What this is
Investment banking interviews are not case interviews. There is no client, no exhibit pack and no 40-minute problem to structure. Instead you get a rapid sequence of technical questions on accounting, valuation and deal mechanics, asked one after another, often by an analyst or associate who is checking whether you actually understand the mechanics or have memorised a guide.
Answers are expected to be short, precise and confident: thirty seconds, the right terminology, and the reason a number moves rather than only the formula. Interviewers escalate — a clean answer earns a harder follow-up, so the difficulty ramps until they find the edge of what you know. That is normal and expected.
How to practise it
Work through the ten questions below in order. They start with the fundamentals every candidate is asked and end with the mechanics that separate a prepared candidate from a strong one. Say each answer out loud before you reveal it — reading a technical answer and being able to deliver it under pressure are entirely different skills.
Walk me through the three financial statements and how they link together.
A top candidate would have said…If depreciation increases by $10, what happens to each of the three statements?
A top candidate would have said…A company has $500M EBITDA, trades at 8x EV/EBITDA, has $1B debt and $200M cash, with 100M shares outstanding. What's the implied share price?
A top candidate would have said…Why use unlevered FCF instead of levered FCF in a DCF, and what discount rate pairs with each?
A top candidate would have said…Company A (P/E of 20x) acquires Company B (P/E of 12x) in an all-stock deal at no premium. Is this accretive or dilutive to Company A's EPS, and why?
A top candidate would have said…Walk me through purchase price allocation in an M&A deal — what happens to the balance sheet, and where does goodwill come from?
A top candidate would have said…Two companies have identical revenue, EBITDA, and growth rates, but one has significantly higher net working capital requirements. How does this show up in a DCF, and why can two 'identical' income statements produce very different valuations?
A top candidate would have said…Why might a DCF give a different valuation than a comparable companies analysis, and which would you trust more, and when?
A top candidate would have said…A company's stock price drops 30% overnight on bad news. What happens to its diluted share count, all else equal, and why?
A top candidate would have said…Walk me through how you'd value a company with negative or highly volatile earnings — how does your approach change versus a stable, profitable business?
A top candidate would have said…Say it out loud instead.
Practise this case type live with an AI interviewer that asks follow-ups and pushes back on your logic.