see your genuine motivation for finance, your resilience in a demanding environment, and your potential to be a strong cultural fit.
