3. Interview preparation: Work SMART, not hard
One of the most important skills in life is develop a sense of knowing what is actually important. “Work smart, not hard” sums up my point very well. Here’s my tips on how to prepare for your interviews:
- Just remember this, as a university graduate, technical skills like financial modelling are NOT A MUST. Your interviewers care about your potential and desire to learn what they do.
- Know the basic technical questions. But more importantly, prepare a thoughtful and meaningful answers for these THREE questions:
- Tell me about yourself / Walk me through your resume: This actually links to Tip #1 and Tip#2, basically highlight all your skill sets and link to the position you are applying for
- Why investment banking?
- What did I do: Here’s what I said in my interview: “My father spent all his life in corporates and I witnessed the financial distress of companies. As an investment banker, I can help many global corporations to gain access to capital markets…”
- Why our bank?
- What did I do: Know all the major achievements about the bank you are applying for (both global and regional). e.g. Goldman Sachs is the global M&A house, Morgan Stanley is the global Equity House, Deutsche Bank/Citi are the global forex/bond house etc. Spend time on their websites.
Robert Luo 