fin summers interview experience guide -...

Networth Fin Summers Guide 2010 1 | P a g e

Presents

Fin Summers

Interview Experience

Guide - 2010

Wishing All the Best to the PGP1 Batch for the Summer Internship Interview

- Team NETWORTH


List of Contributors :

Networth thanks the following PGP2 students for their contribution.

Sl. No Name Page No

1 Abhijeet Anand 3

2 Ashish Viswanathan 5

3 Deepak Kumar Thakur 8

4 Sanjana Pegu 10

5 Sripriya GN 12

6 Vishwa Vijoyendra Narayan 14

7 Vivek R 16

8 Abhishek Sood 18

9 Vikas Dugar 20

10 Rohini Ramachandran 22

11 Ashish Chordia 24

12 Gazal Heda 26

13 Manu Ramachandar 28

14 Kamalika Haldar 30

15 Rahul Bajaj 32

16 Sundar RAJAN G S 34

17 Ganesh Kumar L 36

18 Bharat Bushan 38

19 T S Aruna 40

20 Anuj Ladha 43

21 Aakash Agrawal 46

22 Arun Manohar 49

23 Ishita Verma 50

24 Rajarshi Mukherjee 51

25 Kaushik Sriram 52

26 Shamiroh Tikoo 53

27 Ankit Agarwal 55

28 Mayur Dixit 57

29 Neha Gupta 59

30 Sumeet Mittal 61

31 Swati Verma 63

32 Arpit Agarwal 64

33 Jaidiya Jeyakar 65

34 Rahul Kumar 68

35 Ajay Jain 70

36 Prateek Mankad 73


1. Abhijeet Anand

Profile


Company: IDG Ventures

Interviewed for IDG Ventures, VC

No. of Interviews 2 rounds

Interview Outline Case based, career related and some personal questions

What do you think they were looking for

Good analytical ability and person who can be relied to complete an assignment

What went wrong/right

Was able to handle the case and personal questions well…was not able to satisfactorily answer a question on „What should the FM do in this scenario?‟

Tips on what you think helped you in the interview

Being through with personal questions…and case preparation

Dos/Don‟ts, Special Preparation

Nothing as such

Internship Experience

Company: IDG Ventures, Bangalore

Brief Internship Profile Doing a survey on „Fund raising effectiveness‟ for all VC funded companies across India; screening business plans

Brief Description of a typical working day

Come to office by 8:30 AM; work till 1 PM; have breakfast in between for say 20 min.; lunch between 1-2 PM; work till 6:30 or 7PM; leave for home

What aspects of the internship were appealing?

Got to know about VC industry; interacted with VC and found out about their decision making process; saw some entrepreneurs pitching their B-Plans

Name Abhijeet Anand

Educational Qualification B. Tech., Electrical Engg. IIT Kanpur

Wrokex 48 months; Juno Online, Hyderabad (12 months), Talentica Softwares, Pune (36 months)

Summers Company & Role IDG Ventures, Bangalore


What did you dislike about it?

People are so busy that they do not have time to assign work to you

Specific skill sets/tools required for the job

No specific skills as such – just brush up your „Research in Marketing Decisions‟ course

Dos and Don‟ts These people are very particular about attention to detail, so display that in each and every work that you do

Any other information you would like to add

-


2. Ashish Viswanathan

Profile


Company: Deutsche Bank

Interviewed for Associate position, London Duration: Around 50 mins

No. of Interviews About 4-5 rounds, each for around 10 mins (Deutsche was my first and only interview)

Interview Outline

1. Personals (tell me about yourself, couple of short questions from resume)

2. Couple of puzzles (reasonably simple) 3. Some problems on hedging using futures, FX exposure, credit

exposure etc. Interest rates, currencies, some macro gyaan 4. Good no. of questions on subprime crisis (both factual and also

interpretation based questions like „What would you do if you were Ben Bernanke and you found out about all this in 2007‟)

5. Couple of questions testing knowledge of capital markets etc („If I were an FII with 100 million dollars, where should I invest it today?‟ etc)

6. Lots of personals about why markets (why not consulting too!), why Deutsche etc?


Analytical ability (more in terms of thought process of approaching a problem), good awareness of financial crisis and general gyaan and willingness to work in markets (i.e. how convincing my reasons were etc). I wasn‟t tested too much on derivatives and puzzles, but I believe a few others had lots of questions in this area


I think the personals & financial crisis questions went very well, pretty decent with the puzzles too. Started a bit slowly on the problems, but was able to arrive at the solution quickly once I had the hang of the question.


I prepared pretty well for derivatives & financial crisis. Though my approach was not very quick for the former, this was not a problem because I was not hurried for these questions and they were also seeing how I was approaching the solution. I was well prepared with the personals section – very clear on why I wanted markets, not consulting etc and I think I gave them nearly 6 reasons for Why Deutsche


1. For most banks, and for Deutsche especially, be prepared with personals at three levels (Tell me about yourself etc | Why markets, why not consult / IBD etc | Why Deutsche). I had done my homework by speaking to seniors in this respect and I think

Name Ashish Viswanathan

Educational Qualification B. Tech Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras

Workex Shell Global Solutions (1 year)

Summers Company & Role Deutsche Bank Global Markets, London Associate


my clarity of thought on these questions clinched it. 2. Make sure you understand what you are preparing in case of

derivatives. Don‟t get caught up and confused by the math, learn the basics of why and how the derivatives work

3. Make sure you are well prepared with financial crisis / current affairs / bailout and efforts to fight the crisis. Have an opinion on issues like „Do you think it was right to not bail out Lehman?‟ etc and be prepared to defend your opinion

4. Other preparation is roughly similar to the usual markets summers preparation.


Company: Deutsche Bank Global Markets, London

Brief Internship Profile

DB offers 2 rotations, the first one in Singapore / London/NYC & the second one is always in London You get to choose which role you want (i.e. trading / structuring / sales / research) in both these rotations After a week of training you work for 4 weeks at your first desk and after mid-term feedback and discussion you work for another 4 weeks at the second desk I worked at the Emerging Markets Structuring Desk (London) for the first 4 weeks & then at the Commodities Complex Risk Trading desk (London) for the next 4 weeks


No day was very „typical‟. So here is a brief description of the work over 8 weeks: Structuring – Very varied work. I was on a structuring desk that did everything (FX, credit, rates and even some IBD style work behind a Chinese wall). Developing tools to price / help price structured products and helping in preparation of pitches to varied clients (from Russian banks to Saudi Sheikhs) took up most of the time. Also worked on an interesting mini-project which helped the traders to hedge some of their risks. Trading – Very focused work. Understood and learnt to price several exotic structured products. Had a 3-4 week project which focused on the pricing of a super-exotic using Monte Carlo simulations and preparing a detailed risk analysis by testing it in various scenarios. Very interesting & fairly quantitative work. Apart from this, some time everyday sitting beside the traders and asking them several questions.


1. Alumni support – DB is filled with IIM alumni. DB and Lehman have been recruiting from the IIMs long before other banks and hence you see IIM guys at nearly every level in the organization. (my first desk had 15 people, 5 of which were from IIMB!) IIM interns are treated on par, if not better than European interns

2. Choice – You get to choose what roles you want. And you choose your second desk only after your first month so you can make up your mind for the second role midway through the intern.

3. Well organized – The programme is very well planned with

proper feedback sessions, meetings with senior management, dinners, trip to Lords‟ etc during the course of the 9 weeks. On day 1 you are given an „IIM Internship programme‟ calendar with all the important dates on it.


4. Planned interactions with senior management at several levels

from desk heads to Heads of business divisions and finally the Head of Global Markets & Board member of DB, Anshu Jain. Tons of exposure and gyaan from these meetings. Really improves your understanding of the business as a whole.


Nothing specific. Some people may not like working on several small pieces of work / mini-projects as opposed to working on a full time 8 week project, but in my opinion, the latter does not really give you a flavour of actually working at a bank.


