Access the Rest of the IB Interview Guide

IB Interview Guide, Module 2: Undergraduate and Recent Graduate Story

Templates – Consulting to Investment Banking
You can use this template if you’re an undergraduate or recent graduate from a consulting
background (i.e., you did an internship at McKinsey, Bain, or BCG, or a smaller firm), and you’re
interviewing for investment banking positions.
There is a BIG difference between the top 3 consulting firms (MBB) and everything else, and
there’s an even bigger difference between management consulting and areas such as IT and HR
consulting.
If you’ve worked at MBB, you have a good shot of getting into investment banking; if not, your
chances are quite a bit lower.
Coming from a consulting background, you’ll have to answer the following objections:

 Can you burn the midnight oil? While the hours in consulting can be long, they’re still
shorter than what most bankers experience.

 Can you count? While the math required in IB is not exactly rocket science, you’ll still
need to be more comfortable with numbers and quantitative analysis.

 Is banking just your “Plan B”? Many students apply to all the consulting and finance
jobs they can, and plan to accept the first offer they get. You need to seem committed
to finance.
To counter these objections, you need to show a clear progression toward finance, as well as
evidence that you’ve gained the required Excel, modeling, and analytical skills.
You can’t “prove” that investment banking isn’t just a “Plan B” for you, but you can show that
you’re serious by demonstrating detailed knowledge of the deals this bank has advised on.
Here’s the outline, the full template, and an executed example of this template from a client:
OUTLINE:

 Beginning: Where you’re from, your university, and your internships/activities. You can
mention an interest in finance here, but it’s not critical.

 Spark: A banker you met, an internship project, or an activity or class that sparked your
interest in finance.

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
 Access the Rest of the IB Interview Guide

 Growing Interest: Group together your consulting internship with your other
internships, and explain how something in that consulting internship made you more
interested in finance (e.g., a specific client you worked with) – and then how you
learned more about finance and deal work over time. You like advising clients, but you
want more quantitative work with more tangible results.

 The Future and Why You’re Here Today: You want to combine your consulting
experience and finance skill set with investment banking and advise companies in a
certain industry or on a certain deal type, and this bank has a great reputation in that
area.

FULL TEMPLATE:
Interviewer: Why don’t you start by walking me through your resume?
Interviewee: “Sure. I was born in [Location Name] and then went to [University Name] since
[Explain reasoning, such as scholarship or academic strengths].
I first got interested in business from [Describe an event on campus, an activity like trading
stocks or an investing competition, a family business, or a class], so I decided to major in
[Major Name] to learn more about the industry.
I completed several internships after that, including one at [Consulting Company’s Name],
where I worked on [Describe the clients or engagement types you worked on, e.g. industrial
companies seeking to cut costs, or technology companies seeking to improve their HR
processes].
I liked advising clients and working on big-picture issues, but I also wanted something more
quantitative where it was easier to see the results of my work.
On one project in my internship, I had to [Describe some type of Excel or other quantitative
analysis you did to help a client make a decision, e.g. the financial impact of pricing or
marketing decisions, or comparing contracts, or different HR policies], which made me more
interested in finance.
I started contacting alumni, teaching myself more about financial modeling and deals, and
practicing with [Case competitions, student investing clubs, self-study cases, etc.].
So I’m here today because I want to combine my consulting experience and finance skills and
advise companies on M&A and financing decisions rather than operational ones, and I’m
especially interested in [Name an industry or a deal type].

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
 Access the Rest of the IB Interview Guide

Your bank has a great reputation in those areas, with deals like [Name a Deal], and I’ve heard
positive comments from everyone on your team, so joining [Bank Name] is the best way for me
to get there.”

EXECUTED EXAMPLE OF THIS OUTLINE AND TEMPLATE:

Here’s a slightly modified version of the story of one client who broke into investment banking
from a consulting background (strategy consulting at a smaller firm followed by MBB):
OUTLINE:

 Beginning: Half-French, Half-American background, grew up in London, and lived in

India, France, and the U.S.; attended LSE for university and did a Finance degree there.

 Spark: Got interested in business when a fashion boutique owned by her uncle had to
restructure its operations during a downturn to keep running.

 Growing Interest: Did an internship at Roland Berger and then another one at BCG. She
liked advising clients but wanted something more quantitative with more tangible
results; on one project, she used financial modeling to show a client the revenue and
cash flow impact of different pricing strategies. She started learning more about
modeling and deal analysis after that.

 The Future and Why You’re Here Today: She wants to combine her consulting
background with the finance skills she’s gained and advise companies on financing
decisions, M&A, and turnaround opportunities.
FULL STORY:
Interviewer: Why don’t you start by walking me through your CV?
Interviewee: “Sure. I’m half-French and half-American, and I grew up in London, though I also
spent time in India, France, and the U.S. I went to the London School of Economics for
university and did a Finance degree there.
I first got interested in business when a boutique fashion firm owned by my uncle ran into
financial problems during the last downturn and had to restructure its operations to keep
running and servicing its debt.

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
 Access the Rest of the IB Interview Guide

I wanted to learn more about operations and finance after that, so I did a strategy consulting
internship at Roland Berger, and then a management consulting internship at BCG. I liked
advising clients and working on big-picture issues, but I also wanted something more
quantitative where it was easier to see the results of my work.
On one project, I helped a retail client analyze the revenue and cash flow impact of different
pricing strategies, which made me a lot more interested in financial modeling and banking. So I
started contacting alumni, teaching myself more about valuation and deal analysis, and
practicing my skills with restructuring and distressed deals.
So I’m here today because I want to combine my consulting experience and finance skills and
advise companies on M&A and financing decisions rather than just operational ones. I’m
especially interested in the retail sector and turnaround situations.
Your bank has a great reputation in this area, with deals like Sonova’s acquisition of AudioNova,
and I’ve heard very positive comments from everyone on your team, so I’m confident that
joining Credit Suisse is the best way for me to get there.”

http://breakingintowallstreet.com