What an investment banking interview actually probes
Expect a valuation technical almost immediately, most often walking through a discounted cash flow model or a comparable company analysis and defending each assumption you'd make. Deal-by-deal resume questions follow, where interviewers push past a summary line to ask what you actually did on a specific transaction.
Markets and mental math questions test composure directly, sometimes a live headline you're asked to react to, sometimes a number you're expected to estimate without a calculator. Motivation and fit questions round things out, usually why banking specifically and whether you understand what the hours actually require, since burning out early is a real cost to the team.
Question types to expect
Technical valuation and modeling
Core modeling technicals with a defensible right and wrong answer, testing whether your assumptions hold up under a follow-up question.
- Walk me through how you'd build a discounted cash flow model from scratch.
- How would you choose comparable companies for a valuation, and what would disqualify one?
- What happens to enterprise value if depreciation increases by $10 with no change in cash taxes?
Markets and mental math
Quick reasoning under pressure, testing composure and market awareness rather than a rehearsed technical answer.
- What's a stock or deal in the news right now, and what do you think about it?
- Estimate this number without a calculator and walk me through your reasoning.
- How would this interest rate move affect a company with a lot of floating-rate debt?
Deal experience and motivation
Resume walkthroughs pushed past the summary line, testing whether you actually understand what you worked on and why you want this specific job.
- Walk me through a deal on your resume and what you specifically did on it.
- Why investment banking over other paths that use similar skills?
- What part of a deal process do you think you'd find hardest, and why?
Behavioral and stamina
Scenarios about deadline pressure and team dynamics, testing whether you'd hold up under the hours this job is known for.
- Tell me about a time you had to deliver accurate work with almost no time left.
- Describe a moment you caught an error in a model right before it went out.
- How do you stay accurate on a task after working long hours with little sleep?
How Intervieux helps you prepare
The technical interview type is built for exactly this kind of question, a DCF walkthrough or a comps sensitivity that has a defensible right and wrong answer, not just a talking point. A written challenge format lets you build out a model or work through a valuation the way you'd actually do it on paper or in a spreadsheet, rather than only describing your approach verbally.
The resume-based interview type grounds the deal-by-deal conversation in your own actual experience, so you're practicing defending real transactions instead of a hypothetical. Scoring covers five dimensions, and Technical weighs whether your modeling and valuation reasoning actually holds together, while Behavioral weighs how you handle pressure and accuracy under a deadline, both of which this field tests directly.
Practice, then apply
Practice privately, then apply for real
Practice sessions are private, so you can work through a DCF walkthrough or a deal-by-deal question without a real interviewer watching you think out loud for the first time. There's no cost to browse or apply on the board, and one click carries you into a live AI screening interview built from that bank's actual posting.
Browse current investment banking openings on the job board.
Frequently asked questions
Will a technical practice interview ask me to build out a full model?
The written challenge format has you run modeling or valuation reasoning the way you'd actually do it on paper or in a spreadsheet, not just talk through it out loud.
How is a DCF or comps answer scored?
It's scored on the Technical dimension for whether the reasoning and assumptions hold together, and interviewers push on follow-up questions specifically to test whether you understand the model rather than memorized it.
Will I be asked about deals I only had a small role on?
Often, yes. Interviewers commonly push for specifics on your actual contribution to a deal, not just the deal's overall summary, so be ready to describe what you personally did.
How is Behavioral scored for investment banking interviews?
Behavioral is one of five scored dimensions, and here it often reflects how you handle accuracy and pressure under a deadline, since that comes up constantly in the actual job.
Will I be asked markets questions I can't fully prepare for?
Yes, often intentionally. A live headline or a mental math question tests real-time composure and market awareness rather than a rehearsed answer, so following markets regularly matters more than cramming.
Related pages
Practice an investment banking interview
Run a technical or resume-based AI interview to work through DCF and comps modeling, markets questions, and deal walkthroughs before an employer sees you.