Some questions I faced in my job interviews....

Interview Questions for Equity Research jobs

· Walk me through your resume

· Tell me about yourself.

· Is this your top choice? Why or why not? Why this firm over others?

· Why equity research?

· Why Buy Side / Sell Side?

· Why this firm?

· What are your shot-term / long term goals?

· Pitch a Stock? What do you like about the stock? What you don’t like about the stock? What are the risks associated with this industry and the stocks?

· Do you have any industry focus and why? Views on this industry?

· Talk about your excel modeling skills.

· Talk about your accounting skills.

· What are your views on market efficiency?

· Which valuation approach do you prefer? Advantages and Disadvantages of each of them?

· Which comparable multiples do you prefer? Advantages and Disadvantages of each of them?

· How do you calculate Free Cash Flow to Equity and Free Cash Flow to firm?

· How are three financial statements related to each other?

· What is your opinion about the current economy and where are we heading from here?

Interview Questions for Trading related jobs

· Walk me through your resume

· Tell me about yourself.

· Is this your top choice? Why or why not? Why this firm over others?

· Why Trading?

· Why this firm?

· What are your shot-term / long term goals?

· Talk about some trading strategies you like.

· Talk about your risk taking abilities.

· Which asset classes do you like to trade and why?

· What do you understand by the economics of trading?

· Talk about price impact / best execution / bid-ask spread.

· What is your opinion about the current economy and where are we heading from here?

Interview Questions for Investment Management / Portfolio Management related jobs

· Walk me through your resume

· Tell me about yourself.

· Is this your top choice? Why or why not? Why this firm over others?

· Why Portfolio Management?

· Why this firm?

· What are your shot-term / long term goals?

· Explain sharpe-ratio?

· Pitch a Stock? What do you like about the stock? What you don’t like about the stock? What are the risks associated with this industry and the stocks?

· Talk about your excel modeling skills.

· Talk about your accounting skills.

· Talk about your risk taking abilities.

· What is your opinion about the current economy and where are we heading from here?

· Which sectors would you like to be underweight and which sectors would you like to be overweight in this economy.

Behavioral Questions (more relevant for Corp Fin related jobs)

· Walk me through your resume

· Tell me about yourself.

· Is this your top choice? Why or why not? Why this firm over others?

· What are your shot-term / long term goals?

· Describe a situation in which you faced an ethical challenge in the workplace and how you resolved it.

· Tell about a situation when you persuaded someone to accept your ideas or point of view.

· Provide an example of an unpleasant client situation. How did you handle it? What would you have done differently?

· Describe a situation where you had to work with ambiguity. How did you deal with the situation and what was the result?

· Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to get yourself out of a difficult situation.

· What was the most challenging or riskiest decision you have made?

· What was your most significant leadership experience?

· How do you respond to an employee who is under performing?

· Tell me about a time when you exhibited initiative.

· Tell me about a time when you were working on multiple projects that had conflicting deadlines.

· In your last performance reviews, what were identified as areas needing improvement?

· Describe your reputation within your last organization.

· What do you do for fun?