This booklet is an introduction to Mark Hatz’s “Investment Banking Interview Preparation Pack” (www.investment-banking-interview.com), that was designed to help, in a mentoring-style, undergraduate and MBA students secure analyst or associate positions in M&A at top financial institutions, whether bulge bracket or boutique investment banks. The author’s unique approach to investment banking interview preparation is to have candidates focus on the interview questions they are guaranteed to be asked at some point of the interview process, and offer insider advice on what professionals would expect to hear in the candidates’ answers for their performance to be considered successful. MARK HATZ is an entrepreneur. He has worked four years as an investment banking professional focused on M&A advisory at top financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg Partners in London, Paris and Dubai. He holds a Masters degree in Management from ESCP Europe, a Bachelors degree in Law from the Sorbonne University, and has passed the two first levels of the CFA examination. Mark has a solid understanding of the investment banking interview process. He participated in recruiting interns at Perella Weinberg in London as well as full-time analysts and visiting associates most recently at a boutique investment bank in Dubai. His recruiting experience also draws on the dozens of interviews He got out of college with various financial institutions such as Moelis, Greenhill, Evercore, Blackstone, Rothschild, Morgan Stanley or JP Morgan, to name a few.

1. www.investment-banking-interview.com
INVESTMENT
BANKING
INTERVIEW
Brutally Honest Insider
Advice for Success
MARK HATZ
1

2. Copyright © 2013 by Mark Hatz. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be redistributed, copied, photocopied or
duplicated in any form or by any means, including electronic information
storage and retrieval systems, without Mark Hatz’s prior written consent.
While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing
this booklet, they make no representations or warranties with respect to
the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically
disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. The strategies and advice found herein may not be
suited to your situation. The author and publisher of this book shall not be
liable for any profit or loss or any personal or commercial damages.
2

3. 1
A positive attitude and strong technical
skills are what will get you hired
 Attitude is 70% of your overall assessment
- Think about it. Juniors work the longest hours. Associates in the
recruiting team will essentially look for flexible, enjoyable
personalities; people they will continuously be able to load with
work and they will enjoy being around 15 hours a day –
contrary to what you may have heard, they do not look for
over-confident people with great intelligence who cannot fit in
a team
 In comparison, answering fit questions correctly is
secondary
- You can be weak at answering fit questions and still be
successful, but you can never show the wrong personality
 If on top of a positive attitude you can show strong
technical skills, you are almost guaranteed to get the job
- This job is all about reputation, and a solid financial knowledge
will make you respected
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4. 2
Smile
 This probably is the number one advice of this book
- This is because juniors are essentially recruited for their
personality
- Talking from experience, smiling alone can get you the job
 If you were on the other side of the table, you would be
surprised at how many candidates, because of stress,
forget to smile
 Smile genuinely
- Enjoy the moment, it is nothing more than an exercise
- And at the end of the day you may be very close to joining the
firm you have dreamed to work for
4

