Investment Banking Interview Blog

Interest rates drive M&A and LBO activity through debt capacity, discount rates, and financing markets. The mechanism, the math, and the interview answer.

Consulting to investment banking: which backgrounds travel, how to close the technical gap, rewrite your resume, and what title and pay reset on arrival.

Working capital and the cash conversion cycle explained: DSO, DIO and DPO formulas, worked examples, sector benchmarks, and why fast growth burns cash.

Credit ratings explained: how S&P, Moody's and Fitch build their scales, why the BBB-/Baa3 line matters, and how notching and downgrades hit bond pricing.

Venture capital from banking: why VC hires far fewer bankers than PE, which seats are realistic, what interviews test, and the honest pay picture.

Investment banking London guide: EMEA coverage, spring weeks, penultimate year internships, assessment centres, pay in pounds, and visa sponsorship rules.

Football field valuation chart guide: how each bar gets its high and low, which methods earn a bar, where the offer price line goes, what to avoid.

Private credit stress in 2026: what rising PIK usage, opaque valuation marks, and regulator warnings mean, and how to discuss it in a markets interview.

Investment banking training explained: what the two to six week analyst program covers, how exams and licensing work, and how group placement is decided.

Bond pricing, yield, and duration explained for interviews: the price/yield inverse, YTM vs current yield, Macaulay vs modified duration, and convexity.

How staffing works in investment banking: what staffers optimize for, how live deals get assigned, and why your first staffings shape your analyst year.