Curiosity, “can-do” attitude, Gyaan on derivatives, basic excel skills, willingness to learn in a sometimes chaotic environment

Dos and Don‟ts

Ask questions! Try your best to be interesting, but even boring questions are better than no questions at all. If you don‟t know something, ask! Don‟t try to nod your head or bluff your way through.

Learn how to approach people. Some people (esp. Traders) don‟t like to be bothered when they are very busy.

Get feedback from people on the desk halfway through each rotation. Will help tremendously in focusing your efforts

Underpromise and overdeliver. Try not to set yourself crazy deadlines which you can‟t meet. Ask for more time if you need it, rather than submitting half-baked work. Attention to detail is very important (esp. in structuring)


Get fundaes from seniors well in advance for interview prep etc. Attend all bank PPTs and finally, stay calm on Day Zero


3. Deepak Kumar Thakur

Profile


Company: Morgan Stanley Advantage Services

Interviewed for Summer Analyst

No. of Interviews 2 round

Interview Outline


Basic understanding of financial accounting, confidence

What went wrong/right My experience of working on valuation of Oil & Gas projects, financial modelling helped a lot


My confidence in answering questions related to finance


Read thoroughly two chapters 11 & 12 of “Financial Accounting” book by RNS


Company: Morgan Stanley Advantage Services


As an analyst I worked on Moody‟s credit rating methodology, Credit Rating Modelling and financial statement analysis of financial services firm


9 Am to 7 PM; hectic schedule but you will have mentor whom you can approach anytime.

What aspects of the

It was a great learning experience. It helped me to choose proper electives in 2

nd year. After internship you will have some

Name Deepak Kumar Thakur

Educational Qualification B. Tech (Petroleum Engineering), ISM Dhanbad

Wrokex 3 years with Prize Petroleum Company Limited as Petroleum Engineer

Summers Company & Role Morgan Stanley Advantage Services & Summer Analyst


internship were appealing?

understanding of what you like and what you don‟t.



They will give you required training

Dos and Don‟ts



4. Sanjana Pegu

Profile


Company: HSBC Global Markets

Interviewed for 20 minutes

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline


I reckon they were looking for someone who was confident and would fit in well with the company. They weren‟t looking for great fin studs who knew how to price options backwards but rather who were eager to learn, enthusiastic and yet knowledgeable.


I was pretty relaxed during the interview, didn‟t take too much stress and had researched thoroughly on the company which I guess impressed them. Also, when asked for my opinion on certain matters, I was as honest as possible and didn‟t try too hard. They can see through any kind of charade after all.


Possibly the only interview where I was not stressed out! That was a big help in my opinion. Also, I didn‟t go for the interview with an “I got to crack this one” attitude. The idea was to relax, have a good conversation with the interviewers and possibly, even have fun!


Best to read up on the company, they like it if you ask questions about their company. Also, try and not get stressed out. Difficult I know.


Name Sanjana Pegu

Educational Qualification BSc Hons. Physics

Wrokex Zilch

Summers Company & Role HSBC Global Markets, Wealth Management Sales



Brief Internship Profile Wealth Management Sales


A regular 12 hour stint at the office for 5 days a week. Reached before the managers did, worked on the projects assigned and any other work which might come by. Left around 7.30


Really helpful people on the desk. Most people on the trading floor are willing to share their knowledge and expertise. The HR team was great and took good care of us.


Projects could have been way better.


A basic knowledge about the fin fundas (investment course helps here), spreadsheets, Macros etc. Eagerness to learn and enthusiasm

Dos and Don‟ts

Please don‟t act all pompous and have a know-it-all attitude. They hate those kind of people. Or try too hard to impress. That‟s a big no-no. If you‟re good, they‟ll figure it out sooner or later, irrespective of whether you‟re the quiet or the outgoing types.



5. Sripriya GN

Profile


Company: UAE Exchange

Interviewed for Summer internship

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline Very chill panel, were probably just checking the attitude


No idea

What went wrong/right Since it was a short interview, cant say much. I was totally relaxed and looked comfortable and confident


Be confident


Specify the field you want to work in like Fin or Ops.


Company: UAE Exchange


Summer intern assigned a project: Study of Correspondent Banking division: had to design optimal network of correspondent banks, develop models for determining least cost path, profitability per correspondent bank and pricing model


Work starts from 9 am till 7 pm (though we all usually stayed till 9). Fridays holidays. Not too much work pressure. Regular meeting with mentors and sometimes lots of travelling to the branches


We were given lot of freedom and leeway in carrying out our assigned projects as we wished. We got access to any data (confidential as well) and the employees were very helpful.

Name Sripriya GN

Educational Qualification B Tech, ECE

Wrokex None

Summers Company & Role UAE Exchange, summer intern



We were not initially told about our project and field during the interview. So some of us got HR projects which we normally wouldn‟t have accepted had we been intimidated in the interview itself.


My project required excel tools knowledge, analytics skills

Dos and Don‟ts

Be regular with the project. It helps if you take initiatives to expand the scope of your project.


None.


6. Vishwa Vijoyendra Narayan

Profile


Company: Merrill Lynch

Interviewed for 1 hour 10 mins

No. of Interviews 3

Interview Outline 1

st round: General + Puzzles 2

nd: General 3

rd: Accounting and some

technical stuff


It is more of a kind of a personality check with an effort to gauge the applicant‟s aptitude


The clincher was that the interviewer was pleasantly surprised that I, being an engineer, could answer a financial accounting problem of some depth


It is important to stress the domain where your strengths lie in and remember never to put on false pretences


Look above; always be honest, they are not looking for someone who has absolutely hammered all financial market dealings, rather they are looking for someone who is willing to do put in the effort to do so given an opportunity in the future


Company: Merrill Lynch Singapore

Brief Internship Profile Helped around with the daily workings of the desk

Brief Description of a typical

08:00 to 18:30 working hours; work wasn‟t over-burdening, more a product of the time that we find ourselves in rather than the

Name Vishwa Vijoyendra Narayan

Educational Qualification B. Tech (Electronics and Communication Engg.)

Wrokex 11 months (Tata Motors and an own venture)

Summers Company & Role Merrill Lynch Singapore (Structured Products Group – Sales)


working day

individual role


Everyone was very friendly and was willing to give his time and answer any queries that I might have patiently


That social skills were perhaps more important than quantitative skills


An outgoing personality; good Excel and VB skills

Dos and Don‟ts Be open and reach out to people and by people I mean everyone


On a personal level, the experience could have been better because of two reasons: - With all major functions shifted out of Singapore and being the

sole intern in Singapore, there was only so much that I could see and learn

- Once again that meeting people and indulging them with a show of „genuine‟ interest has never been my forte


7. Vivek R

Profile


Company: Veda Corporate Advisors

Interviewed for 30 min + 10 min

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

Was quizzed about the various financial ratios (D/E, EPS, ROI, Debt coverage, Current Ratio, Leverage, etc.) – what they are and how useful they are in various situations, which stakeholder (investor, analyst, creditor) would look at what kind of ratio and why. There were also some questions which tried to gauge my knowledge about investment banking and my level of interest in the same.


Financial knowledge (based on whatever we are supposed to know by middle of Term 2) and interest in the company and the work.


I was not very comfortable with all of the financial questions that were asked. It would have been easier if I had spent more time preparing on the possible questions (as most of those were regular questions). On the other hand, I could convince them of my interest in interning with them.


Decent knowledge of FinAcc and CorpFin, a little background knowledge on the exact work done by the company (gained in the last 15 min or so from friends).


Be sure about whatever finance you learn from the courses before the interviews. Without preparation, it can get confusing. Can‟t think of any special preparation that is needed.


