Financial Analyst Interview Questions

Financial analyst interview questions vary from one investment bank to the next, but there are ways to prepare for them.

One of the key concepts that you need to understand when doing the interview is that they are looking for a "pair of safe hands", which means that you can cope under pressure, can articulate yourself, and know the basics of what is going on in the financial world.

Some of the questions that investment bank interviewers may put your way include, for example, questions like "how many golf balls do you think fit into a 737 jumbojet", which is really just a curve ball question that is destined to show how you cope with pressure and what your analytical skills are in those situations.

However, for a financial analyst position, the question often include questions about basic accounting skills, such as "how do you get to EBITDA from revenues" in a standard company income statement.

For corporate finance positions, the questions and how you answer them, are also a way to see how you come across as a person, if you have sales skills on an interpersonal level, and whether you can make comprehensive arguments one way or the other.

If you're looking for financial markets positions, you can expect more questions that have to do with macroeconomic facts, such as the size of the federal budget or "how do you use market beta to determine volatility", for example.

Most interviewers, but not all, use your CV and cover letter as a basis for their interviews. Therefore, you shoul mock interviews with your friends to get a feeling of what angle the questions from your CV might come from.

There is usually also a session at the end of the financial analyst interview questions, where you get to ask a question or two from the interviewer. You should stay away from banalities and obvious questions, because they do not show creativity.

Instead, your preparation should include a thorough fact finding mission about the company in question, and the question session is an excellent place to get an answer to any legimate question that you have about the company.

For example, if you find out that the investment bank does not have, say, a municipal bond issuance team, this is the time to voice your question about that aspect of your research into the company.

One good source for actual questions asked at the interviews is the vault.com website, and their forums/books which contain people with experience from actual interview situations.


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