5. 3
Show humility
 This means four things:
- Remove any mark of over-confidence (show respect, and
A
never give the impression you know more than your
interviewer – contrary to what you may have heard,
investment banking remains a very hierarchical industry, do
not let your motivation / ambition make your interviewer feel
uncomfortable)
-B
Be as short and concise as possible in your answers (always
summarize and let the interviewer ask for the details she
needs – the interview is a short exercise and show maturity in
understanding that juniors, given their workload and lack of
sleep, will always get to the point)
-C
Speak slowly
- Listen to the interviewer, try not to interrupt her
D
 Looking at senior professionals, you would be surprised at
how successful low profiles are in the industry
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6. 4
Be confident
 You can be confident about what you are saying and still
be humble
 Be confident because:
A
- All you will be saying is what you really think: successful
candidates are those who are honest about what they think,
regardless of what the interviewer may think (this, done in an
intelligent way, will make you stand out as honest and
mature)
-B
Your interviewers are not more talented than you are. They
are just older, with more experience
-C
As an analyst candidate you do not need to know everything
about the job (e.g. forget modeling skills). If you have started
interviewing with several banks, you will realize investment
banking interviews are always the same. The same questions
come up every time: your preparation of the fit and technical
questions, as well as brainteasers, is enough
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7. 5
Come to the interview with a story about
yourself that will make your application
attractive and that you already know you
will be talking about
 A short story (3 minutes, as if you were in a lift with the
interviewer) that sums up your application in 4 points:
A
- Why the industry,
-B
Why the firm,
-C
Why the region, and
D
- Why specifically you
 That is all they need to hear from you in the fit interview
 Do not wait on the interview to go well and the
interviewer to bring up the right questions
- In your preparation, ask yourself the 4 questions above, try to
be honest in your answers, but still include the very reasons
why they will hire you (arguments you must include are
explained in the next two pages)
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8. 6
You must include in your story one main
source of motivation: you want to learn
 Professionals in the industry consider juniors do not bring
much to the table, but rather come to learn
 This is also in line with the expected humble personality
we have discussed and must be part of your answer to the
question “why the industry?”
- You will indeed learn twice as much as in any other industry:
working hours are long and you will be learning from the
experience of top management you will have as clients
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9. 7
The only reason why you apply to a specific
bank is because of its people (forget league
tables): you have spoken with some of them
and you feel you will be able to learn from
them and would enjoy working alongside
them
 The top 10 banks in the field you have applied are all the
same
- They advise on the same type of transactions, all have the same
culture and the same type of people
- Never mention league tables, transaction sizes, corporate
culture or the intelligence of its people as an argument to “why
our firm?”, they are irrelevant
- The best answer is to say you have spoken with a few people
from the firm and you are eager to learn from their experience
and work alongside them
- Speak with professionals from the firm through your school
alumni network, your Linkedin network or in recruiting forums
- If you have not had a chance to speak with any, talk about the
people from the firm you have already had interviews with
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10. 8
You must include in your story two qualities:
that you are a team-player and that you can
work hard
- Additionally for boutique investment bank
applications: that you would not require
training and could start the next day on
models and presentations
 “Why specifically you?” Because you interact well in a
team and you have a strong work ethics
- You cannot avoid mentioning those two qualities, they are the
only reasons why they would hire you
- Boutique investment banks do not have training capabilities,
and are more interested in juniors that have had a prior
experience in investment banking and that could start on
projects immediately. If that is the case, you must also mention
it
 Someone who does not mention those qualities, even if
she does not actually have them, has not understood the
nature of the job
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11. 9
Know that half the technical interview is on
accounting questions
 The M&A technical interview is not only about valuation
(DCF, multiples or LBO), a large part is also on accounting
questions (essentially the interaction between the three
primary financial statements)
 They will not give you a chance to answer any accounting
question incorrectly
- This is because accounting is at the core of any modeling
exercise
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12. 10
Do not neglect brainteasers (and mental
math)
 If during the interview you struggle with brainteasers and
mental math (this can easily happen under stress), no
matter how strong you have been at fit and technical
questions, you will be out
 Brainteasers can be role plays (“what would you do in a
given situation”), market sizing questions (“how many
marriages are there every year in China?”), logical
problems or mental math
- Practice makes perfect
12

13. Sign up now for the full preparation
course that will help you master the
investment banking interview!
Get started at www.investment-banking-interview.com
13

14. This booklet is an introduction to Mark Hatz’s “Investment
Banking Interview Preparation Pack” (www.investmentbanking-interview.com), that was designed to help, in a
mentoring-style, undergraduate and MBA students secure
analyst or associate positions in M&A at top financial
institutions, whether bulge bracket or boutique investment
banks. The author’s unique approach to investment banking
interview preparation is to have candidates focus on the
interview questions they are guaranteed to be asked at some
point of the interview process, and offer insider advice on
what professionals would expect to hear in the candidates’
answers for their performance to be considered successful.
MARK HATZ is an entrepreneur. He has worked four
years as an investment banking professional focused
on M&A advisory at top financial institutions including
Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg Partners in
London, Paris and Dubai. He holds a Masters degree in
Management from ESCP Europe, a Bachelors degree in
Law from the Sorbonne University, and has passed the
two first levels of the CFA examination.
14