Company: Veda Corporate Advisors

Name Vivek R

Educational Qualification BE (ECE), College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University

Wrokex 2 years; System Software Engineer, American Megatrends India

Summers Company & Role Veda Corporate Advisors; Investment Banking Intern


Brief Internship Profile Intern - assisting ongoing deals, doing groundwork for possible future deals


Industry and competition analysis for a live deal (mainly research – reading and going through reports, articles), Exposure to financial modelling of a client, Research on an industry that the Investment Bank that I worked in was hoping to get some deals done (involved speaking to industry people and experts)


Getting to know how financial modelling was done in the real world, understanding what a career in investment banking would be like (enough to figure out if such a career is suitable for you or not)

What did you dislike about it? The actual work done (reading reports, calculating ratios and stuff) was quite repetitious and pretty boring. Also, as an intern, I was not allowed to meet the clients which could have been interesting.


What one learns in FinAcc, CorpFin, basic Valuation (can be learnt while on the job as well). Also, comfort with working on spreadsheets would make life easy.

Dos and Don‟ts -


-


8. Abhishek Sood

Profile


Company: GE Capital

Interviewed for

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline General, based on resume, asked about my project during college (project was on sub-prime crisis…)


Just an understanding of whatever I was saying – if I was confident of what I was saying

What went wrong/right Had worked on the project so knew what It was about…was able to explain to them and answer general questions on it




Company:


Working with the PE team as a junior analyst of sorts – all data mining and simple analysis was the task (but team did not have much work and worked only on the monthly review, and analysis of PE industry in India) . . . Project was to identify investment opportunities in power sector ..basically GE suppliers…was dropped after about 5.5 weeks…then given the task to analyse a live deal – due the initial analysis

Name Abhishek Sood

Educational Qualification B.Com Hons, Delhi University

Wrokex Nil

Summers Company & Role GE Capital, Private Equity -



The analyst would assign some task – looking for some information and days were spent in that…on the side I had to work on my project..project and routine work were handled by separate managers so had to balance the work


The only aspect that appealed to me was that a lot of responsibility placed on me – the data I collected, analysis I did was used by my manager as it is in his presentations…


The project manager was not enthusiastic about the project – work was meaningless. I was given 3 weeks to complete my final project – but the work involved was done by analysts in 3 days (I asked one of them)


Data search capabilities, basic analytical skills

Dos and Don‟ts

Don‟t take up the offer if you are given the chance – this is the advice of managers in the organisation, and even our alum over there. Strong advice against it – internship or job.


I did not have any strict project structure as the company did not have work – atleast the PE team. The PM was too busy trying to save his existing investments to focus on my project – just formalities were being performed. However one of the other interns did have an awesome project – really meaningful. But he was only one among 4 to do a project. The other intern in his team also did not have any work – those guys did not even have regular work and interaction with the team (which I did – learnt a lot about the corporate world sitting along with managers – they were denied that experience – they spent half the tenure sitting with the HR people).


9. Vikas Dugar

Profile


Company: DSP Merrill Lynch, Mumbai

Interviewed for Investment Banking Division

No. of Interviews 3

Interview Outline

First interview: Taken by a CA and asked a lot of questions on the prior work experience and audit techniques. Second and third interviews on: Investment strategies and what I look at before investing in a stock. General questions to judge interest and soft skills.


They are looking for knowledge in finance, communication skills and enthusiasm.


RIGHT: The interviewer was a CA and he asked me a lot of questions on audit and my work experience. Unlike other interviews the people were listening to me and did not interfere when I was speaking.


Some preparation on the Indian stock markets, some stocks to buy sell.


Have some basic knowledge of the recent M&A deals and some basic knowledge of good companies to invest into.


Company: DSP Merrill Lynch, Mumbai (Investment Banking Division)

Name: VIKAS DUGAR

Educational Qualification CA, CFA, CS (Inter), B.Com (SRCC)

Wrokex 4 years (Maruti and Coca Cola India Inc.)

Summers Company & Role DSP Merrill Lynch, Mumbai (Investment Banking Division)


Brief Internship Profile I worked in the FIG (Financial Institutions Group) in Investment Banking Division reporting to an associate and VP (FIG)


Weekdays Reach office by 9-15. Work on the deal which is going on or assist in making pitch-books during the day. Involves data analysis from annual reports, Bloomberg, Factset, capitaline, industry profiling, company and competitor profiling, news runs. On a deal, the work involved extensive data analysis of the client data and building of valuation models. Normally leave office by 11 to 12 PM. On some days, might be required to work till 3 or 4 AM in the morning. On a weekend: Carry on the work given on the projects assigned to you.


Involved tremendous sector, industry and company knowledge. Building and perfecting financial models made me learn more. People there were extremely helpful.


There was nothing to be disliked.


Intermediate knowledge of Corporate finance and ability to read balance sheet, Cash flow and P&L from annual reports. Basic ratio analysis. Good excel skills preferred.

Dos and Don‟ts

Do try to work with all the people in the division and not just the people from your department. Try to be “error free” from day one and build confidence. Show initiative when it appear that you can contribute something to the work which has been assigned to the associates. Try to complete the projects assigned on time and put some extra time on them during weekends so that you have time to do deskwork during weekdays.


Try to get an accommodation near the place of work. Wilson college is fine (although the rooms look shabby).


10. Rohini Ramachandran

Profile


Company:

Interviewed for Goldman Sachs

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

Covered basic knowledge of finance, economics, the economic crisis and HR. Asked things like how this crisis is different from previous ones, why was the auto industry so badly affected by it, where do I see oil prices headed and why, draw a supply demand curve for oil prices in the long term, different methods of valuing a company etc. And HR ranged over a lot of stuff starting with take me through your resume (basically tell me about yourself), what inspires you, why ibd, how ambitious are you, why Goldman Sachs and even at one point touched about my taste in books.


Confidence, basic knowledge and the ability to think logically and on one‟s feet


Strong HR and the rest of it, even if I didn‟t know the answer exactly, just took a sec to logically think it out and whatever I said, made sure I could explain the thought process behind it. For the HR part, when they asked me to walk them through my resume, I went into too much detail. Would have been better if I‟d just mentioned the really strong points.


Vault guides were pretty useful


Be Confident, don‟t get nervous if they ask something you don‟t know. Prepare HR properly, they grilled me for a long time on why I want to join IBD and I had to be able to defend my answer properly.

Name Rohini Ramachandran

Educational Qualification B Tech (Electronics and Communication), NIT Trichy

Wrokex Nil

Summers Company & Role Goldman Sachs, Investment Banking



Company: Goldman Sachs

Brief Internship Profile Investment Banking Division, Mumbai


Come in around 7:30-8am, catch up on any unfinished work from the previous day, work till lunch, about 30-45min for lunch depending on how busy the day is, dinner in the office most days, usually left around 1:30am. Work consisted mostly of presentations, pitches, company memos, company profiles, had some work with spreadsheets and modelling a company‟s performance but I was working on three other pitches at that time so didn‟t do too much on that.


Found the work pretty interesting, What I particularly liked was that given the size of the office, I wasn‟t restricted to working in any one sector and so got to work on stuff across different sectors which was pretty interesting I also like that I was treated as a part of the team and not just a summer intern


It‟s really long hours and there‟s a high probability of spending weekends in the office only


Refreshing over financial accounting esp how to calculate the various ratios and generally knowing how to find items from the annual report. Studying valuation would also help. If the course isn‟t offered as an elective in Term 3, it‟s worth borrowing the book from the library and studying it

Dos and Don‟ts

DO: Make an effort to meet people outside of your department Ask for work if you feel you‟re doing anything much Ask for help if you don‟t know something Pay attention to detail Overcommunicate- make sure you keep the people you work with in the loop regularly about your progress Don‟t: Work without getting feedback on whether you‟re doing the work right Stick completely to your work and not interact with the rest of the office



11. Ashish Chordia

Profile


Company: Goldman Sachs

Interviewed for Oliver Wyman, Chrys Capital and Goldman Sachs

No. of Interviews 2, 1, 1

Interview Outline

Oliver Wyman – Cases (Prehistoric War & Estimating Cost in setting up a bank) ; Chrys Cap – Personal Questions ; GS – Work Ex related and personal


OW : Don‟t know .. they didn‟t pick anyone Chrys Cap – Mostly had in mind the people they wanted to see GS: Previous Work Ex. Mattered a lot + basic awareness levels



Prepare for personal questions comprehensively Have confidence in answering questions Be sure about why you want to intern with that company


Personals & basic fin knowledge


Company: Goldman Sachs, London

Brief Internship Profile 3 weeks each on Prime Brokerage, Credit products funding & equity derivatives teams


Morning 7 to Evening 8pm. Worked on several small projects during the stay. Mostly data analytics and built a number of spreadsheet tools.

