Investment Banking vs. Management Consulting
The major difference is that management consulting firms test for strong analytical skills by administering what are called "case" questions. Case questions are scaled-down versions of real business problems that consultants work on, and often they are drawn from the interviewer's projects. The case takes up a good portion of the first-round management consulting interview. On the other hand, investment banking interviews do not include case questions. Instead, interviewers spend time on resume and personality questions.
If you're interviewing with both consulting firms and investment banks: Consultants expect you to tell them that consulting is your top choice, and investment bankers expect you to tell them that banking is your top choice. Be prepared with a strong, convincing answer for each.
The Introduction
During the first two or three minutes of the interview, interviewers introduce themselves and attempt to "break the ice" by making comments about the weather or other small talk. They also will describe the structure of the interview. It's important to remember that the interviewers are starting with a positive tendency toward you: After all, you have been selected from a large pool of candidates because they like your resume. The introduction is intended to put you at ease, but don't completely let down your guard; many recruiters say that their impressions (positive or negative) are shaped in the first five minutes of the interview. To make a good impression,
- Shake hands firmly with the recruiter (if your palms are sweaty, wipe them off before entering the interview room).
- Relax; the interviewer is looking forward to meeting you after reading your resume.
- Smile and show some warmth, but err on the side of formal rather than informal until you've gotten a sense of the interviewer's style.
- If the interviewer attempts small talk, make sure to engage in a conversation with him.
Personality Questions
Put yourself in the interviewers' shoes. They might have to work with you if you are hired, so they want to make sure they like you. This is the major purpose of the personality questions. If interviewers don't like you as a person, or if you don't really fit in with the culture at the firm, they will find an excuse to reject you no matter how perfect your answers are. Personality questions and resume questions form the core of the investment banking interview, since investment banks do not use case questions.
Interviewers also are testing whether they can put you in front of a client without embarrassment. Will you handle sensitive situations with grace and tact? Are you aware of what is appropriate behavior? At every step, interviewers are evaluating whether you'll field a difficult question with poise, because that's what bankers and consultants must do every day with their clients.
You have a big opportunity in this segment of the interview. Personality questions are more open-ended than any other type of question, since they let you choose a response from your life experiences. You can use the discussion to slip in the headlines that you have prepared or address any weaknesses on your resume. Don't let the conversation ramble; direct it the way you want to.
Critical skills being tested include integrity, interpersonal skills (especially maturity, judgment, and tact), communications skills, and the ability to learn.
Ethics/Sensitivity Questions
Describe an ethical dilemma you faced and how you dealt with it. These questions test both your integrity and your judgment in handling a sensitive situation. A good answer might be: "I knew that a classmate was cheating on every exam in our class. Our university operates on an honor code system, and I felt torn between my loyalty to this classmate and my wish to uphold our system. After all, the other students in the class had studied hard for these exams. I decided to approach this guy and tell him that many people had noticed him cheating and that it would be wise for him to stop before this reached the professor." This is a good answer because the situation is truly a difficult dilemma. Also, you have thought out a pragmatic solution that would work well in a real-life situation.
A bad answer might be: "A friend in my class took the final exam before the rest of the class and then offered me the answers. I thought about it and decided not to accept the help." This is a bad answer because you shouldn't be even hesitating; this is not an ethical dilemma because the right decision is very clear-cut.
Another ethics/sensitivity question: a client pulls you aside and tells you that he doesn't like working with women and wants you to replace the women on your team with men. What do you do?
Resume Questions
Focused on your accomplishments and professional interests, resume questions form the heart of the investment banking interview and the warm-up of the consulting interview. Interviewers are looking for whether you can communicate a lot of information concisely, why you've made your life choices, what you've accomplished, and whether you've been able to develop insights from each experience. Know your resume well; be able to explain each choice and provide a few in-depth examples for each experience listed. Try to show a clear, logical path of career decisions that are linked together by some type of interest or plan.
In each response, use the time-tested "CAR" approach to make sure you've hit important points:
- Context: Briefly set the stage for the example you are going to give.
- Action: Communicate what you did.
- Results: Explain the results of your action to show interviewers that you made an impact.
Communications Questions
These questions test on the spot your ability to communicate important points concisely or persuade someone. The key here is to remember to structure your answer (you may want to give the interviewer a few key headlines before plunging in), stay as high level with your points as possible, perhaps stopping to give a few well-selected details, stay on track, and summarize quickly at the end of your answer.
- Teach me something. You have five minutes.
- Sell me the lamp on this desk.
