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

Templates – Mixed Finance But Non-IB Background to Investment Banking
You can use this template if you’re an undergraduate or recent graduate with a finance
background (i.e., you have worked at a Big 4 firm, corporate finance at a normal company, or in
something like venture capital or private equity), and you’re interviewing for investment
banking positions.
This template and the example below assume that you have NOT completed an investment
banking internship. If you have a previous IB internship, please use the “Investment Banking to
Other Bank” template.
With this background, the key question is how committed you are to investment banking and
why you don’t want to work in another field of finance instead.
For example, if you’ve previously done a private equity internship, bankers will assume that you
want to work in IB for 1-2 years and then immediately go back into PE (which, let’s face it, you
probably do).
So you have to present very specific reasons why you do not want to work in other areas of
finance (e.g., you want to spend more time working on deals, see more immediate results of
your work, and not spend time monitoring portfolio companies).
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.

 Growing Interest: Your initial “finance internship,” which might be far removed from
banking, and then several internships that moved you closer (e.g., commercial banking
to Big 4 valuation to corporate finance). Explain why IB is for you, and why those other
fields are not, at the end.

 The Future and Why You’re Here Today: You want to combine your industry knowledge
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.

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FULL TEMPLATE:
Interviewer: Why don’t you start by walking me through your resume?
Interviewee: “Sure. I’m from [Location Name] originally and then went to [University Name]
since [Explain reasoning, such as scholarship or academic strengths].
I first got interested in finance 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.
Then, I did my first internship at [Company Name] doing [Describe the work], and I learned
about [Skills related to investment banking, such as accounting, financial statement analysis,
client relationships, investment analysis, etc.]. I liked the [Skill Name], but I also wanted to
[Learn more about Skill X / Work on more transactions or larger transactions], so then I did
another internship at [Firm Name], which focused on [Describe business and industry].
In that internship, [A company we covered / client / other party] was involved in [An M&A or
financing deal or something related to banking], and I had to model/analyze the transaction
and present the results, which made me even more interested in banking.
I’ve worked in several fields now, but investment banking appeals to me the most because [You
spend most of your time actually working on deals / you influence companies in a major way
/ you work with a broad set of companies, etc.]. And after speaking with alumni and learning
more about modeling and deal analysis, I know it’s for me.
So I’m here today because I want to combine my background in [Industry/Geography Name]
with what you do in investment banking, and advise [Industry/Geography Name] companies
on their M&A and financing strategies.
And your bank has a great reputation in those areas, due to deals like [Name a Deal], so it’s 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 “mixed” background (Big 4 internship, corporate development, and private equity).
OUTLINE:

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 Beginning: Born in Thailand, and attended university in the U.S. because she won a
scholarship there; father had a real estate business.

 Spark: Got very interested in sports franchises and the management and financing of
sports teams in university, so she majored in Finance to learn the business side of the
industry.

 Growing Interest: Completed Big 4 audit, private equity, and corporate development
internships. Liked working on deals, valuing companies, and learning about the
hospitality and tourism markets in Thailand; exposed to complex sell-side M&A deal in
internship and wants to work on more of those in the future.

 The Future and Why You’re Here Today: She wants to combine her background in
emerging markets and hospitality/tourism finance with investment banking and advise
companies in those industries.
FULL STORY:
Interviewer: Why don’t you start by walking me through your resume?
Interviewee: “Sure. I was born in Thailand, came to the U.S, and went to Vanderbilt for
university since I won a scholarship there, and since the school had a good reputation for
business and finance.
My father ran a real estate business in Thailand, so I learned about deals from a young age, but
I became a lot more interested in finance during my first year in university. There was
controversy over one football player who quit and joined the Broncos early for a record-high
salary, and the story made me interested in sports franchises and sports team finances.
So to learn about the business side, I majored in Finance and completed an audit internship at
Ernst & Young in Thailand. I liked the financial statement analysis, but I wanted to learn more
about valuation and work on actual deals, so I did private equity and corporate development
internships at firms in Thailand focused on the tourism and hospitality markets.
In the corporate development internship, our company was going through a complex
divestiture and joint-venture deal with a hotel company in Dubai, and I had to model the deal
and present it to management, which made me very interested in M&A transactions.
Although I’ve worked in several different fields, investment banking appeals to me because you
actually spend most of your time working on deals, instead of passing on almost everything as

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you do in PE, and you work with a broad set of companies. And after speaking with alumni and
teaching myself more of the modeling and deal skills, I know it’s for me.
So I’m here today because I want to combine my background in emerging markets and
hospitality finance with investment banking, and eventually advise companies in those
industries. And your bank has a great reputation in those areas, due to deals like the Marriott /
Starwood merger, so it’s the best way for me to get there.”

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