What aspects of the

The support system at GS london is amazing from all the IIM alumni. There was a weekly feedback given by the HR. Most of the people

Name Ashish Chordia

Educational Qualification B Tech. Computer Science, IIT Kharagpur

Work-ex 23 months, Lehman Brothers

Summers Company & Role Goldman Sachs – Interned on 3 desks



were extremely helpful. The work wasn‟t too technical or heavy.


Nothing


Comfortableness with spreadsheets. VBA knowledge is quite useful. Outgoingness and comfortable with talking to people. A passion to work and get the job.

Dos and Don‟ts

Don‟t Sit idle if you don‟t have any work. Try and meet people. Show a conviction to join the company if given a chance. Don‟t make mistakes and accept them if you make them. Be thorough with your work. Speed matters as well. Take initiatives in doing work and ask for more if you are finished.


12. Gazal Heda

Profile


Company: HSBC Plc, London

Interviewed for Global Markets

No. of Interviews 3

Interview Outline

Interview 1: Macroeconomics, understanding of the current state of global economy, knowledge of derivatives, understanding of the derivatives involved in sub-prime crisis Interview 2: Similar questions as above. Discussion on current newspaper headlines. Discussion on the economies of US, UK, India and China Interview 3: HR interview, questions based on resume (projects, PORs, extra-currics)


Typically an indepth understanding (you have to show that you understand things in greater depth than the others appearing for the interview). plus they expected you to have a view on all issues, and suggest measures. As for derivatives, reading Hull as much as possible recommended (Chapter 1-5, Chapter on CDOs, CDSs)



Reading Hull, reading the Macroeconomics book by Shyamal Roy, Networth guides, newspapers, esp opinions and blogs



Company: HSBC, Global Markets

Name Gazal Heda

Educational Qualification B.Tech, ECE, NIT Nagpur

Work-ex Nil

Summers Company & Role HSBC Plc, London Emerging Markets Trading Desk (Russia &CIS)


Brief Internship Profile Handled the daily operations of the trading desk


Preparing risk profiles and P&L sheets, book trades, fixings, hedging open positions, maintaining the pricer sheets, credit limit evaluation liquidity profiles, resolving operational issues. Typically a 12-14 hour day


Getting acquainted with all the operations of the trading desk, given high responsibilities, regular interactive sessions on important banking related issues


Not structured,, no objectives set in the beginning of the internship, small assignments, but no major project as such


Mathematics, macroeconomics, knowledge of derivatives

Dos and Don‟ts



13. Manu Ramachandar

Profile


Company: ICICI Bank, Mumbai


No. of Interviews 01

Interview Outline

Primarily related to work-ex and HR. Some aspects of Work-ex were related to fin areas, so were dwelled upon in depth. Concepts from FINAC such as ratio analysis were also a significant part


Basic knowledge of Fin aspects, especially in relation to commercial banking

What went wrong/right I handled the ratio analysis part well.



Last 2 chapters of FINAC are useful for any interview, more so for commercial banking interviews.


Company: ICICI Bank, Mumbai

Brief Internship Profile Credit Review of Reid & Taylor for Working Capital Funding


Pretty chill, depends on your guide. Chose a live deal over a standalone project and hence was required to work as per the guide‟s schedule

What aspects of the

Guide was willing to help out. May not be the case with all.

Name Manu Ramachandar

Educational Qualification BE (Mech) BITS,Pilani

Work-ex Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai – 2 yrs

Summers Company & Role ICICI Corporate Banking




Internship was not a structured process. Needed to do some amount of fishing around.


Dos and Don‟ts



14 . Kamalika Haldar

Profile


Company: ICICI Prudential


No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline

HR questions and Situation based questions, like “How would you market the Kolkata Tramways to a foreigner?”, “How would you prepare the dinner menu for exchange students coming from diverse cultures?”, “Describe the ICICI Prudential advertisement”


CONFIDENCE, Ability to think on your feet, spontaneous replies, creativity, thinking out of the box

What went wrong/right Innovative answers to the situation based questions and confident interaction with the interviewers sealed the deal, I guess.


Read up a bit about the company and what it does before the interview. Brush up on your selling or marketing skills/knowledge if going for a marketing interview, a bit of jargon helps!


Don‟t look flustered even if you don‟t know how to exactly answer a question, try your best to look relaxed and confident. Smile and make eye contact with your interviewers. Prepare your 15 HR questions very well. It really helps, give mock interviews to your peers and seniors.


Company: ICICI Prudential


Internship at Branding unit of Marketing department handling 2 projects : a) Developing a Road-map for Tax Campaign b) Slogan research and popularizing „Jeetey Raho‟ slogan

Name Kamalika Haldar

Educational Qualification B.E. (Information Technology), Jadavpur University

Work-ex Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 22 months

Summers Company & Role ICICI Prudential, Mumbai (Marketing Dept.)



Office starts at 9.30, check mail for daily update on project or new assignments or training sessions to attend, attend training sessions [first 2 weeks], project briefing by Manager, work on the projects, lunch break, field visits & survey interviews or FGDs [all over Mumbai],report to manager


Dynamic job, travelling all over Mumbai from posh offices to slums to meet customers from diverse socio economic backgrounds, an opportunity to put into practice all the theoretical knowledge gained in marketing and RMD courses, an enthusiastic and encouraging team to work with.


Travelling in crowded locals in Mumbai heat!


People management skills, quick learning capabilities, out of the box thinking abilities

Dos and Don‟ts

Mingle with the team you are working with, try to align to the work culture, show enthusiasm but don‟t overdo it!


Be confident and enjoy the work that you do.


15. RAHUL BAJAJ

Profile


Company:

Interviewed for Morgan Stanley

No. of Interviews

3 rounds or more, panel kept changing while me sitting there in one room! And the same people came again and again so atleast 3 rounds were there technically.

Interview Outline First one was a fit interview...basic HR stuff..personals


Some knowledge of the financial world and a can-do attitude


Didnt think anything really went wrong Right- Umm, I guess me pulling them towards my work experience and then them getting totally technical about the interview and asking me about stuff that I had worked on earlier at Deutsche.


I had to handle the question about why I left Morgan once earlier to join DB and I was upfront about it. So in nutshell don‟t twist them with your answers. They are experienced, they will know!


Basic financial markets knowledge with a tab on whats happening currently in the markets.


Company:

Brief Internship Profile FX Sales and Global Options trading


Was given a project pretty early on so had, pretty much, my hands

Name Rahul Bajaj

Educational Qualification B.Tech-M.Tech (Dual) in Electrical Engg., IIT Kanpur

Work-ex 9 months Morgan Stanley, 13 months Deutsche Bank Global Markets Centre

Summers Company & Role Morgan Stanley, 2 Rotations- FX Sales and Global Options Trading


working day

full with that. The day started on with a morning meeting with different desks giving information and views about what happened in the markets a day before and what are there expectations for the day. This set the tone for the day and the learning part of the job did involve sitting a lot with the traders and the sales guys to get a feel of the real job.


Loved working with the sales team and delivering a project that was to be used as soon as completed


Nothing!


Some excel, VB, a cheerful attitude about the work..

Dos and Don‟ts

Don‟ts – Accept the fact that your theory might lag behind their experience so before heading into any argument with your colleagues or seniors check your facts over and over again!



