I applied through university. I interviewed at Arbor Advisors
Interview
Two rounds of interviews and on the phone. It was relatively straight forward and went through why investment banking, relevant experience and favorite recent deal. Not too much valuation questions m, however they did ask me about “water fall analysis” and if I could do that.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Arbor Advisors (Salt Lake City, UT)
Interview
Applied online through LinkedIn. Within a week I got an email inviting me to a phone interview. The first interview involved questions about my knowledge about the firm, and some technical questions. Later I got a couple of interviews with other senior associates. Most questions were about fit. Then an interview with Stan Christensen himself. Finally, a "case" interview where I was pitching a deal to another associate acting as the CEO of a company.
The process was very long. Too long. Almost 2 months interviewing. Even though I enjoyed the relaxed culture of the firm, it seemed unprofessional at times. Poor feedback and lack of responsiveness from the associate running the recruiting process, lowered my expectations about the firm. Those low expectations were lowered even further when I got the offer which was in the 60k, including 12 hour days (min), and some conditions regarding compensation which seemed unreasonable. I politely declined. The opportunity cost was too high considering all previously mentioned factors, and other firms providing better options in Utah.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Describe the flow of a deal from beginning to end
- Describe differences between balance sheet income statement, cash flow
- Describe how each financial statement is affected when a transaction is executed (i.e sale of inventory)
