How to Answer the Why Investment Banking Question
Written by Riyan Richter on November 9th, 2009 in Self Development.
Why do you actually want to be an investment banker?
You need a good answer for this one – because you’ll get it in every single interview.
But you probably have a poor idea of how to answer this one, at least if you’ve read other guides.
-You want to be a lifelong learner.
-You’ve done well in finance classes.
-You like a fast-paced environment.
None of these is “wrong” – the problem is that they’re too generic, and they don’t set you apart from other prospective bankers.
But to succeed, you’ll need make the interviewer think you’re an interesting person and remember who you are.
You can accomplish this with the “Big Picture” method or the “Slice of Life” method.
Use the “Big Picture” method if you’re a career changer, you don’t have a finance background, or you don’t have a specific story that made you interested in finance.
The outline is: Background in One Industry + Experience in Finance = Success in Achieving Long-Term Goals.
So maybe you worked in healthcare, and now you want to combine finance with your industry knowledge to advise companies on transactions; or maybe you want to go into venture capital, using your engineering background and new-found finance knowledge.
You can make up and modify your “long-term goals” as necessary to fit the situation – just make sure you’re consistent.
The other method – the “Slice of Life” – is better if you’ve been a finance major, or you have some full-time experience in the field.
With this one, you start off with the event that made you interested and then explain how that interest developed over time.
-You started day trading when you were younger since your dad was a huge fan, so you became more interested in the markets and also did several internships.
-You went to a summer leadership camp and met top female executives at investment banks, which sparked your interest in the field.
You can combine both of these methods as well, of course – just make sure that you tell a coherent story that doesn’t go on for 5 minutes.
Aim for 20-30 seconds at most, keep it brief and on point, and you’ll be well-ahead of 90% of interviewees.
Riyan Richter writes about the career development process, how to successfully network, and how to get into the finance industry at Mergers & Inquisitions, the internet’s top resource for investment banking and answering the why investment banking question in interviews.