16. SUNDAR RAJAN G S

Profile


Company: Barclays Capital, London

Interviewed for Structuring

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

Round 1: Puzzles, some hr questions, something from resume, probability, statistics and some very basic question on options Round 2: HR & role fit – what do I know about the role, why I do structuring, why I don‟t want to do others etc


Good mathematical back ground Clarity of roles (after you have cleared round 1)


Right – Got most of the puzzles (not all), was able to answer most of the HR questions Wrong – I got very tensed and couldn‟t remember my 3

rd weakness.

He asked 3 weaknesses


HR Questions by placecom


If you don‟t have fin background, you *DONT* have to know everything in Hull etc. Just do the basics.

Name Sundar Rajan G S

Educational Qualification B Tech Computer Science, NIT Trichy

Work-ex 2 years at Google Bangalore, Software Engg

Summers Company & Role Barclays Capital, Equity Derivative Structuring



Company:Same as above

Brief Internship Profile Same as above


8 am – 7 pm. Come up with ideas & try out new things everyday. Lots of excel sheet work. Take spreadsheet modelling course if you getting this job in summers


1. Very challenging problem. 2. Real life work. 3. Onus is on me to come up with some interesting product.


1. Interns are not treated as a part of team – esp. the director etc. Don‟t care a damn about you. 2. There is a bais towards French people in the team.


Open mind, excel sheet, basics of finance & derivatives

Dos and Don‟ts

Do: Show enthu, be eager to learn more Dont: do what you are told to do before trying to put CP or trying to impress the team by doing additional work.


Non fin guys, I understand you would have an awe about this world. No need to get scared. Its just the same old basics. Nothing special in here.


17. GANESH KUMAR L

Profile


Company: Rothschild

Interviewed for Private Equity role in Mumbai

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline First round: Personals, work experience Second Round: Questions on accounting, corporate finance, puzzles


Humility, earnestness, interest in finance, understanding of Corporate finance basics.

What went wrong/right Both the rounds went pretty well. They seemed to be convinced with all my answers.


I kept my cool and was honest throughout the interview. My work experience helped me a great deal in the first round.


Nothing in particular. Do revise your Finance Basics. They test you on that.


Company: Rothschild (Private Equity)

Brief Internship Profile Interned in the Private Equity team (Mumbai office)


Sit at desk, read/interpret/analyze industry reports and prepare PPTs. Once this is done, you move onto the interesting stuff – interpreting/playing around with financial models, performing valuations, discussion on deal structuring, term sheets etc.


Got an opportunity to work alongside the Director on 2 live deals. Was a part of almost all the stages of a typical PE deal lifecycle.

What did you dislike about it? -


Knowledge of Valuation is a must. Besides, Corporate Strategy & Corporate Finance basics will help.

Dos and Don‟ts Don‟t sound arrogant or over-confident. Maintain a low profile. They seem to like such people.

Name Ganesh Kumar L

Educational Qualification BE (CSE), PSG Tech Coimbatore

Work-ex 11.5 months , Goldman Sachs Bangalore

Summers Company & Role Rothschild, Private Equity



Work was not too hectic. Typically 12 hrs/day, 5 days/week. Chill!


18. BHARAT BHUSHAN

Profile


Company: Bank Muscat

Interviewed for Bank Muscat

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline 20 minutes personal interview


Looking for people who could work on equity research; good analytical skills

What went wrong/right I could convince them on my analytical skills


Talk of strengths in which you are really very confident


-


Company: Bank Muscat, Mumbai

Brief Internship Profile Equity research and valuation


A typical 9-7pm day; Not much load


Got to learn new things

What did you dislike about it? Nothing as such

Name Bharat Bhushan

Educational Qualification B.Tech.

Work-ex 3 years (Orica)

Summers Company & Role Bank Muscat, Mumbai (Equity Valuation)



Analytical ability; familiarity with Excel

Dos and Don‟ts Try to learn as much as possible; don‟t hesitate to ask questions


-


19. T S ARUNA

Profile


Company: Barclays Capital

Interviewed for

Structuring role

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

Both the panels had only 1 person each. Both of them were MDs.

One of them was the MD of the desk where I interned.

Both rounds had some puzzles and prob questions and they also

asked me why I think I would fit in a structuring role. We also

discussed about my projs/work ex

What do you think they were

looking for

Some quantitative ability; Having an idea and opinions about current

economic scenario; Analytical ability in terms of projects/any earlier

work.

What went wrong/right Right: I was very confident throughout the interview. Wrong: when

they asked me if I had a location preference, I said yes- but couldn‟t

explain why. So, they said they would decide the location and let me

Name

T S Aruna

Educational Qualification B.Tech, IIT Madras

Work-ex 10 months, Shell

Summers Company & Role Barclays Capital; Summer Associate at FX structuring desk, London


know

Tips on what you think

helped you in the interview

Being calm definitely helped me and also some prep on prob Qs.

Also, make sure you are thorough with the stuff on your resume: esp

projects.

Dos/Don‟ts, Special

Preparation

Barclays will ask you to choose your preference order

(Sales/Trading/Structuring/ Research/Quant) when filling the

application itself. Remember that order and have a reason ready for

the same.




Structuring role. We didn‟t have any training as such before we

started at our desk. But we had regular tutorials, exercises and

presentations once we started work. No rotations: 9 weeks at the

same desk.


working day

Get in by 7-7.30 am. Get out by 7-7.30 pm.

The intern had two parts- both evaluative. First was the learning bit,

with the tutes and exercises and the presentations.

The 2nd

part was an individual project under the guidance of a proj

manager diff from the overall manager.

We also worked on a few ad-hoc projects as and when they came

in.

What aspects of the


The entire team was enthu about the interns and wanted to help us.

They also put in a lot of effort to schedule tutes, attend our

presentations etc.

I had a patient overall Manager and a pretty difficult project

manager- a good way to keep one motivated and encouraged.

The team, esp the younger ones were very helpful. And we had

dinners and outings (Paintball!) with HR.

What did you dislike about it? There were a few times when the whole team was busy and we had

to wait for them to finish before we could get more work.


Specific skill sets/tools

required for the job

Enthu to learn. Enthu about markets. Some analytical ability. And of

course, you need to ask questions and network.

Dos and Don‟ts

Make sure you understand the economic significance of the values

generated by the models and don‟t get bogged down with the math

alone. Ask questions if you don‟t understand.

Any other information you

would like to add

Ask for feedback halfway through the intern - it helps a lot!


20. ANUJ LADHA

Profile


Company: Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong

Interviewed for Markets

No. of Interviews

4

Interview Outline

Personals, Macroeconomics Funda, Fin Funda, Puzzles


looking for

Looking for cultural fit as I had 2 personal round interviews and also

some general funda about the whole industry especially interest

rates and currency. I thinks thats why I was put in FX trading desk

What went wrong/right Puzzles went right. Had some problem solving currency questions

Tips on what you think Mostly basic fin funda were solid along with macro eco funda helped

Name Anuj Ladha

Educational Qualification B Tech IIT KGP

Work-ex 2 Years, ITTIAM Systems Bangalore

Summers Company & Role FX Trading Desk, Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong


helped you in the interview a lot. Puzzles were tricky but was simple as i had done them before

which impressed 1 panel.


Preparation

Be calm. Nothing in specific.


Company: Merrill Lynch Hong Kong


Sat with traders on daily basis. Built few excel models to help them.

Mostly a learning experience.


working day

Sit with traders to understand how they execute trades. Try to

suggest some excel tools which might help reduce their time and try

to understand as much as you can.

What aspects of the


The understanding of the industry was great.


The pressure



Quick, calm and amazing learner


Dos and Don‟ts

Never be late and never loose your patience.


would like to add


21 . AAKASH AGRAWAL

Profile


Company: Citigroup Global Markets, Singapore

Interviewed for

20-25 minutes

No. of Interviews

Only 1

Interview Outline

Mainly focused towards my work experience and interests &

inititatives.

