You will likely face a diverse range of bankers, from analyst to MD level. But since you’re close to a $100,000+ offer, the interviewer sheet will be stacked toward the senior side, which means fewer junior bankers than early rounds and definitely no HR reps.
In terms of numbers, you could face as little as 3 interviews to 7 or more..
As you can imagine, a true banking super day can last anywhere from 3 hours to the better part of a full day. And sometimes they can even spill at night.
But fear not. Banks tends to err on the side of less is more, because it’s a crazy logistical task to organize more than 5 interviews per student, and overall, it’s a surprisingly taxing use of bank resources.
Of course, we mean senior bankers time, not $20 an hour analysts! Keep in mind the sliding scale regarding range, interviews, and duration; the higher the bank and recruiting drive, the higher the rank/interviews/duration. No wonder BBs (bulging brackets) are the source of Superday’s infamous war stories, as opposed to mid-market i-banks and lower-end boutique investment banks.
Why does the focus of each super day bank interview differ?
Different interviewers will be staffed to test you on different things. This is often decided based on your level.
Consequently, students can experience 40 minutes of technical questions when interviewing analyst Chuck Chuckford and 40 minutes of mind-numbing “Tell me about yourself” questions during MD Larry Larryson’s power hour.
However, let’s break it down very clearly…
The younger monkeys (analysts and associates) will throw down the gauntlet of technical questions as they try to objectively assess you for brains. Think McGee in NCIS. If you have some finance and accounting major or worse, a banking internship, under your belt, expect to be pushed a lot harder than someone with a liberal arts major.
Although technical finance questions may hurt, investment banking accounting interview questions won’t, they are comparatively easy.
Meanwhile, the grizzled apes (MD Larryson and the other BSDs) will get “fit” and “you” go crazy as they try to answer the question “would Richard be a strong team member and do I want to work with him?”. For this Gibbs thinks of NCIS. But don’t forget that Larry will also enjoy asking you (with a deadpan face) “How many 128-slide presentation books would fit on a Lear Jet chartered from Greenland?”*. In other words, interviews with hoary apes will often involve both technical and aptitude questions. The Masters of the Universe will give you a taste of everything!
Finally, it’s worth noting that multiple interviews at a single bank may also overlap both in subject matter and in the specific questions being asked. This is done on purpose. Much like a computer personality test, this iterative process allows bankers to spot inconsistencies in their answers over time when they share notes at the end of the day.
Did you really lie about your leadership experience on Chucky Cheese? Either way they will find out.
