Interview Assessment #2 

Student: ​Maansi Chodavarapu 

Name of Person Interviewed:​ Mr. R 

Profession:​ Investment Banker 

Date of Interview:​ Monday, October 22, 2018 

Time:​ 3:30 p.m. 

Analysis: 

I was probably the most nervous for this meeting than any other one. This was 

the first time that I was talking to an actual Investment Banker, as the past three 

interviews had been with Financial Advisors. In addition, this was my first phone 

interview which made me nervous about call quality and background noise. If I’m truly 

honest, I irrationally expected him to be monotone, scary, and blunt, as I succumbed 

to stereotypes. However, I could not be more wrong - Mr. R was personable, 

humorous, and very informative. In addition, he is already mentoring an ISM student 

from Liberty High School, which made him understand the program and its details. 

Interviewing Mr. R revealed the client process, the consequences of technology, and 

the traits he looks for when interviewing job applicants.  

Since Mr. R was the first Investment Banker that I interviewed, I was most 

intrigued about the process that he goes through for each client. He broke the process 

down into twelve steps. When he first gets a client, he sits down and understands the 

client’s goals for the transaction, because he believes that the goals will help him 
appropriately structure the deal and list potential buyers. Then he practices what he 

calls “due diligence” which is analyzing the company for its strengths and weaknesses, 

the approximate value of the business, and potential issues that may arise. After 

analyzing the company, he will make a list of potential buyers, narrow them down with 

the client, and then send the teaser to the potential buyers. If the buyer is interested, 

the Investment Banker will send them a follow-up, a CIM, and access to the Virtual 

Data Room with extra documents about the company. Using these new resources, the 

potential buyers can now truly judge whether they are still interested in buying the 

company, which they can communicate with a IOI. Using the IOIs, the banker will list 

pros and cons for each buyer and then hold a management meeting for the client and 

potential buyer to meet. The buyers still interested will send a LOI, which will bind the 

buyer to the promise of transaction. Then, after finalizing the buyer, the lawyers and 

accountants will draft contracts and audits to finalize the transaction. Although the 

process looks lengthy, I enjoyed the variety of skills used in the process and how we 

are given the time to truly know the client to build trust. In addition, the fact that each 

case is worked on by three bankers eases each person’s workload. This teamwork also 

suits my ambivert personality as the process has both group and individual work. The 

description of the process actually seemed like something I can envision myself doing, 

which strengthened my interest for Finance. 

Besides explaining the client process, Mr. R also emphasized the negatives of 

technology. When I asked him how technology impacted his career, I expected a 

positive answer like it made documents and communication easier. Although he made 
those points, he felt like technology had a significantly negative impact on client 

relationships, which surprised me. He argued his claim by stating that technology 

deteriorated the human interaction and personal relationships built in the case. To 

him, the relationships made it easier to understand the client and their goals, which in 

return made it easier to market the company and find buyers who would connect well 

with the client. This response surprised me because it was exactly the same view I held 

about social media and texting - it hindered personal friendships. That is why I chose a 

more people-centered job, because I believed in the magic of face-to-face interaction. 

Lastly, I asked Mr. R about the traits he looks for in job applicants. He said that 

he wanted to see presentability because it reflected the applicant’s standards and even 

attracted clients with the professional appearance. He also wanted the applicant to ask 

meaningful questions about the company, his background, and anything else. The 

questions showed that the applicant was truly interested in the company and wanted to 

gather as much information as possible, which resembled the due diligence step of the 

client case. But simple questions showed that the applicant was underprepared by not 

bothering to do basic research about the company. In the interview, he looked for 

applicants that sounded smart, had a sense of humor, and especially possessed a large 

energy - traits that made someone appear personable. He even complimented that I 

asked really good questions, which made me happy that I wrote my interview 

questions and did background research before the interview! My ESFP personality 

might shine in these aspects because my personality is known for having a tremendous 

amount of energy and being really personable. 

 My interview with Mr. R not only enlightened me about the work environment 

of investment bankers and what traits are most attractive, but showed that I have a true 

chance in the field. According to him, his daughter works in Wall Street as an 

Investment Banker, which showed me that dedication overshadows gender. In 

addition, he advised me to select a university that Investment Banks recruit from - 

namely the University of Texas at Austin, my dream school! If he was not already 

mentoring another ISM student, he seemed like a good choice for my mentor because I 

was able to hold a good conversation with him and he was an expert in my field of 

study. But this interview gave me a lot of knowledge about Investment Bankers that I 

will reference in future interviews.