1) On the work experience front it was mainly on my patents, research papers & main assignments in last job.

2) Explained him about my role in the family business. 3) Discussion about my real estate investments.


looking for

According to me they were looking for the below characteristics:

1) Strong educational background. 2) Relevance of work experience to the role they were offering 3) Energy or Drive to succeed in the finance industry. For a

trading desk it boils down to your passion for making money.

Name

Aakash Agrawal

Educational Qualification

B.Tech Electrical Engineering IIT Kanpur

Work-ex

5 years at Texas Instruments India Pvt. Ltd.

Summers Company & Role

Rates Trading Desk, Citigroup Global Markets, Singapore



The things which went right for me in this interview are:

1) They didnt ask me any puzzles. I did a big mistake of not preparing a single puzzle for finance interview. But i would surely recommend others to not make this mistake.

2) I was given enough opportunity by the interviewer to talk about my strenghts.



One of the most important things which helped me during my

interview was my strong personal preparations. For a person with

work experience (>= 3years) in non finance industry, it is all the

more important to be very thorough with his personals because

according to me the interviewer already has negative perception

towards them which you have to get over during the interview.

Secondly for the interviews i specially focused towards things which i

felt will interest a finance company. Like the work assignments which

reflected my analytical skills, my risk taking attitude etc.


Preparation

Dos:

1) Puzzles (atleast a few is mandatory) 2) Basic knowledge about finance (BL Sheet, PnL etc) 3) Basic Financial instruments knowledge (Call, Put, Black

soles etc)


Company: Citigroup Global Markets, Singapore

Brief Internship Profile Interest Rates (Exotics & Vanilla) Trading Desk Singapore


working day

1) Reach office by 8 am 2) Work till 1pm 3) Lunch from 1pm – 2pm 4) Work from 2pm till 8/9pm

What aspects of the

Things i liked were:

1) The atmosphere on a trading desk is exciting 2) Some of the teammates were really helpful




Things i didnt like were:

1) Internship programme is completely unstructured. 2) You are randomly assignmed to someone who may not

have time for even talking to you (i would have talked to my manager for not more than 2 hours cummulative during the 2 months of the internship)



1) Knowledge of VBA programming is a must 2) Prolifiency in Excel will also be useful 3) Regression analysis may also be required

Dos and Don‟ts

Dos:

1) Kepp your manager updated about the work you are doing. And also inform him in case you feel you are under utilized. Also feel free to take work from other teams in that situation.


would like to add

1) Always be proactive in getting work during the internship. In some companies the managers may not be interested in giving any important / quality work to you. But it is your duty to push him and get some work which will help you in increasing your skills in that industry.


22. Arun Manohar

Profile


Company: Macquarie Capital

Interviewed for IBD

No. of Interviews 3

Interview Outline Finance, Guesstimates, Persuasive Selling


I guess strength in acads and academic achievements on resume, thought process, conversational skills (globe )

What went wrong/right Breaker was the persuasive selling bit in one interview and the guesstimate in another


Case interview prep helped a bit

Dos/Don’ts, Special Preparation

Know your fin very well, corp fin and fin acc Fin cases and guesstimates help


Brief Internship Profile Assist with the daily work of the assigned desk, involves research, making ppts, reading legal docs and summarizing, simple excel models


Be in office before 9 and leave after 10 (mine was a relatively peaceful desk, in a relatively dull period for IBD) During the day, worked on different parts of different projects as mentioned in the internship profile section


Awesome seat with a sea-facing view Learning debt structuring (worked on one live deal, but could not present as the pitch was to happen in Chinese) People were very helpful and willing to take time off to teach


Nothing, except that some amount of work in HK office happens in Chinese and so you are not a part of it

Dos and Don’ts

Do: Interact with people a lot, across desks as well and learn as much from them Join a functional team, be it debt or equity capital markets etc Dont: Ever get bored by your work. There is more the next day Join an Industrial team

Name Arun Manohar

Educational Qualification B.Tech (Elec) – IIT Madras

Workex (Company/Mths) Deloitte, 9 months

Summers Company & Role Macquarie Capital, Hong Kong Debt Structuring & Distribution, IBD


23. Ishita Verma

Profile


Company: HSBC Markets

Interviewed for Markets

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline Brief introduction, why markets?, 2-3 puzzles, economics questions


Mathematical and analytical ability, Awareness about and aptitude for finance related stuff (news items, their analysis, my understanding etc.)

What went wrong/right Wrong – Nothing, Right – Knowing the stuff I guess (Read ET !!)


Being prepared: In markets there is no substitute to knowing your stuff. You can‟t faff your way through as the questions will be technical


Prepare: Read Newspapers, talk to seniors who have interned in the roles or areas you are interested in




8/8.30 am – 7/8 pm


HSBC was a good place to be in terms of work culture..extremely supportive seniors... mentors ensured i got adequate guidance on whatever projects i was assigned... got to meet 3-4 of the most senior people in the industry for primary research on projects

Name Ishita Verma

Educational Qualification B.A. Hons Economics

Workex (Company/Mths) 0

Summers Company & Role Summer Associate HSBC Markets


24 . Rajarshi Mukherjee

Profile


Company: American Express

Interviewed for 15-20 mins

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline Questions on hobbies and interests followed by a problem on probability. No finance related questions.


They were looking for people who would be interested in working in Analytics. In addition they give importance to college CGs. Quantitative skills are especially important as the role demands it,.

What went wrong/right The comfort level was high in the interview. Also being able to solve the problem helped.


Preparation on the standard interview questions as the HR plays a major role in selection.


If interested in Amex, do not explicitly mention marketing or finance as your interest as analytics is considered an independent field. The role does not require any specific finance or marketing related knowledge. Express interest in quant, stat, puzzles etc. Marketing jargons or NPV, Derivatives etc should ideally be kept out of the conversation.



Business Analyst in Risk Management (Customer Management)


A working day is typically of 81/2 hours. The work requires developing algorithms and models, analysing results. Cross team discussion and presentations happen at regular intervals. The work load is reasonable.


The work culture and a people supporting environment. Also a detailed learning and understanding of credit and charge products in international markets.


Nothing

Dos and Don‟ts Follow normal office decorum. Formal wearing from Monday to Thursday, informals on Friday.


Things to know about Amex: American Express is the most valued financial service brand in the world –

http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?year=2008&langid=1000

American Express has been ranked Number 1 in the banking and credit services vertical and 8th in the overall list of "India‟s Best Companies to Work For

2009 http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best/list-in.htm

Name Rajarshi Mukherjee

Educational Qualification B.E (ETC), Jadavpur University

Workex (Company/Mths) Nil

Summers Company & Role American Express, Risk Management

http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?year=2008&langid=1000

http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best/list-in.htm


25 . Kaushik Sriram

Profile


Company: ABN Amro Corporate Finance (IBD), Mumbai

Interviewed for ABN Amro – they asked for a preference during interview

No. of Interviews 2 – one with Markets head and the other with senior folks from Corp Finance Team

Interview Outline

Checking prior experience, interest in IBanking, 1 sector I‟ve followed and a few questions in that sector, qns abt work experience, general talk abt Mumbai, then asked to give a small presentation on the case they give – defend your viewpoint


Interest in IBD, ability to take on long hours, communication skills

What went wrong/right Kept talking and was well versed in the working of IBD through past experience


Smooth talking, had already attended a few interviews so standard responses to questions


Brief Internship Profile Execution of transactions, help in origination, sector reports, pitchbook making


Pitchbooks, reports, deal tracking, memorandums – non deal work Deal related – depends on type of deal


Mumbai, very cool people, informal, mostly IIM alumni, very friendly, non stressful compared to other banks; loads of independence

Name Kaushik Sriram

Educational Qualification B.Tech (Electronics & Comm)

Workex (Company/Mths) Goldman Sachs (12 mths)

Summers Company & Role ABN Amro Corporate Finance (IBD), Mumbai


26. . Shamiroh Tikoo

Profile



Interviewed for Corporate Principal Investments (Private Equity and Distressed Debts)

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

Interview 1: Checked mathematical problem solving ability. Was given puzzles (probability based problem solving). While I was not able to come to a final numerical answer, ability to break the problem into parts and structure how to solve the question seemed important. Interview 2: Second was largely on Corporate Finance fundaes. On what type of discount rates would you use in a DCF model if you were assuming CAPM model to be true. Asked about power sector valuation in general due to prior experience in the same.


My understanding was that they needed someone with experience in valuation for this role. Others: Common sense, analytical ability, trying different approaches , sound Corp Fin fundaes


Wrong: Try not to be the last guy to be interviewed - happened in my case. Right: Talking to them before the interview (during PPT); Also, be frank – if you don‟t know accept it!


Corp Fin, Knowledge of DCF modelling and prior work ex. at SDG


Think before you talk. Special Prep: Corp Fin, Various Modelling Techniques.


Brief Internship Profile Corporate Principal Investments (Private Equity and Distressed Debts)

Name Shamiroh Tikoo

Educational Qualification B.Tech, IIT Bombay (2005)

Workex (Company/Mths) Inductis LLC.(Acquired by EXL Services now) - 27 months Strategic Decisions Group (SDG) – 10 months

Summers Company & Role Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong Corporate Principal Investments (Private Equity and Distressed Debts)



8 am to 11 pm job, fairly stressful due to distress debts being a part of the portfolio, and were high in number. Significant responsibility given to you. Made presentations to team about if a particular instrument was worth investing in and why.


Sense and insight into law, detailed capital structuring, understanding different sectors and ind

What did you dislike about it? Nothing particularly…Its Positives and Negatives were known to me. Negatives are time and future of PE/ group being uncertain.

Dos and Don‟ts Dos: Confidence (in what you know) Donts: Overconfidence (Admit when you don‟t know)


27. Ankit Agarwal

Profile


Company: ChrysCapital

Interviewed for

No. of Interviews 2 interviews of 30 minutes and one final round of 15 minutes

Interview Outline

First round was based on HR/personals and basic quants. Questions were primarily on personal history and short term/long term plans, professional experience, quick mental maths, prior personal investment philosophy/experience and knowledge and keenness w.r.t. the PE industry/company. Second round was to focus on discussion about a particular company in depth to see the finance skills but went to a higher level with a half an hour discussion focussing on macro economy and oil prices and the business of investing. The third round was a panel interview taken by both MDs together wherein I had to calculate the ROCE for a tech company. It went in a case like manner but I had to remember all the numbers in the mind.


1) Interest in finance in general, the PE industry and the company in particular

2) Personal and professional fit with the company (since there are small teams, this is very important in PE)

3) Ease with numbers and business /economic sense


Wrong: I was extremely nervous in the beginning Right: 1) I knew the company history well and had good answers for why ChrysCapital? 2) Allowed the second interview to go towards Macro eco instead of hard numbers. Could discuss in depth about oil for half an hour. 3) Was able to work with numbers (Finac fundamentals) in my head (under stress) quickly. Was able to look at its business implications.


1) I had done a lot of research on the company (knew background of all employees, fund raising history etc)

2) Read newspapers regularly/had strong views about macro eco

Name Ankit Agarwal

Educational Qualification B. tech from IIT Delhi (Electrical)

Workex 19 months in Beceem (a tech startup); 16 months in Lehman Brothers, exotic derivatives trading desk

Summers Company & Role ChrysCapital, Summer Associate


3) I had a rough idea about multiple sectors (including key balance sheet ratios for a few).


Be very strong with 2-3 sectors and have a basic idea about 6-8 sectors. Know the company you are keen on. Practise atleast a few case interviews even if not interested in Consults. It helps in structuring the interview better.


Company: ChrysCapital

Brief Internship Profile Identifying private companies in the Indian manufacturing sector in which ChrysCapital could potentially make an investment



1) I had to do the entire task: starting from getting a list of companies, calling them up and getting brief overview, setting up meetings and eventually meeting the CEO/CFO, post meting analysis of the company, sector and giving recommendations. It Gave a very good flavour of the entire PE work process.

2) The team was excellent with each person having solid fin/business acumen

3) Via the post meeting, analysis of the companies I gained a very good idea about 6 different sectors, their parameters for India and globally and also learnt how to look at businesses.


1) Given the scope of work 7 weeks was a very little time. Guidance on how to plan the work schedule across weeks was not very strong.

2) Although the people are extremely friendly it is a very small team. Working alone for long hours (sometimes upto 16 hrs) sometimes became boring.


1) Basic finac fundaes 2) Business analysis/sector analysis

Dos and Don‟ts

1) Networking is extremely important. It is very important to take initiative and talk to all the members in the team and not just to your reporting manager. 2) It is necessary to take a lot of initiative and show a lot of enthusiasm throughout while working (even though you may be tired/already extremely loaded). You are being evaluated throughout the two months


Overall it was an awesome experience with very good exposure and learning. A very good option for anyone planning for a long term career in asset management/PE.


28. Mayur Dixit

Profile



Interviewed for Structuring Desk, London

No. of Interviews Two

Interview Outline Resume based questions & basics about Options


Quant based profile

What went wrong/right Right –Quant profile


Confidence and interest in the role offered


Nothing special required, need to show enthusiasm & interest


Company: Barclays Capital, London

Brief Internship Profile Summer Quantitative Associate on Foreign Structuring Desk


Working on a full project and helping team with some routine tasks & problems of pricing options | Attending tutorials & discussions


Working on same desk for 2 months provides an excellent view of how business on that works


Name Mayur Dixit

Educational Qualification B Tech – Mechanical Engineering – IIT Kanpur

Work ex Nil

Summers Company & Role Barclays Capital – London, Summer Quantitative Associate, Foreign Exchange Structuring


Paradoxically, rotation might have provided experience at other desks


Mainly Excel and financial derivatives

Dos and Don‟ts

Be Punctual, show interest & involve in team discussions – be proactive


No


29 . Neha Gupta

Profile


Company: Morgan Stanley

Interviewed for IBD

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline Personals + current affairs + a bit of fin and eco


„team fit‟ + strong background in terms of achievements (indication of hard work I guess)


Right - Eco went perfectly – could explain current affairs and implications Wrong – poor knowledge about all ibanks and MS in particular


Brush up fin, news, knowledge about the company, PERSONALS


- Do -


Company: MS IBD

Brief Internship Profile Summer Analyst – 1 live deal completed; 2 partially; making pitch books and other business development work


8:30-12:30/1 work was 1. Related to the deal 2. depending on work load, other work of Buss Dev etc given

What aspects of the

1. Learning 2. M&A work – which u get to do after a year or so

Name Neha Gupta

Educational Qualification B.A. (Hons.) Economics

Workex -

Summers Company & Role Summer Analyst, IBD, Morgan Stanley, Mumbai



3. Good work culture


No holiday!


1. Patience, hard work, persistence 2. PPT/Excel

Dos and Don‟ts

Don‟t take it up just for the money - u have to enjoy it to survive through it


All the best!


30 . Sumeet Mittal

Profile


Company:

Interviewed for 15-20 minutes

No. of Interviews 1

Interview Outline

Questions on resume, academic performance, career interest. They explained the work they do and asked whether that would interest or not?


- Good Academic Record - Quantitative Skills - Interest in the kind of work they do

What went wrong/right I was pretty honest in answering the questions they asked me about my interests, likings etc. Probably, they liked honesty and truthfulness of the responses.



Though I was not asked any problems on probability etc. But know that they generally ask such problems. So, it is better to do some practice so that you are not rusty during the interview attempting those.


Company:

Brief Internship Profile Business Analyst in Risk Management


A typical day is generally 9 hours long and load is quite reasonable. In general the work involves – a) Coming up with insights related to risk management b) Developing statistical models to test those insights c) Based on the analysis coming up with data-backed recommendations d) Present those recommendations to senior management (VP or Director) [These presentations used to happen weekly]

- Amazing work culture

Name Sumeet Mittal

Educational Qualification B.E. (Computer Engineering), NSIT (Formerly known as DIT), Delhi

Workex 3 years

Summers Company & Role American Express, Risk Management



- Good work-life balance - In depth understanding of credit card industry of US

What did you dislike about it? Nothing much really, it was a good experience


Quantitative Skills, Little bit of technical background helps (though if you do not have, not much of a disadvantage – can ramp up easily)


31. Swati Verma

Profile


Company: DB

Interviewed for Associate Role

No. of Interviews Too many!!!

Interview Outline

Puzzles, Financial Derivatives qs which can be answered if you have read first 9 ch of Hull, industry preparation helped a lot, and HR qs


A bit of quant smartness, else mostly culture fit and a strong

resume.



Be calm and confident and honest


Tell them you want to attend other interviews if they keep you for more than 1.5 hrs

Name Swati Verma

Educational Qualification Btech CS

Workex none

Summers Company & Role Deutsche Bank, Equity Sales and Emerging Markets Structuring


32. Arpit Agarwal

Profile


Company: -do-

Brief Internship Profile Assessing attractiveness of potential investments in the Power Sector (specifically, Generation) & Gas Distribution, Side project on prediction of power tariffs for the next ten years or so


In chronological sequence from 9 AM– e-mails, check news, coffee, work on project, meeting experts (typically over lunch), multitask on the investment opportunities in the consideration set, coffee, back to multitasking, phone-calls to sell side-guys, coffee, work on presentations, coffee, document minutes of meetings, read reports, coffee, (everyone except interns leave) order dinner, work on project, eat the king‟s meal that you ordered, figure out a way to do a task that a senior wants the next day, water (coffee guy‟s left), call for a cab, back to reading random reports, cab back home, dad opens the door (I was staying at home) “good morning son”


Super challenging work, a lot is expected and thrust on you, you have no other option but to figure it out! The occasional drinks with colleagues was a welcome relief


Very very long working hours, NO offs (that‟s right, no Sat or Sun either)


I didn‟t know a lot, so I guess nothing in specific. But I was given reports by the Associate before starting internship which really helped

Dos and Don‟ts

Do – drink a lot of coffee, go on an eating binge everyday, on a serious note… stay calm, there will be the occasional off-days, but they pass Don‟t – Sleep


All the best, I might not be there to answer queries during summers, drop me an e-mail if you want to ask something specific

Name Arpit Agrawal

Educational Qualification B Tech (Comp Sc & Engg)

Work-ex Zilch

Summers Company & Role Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Fund


33. Jaidiya Jeyakar

Profile


Company: HSBC

Interviewed for Treasury Department (also known as Global Markets)

No. of Interviews 2

Interview Outline

First Interview: Tell me about yourself, why finance, few simple

tech. questions

Second Interview: Mostly HR


looking for

First Interview: if I really wanted this internship, or if I just wanted

to go anywhere; a basic and sound understanding of Corp.Fin

fundae

Second Interview: just confirming if I was the right choice and

which department/location I wanted to work in and why

What went wrong/right Confidence in self and sound basics (even if you don’t know the

exact formula, but understand the fundamentals)



Same as what went wrong/right

A good and interesting CV gives you a good base upon which the

interview can be built (2nd interviewer was looking at my CV for at

least 50% of the time)

Humour in moderation (but use this only after you have gauged if

the interviewer will appreciate it)

Dos/Don’ts, Special Do – know what you’re talking about, esp. which company/desk

Name Jaidiya Jeyakar

Educational Qualification B.Tech (Electrical and Electronics Engineering)

Work-ex -

Summers Company & Role HSBC Global Markets, Summer Intern


Preparation you want to work at and why

Do – prepare a good ‘tell me about yourself’ answer because

almost always you’ll be asked that question and not having a

good answer in mind (rehearsing the exact words doesn’t

matter) will leave a bad impression

Do – know the basics of the stream you’re looking to enter

(they don’t expect you to be an expert, but a basic

understanding is expected considering you’re probably going to

say that you’re interested in the field!)



Brief Internship Profile Institutional Sales Desk – study of mutual funds


working day

Attend morning meeting which the whole office attends to

know what happened in the markets the previous day – work

till about lunch time – lunch – work till tea time – tea – work

some more – leave

Interns had a separate desk so we were encouraged to spend

some time at the desk under whom we were interning to get an

idea of the work done, etc.

What aspects of the


One got to see how exactly the markets worked, get a better

understanding of the theory learnt, see what exactly working in

a treasury is like and what it involves

Sometimes I got to do some things for the desk that a PA would

probably do (if they had one!) which helped me understand

that process more completely

What did you dislike about

it?

Took some time to learn ones way around all the complex

functioning of the office where often people might not have the

time to indulge you in your curiosity


Understanding of basics of Corporate Finance and Financial

Derivatives helps understand better what is happening.



Good analytical skills, with a bird’s eye view on things.

Dos and Don’ts

Be ready to do any kind of work that will help you finish your

internship successfully – after all you are an intern and not their

highest priority if they’re pressed for time with their work (for

example, I had to compare a few softwares for the office, cajole

my way through a fair amount of red tape to get it installed,

etc.)

While it is important to talk to the people in the office to gain

an understanding of the business, do not do it for the sake of

CP hoping for a PPO – they’ve all been through the same thing

and will see right through it


would like to add

It is easy to lose focus when one gets to interact very casually with

people who are very senior in their respective fields and when one

sees the quantum of money/responsibility being handled, but do

remember that the people you interact with most probably know

better than we as students/interns do right now.


34. Rahul Kumar

Profile


Company: Morgan Stanley Advantage services

Interviewed for About 30 minutes

No. of Interviews

2, 2nd was more of a confirmation that I am willing to work with

them

Interview Outline

Mostly on Financial accounting and Cash flow statements ( Project

during 1st term )


looking for

For knowledge in finance and less of globe during the interview

Name Rahul Kumar

Educational Qualification B.Tech ( Mechanical Engg)

Work-ex

32 Months with DRDO in research and development , worked on FEM

and structural Design

Summers Company & Role

Morgan Stanley Advantage services , Analyst



I answered most of the questions they asked except who is

teaching you corporate finance. I asked a lot of questions about

what they do and what is their view about Indian accounting laws



Prof. R. Narayanswamies fundas of financial accounting

Dos/Don’ts, Special

Preparation

Be thorough with financial accounting and Corporate finance


Company: Morgan Stanley Advantage services

Brief Internship Profile Worked on valuation models , and on some proprietary models of

Morgan Stanley


working day

Start at 9:00 in the morning , work on models, read day’s analyst

reports , In the evening their might be a call with U.S counterparts

of the team. Leave by 8:00 in the evening

What aspects of the


Learning’s I got on valuation models , financial adjustments ,

pension accounting, industry ratios etc.

What did you dislike about

it?

Sitting with boss for hours and attending sessions which were not

relevant

Before going you can read Penman




Dos and Don’ts

Do work hard , people there will help you in learning things about

finance industry


would like to add

We got a chance to every big name in morgan Stanley India , from

CEO to strategist to star analysts.


35 . Ajay Jain

Profile



Interviewed for IBD & Global Markets

No. of Interviews 4

Interview Outline

Interview mostly touched upon these areas: macroeconomics (exchange rate stuff, bit of discussion on monetary policy), puzzles(a lot of them), derivatives (asked me to price a digital option w/o using term 1 quant stuff), deal valuation(in IBD interview), discussion on retail sector(in almost all the rounds since I had worked for online retail firm Amazon.com), Financial Ratios (last chapter of finacc course)


I believe they were looking for a lot of enthusiasm, strong desire to join their company and of course an aptitude for finance

What went wrong/right I guess preparing a good 1 –minute introduction was the best thing I had done during my preparations


I believe the key is to stay confident because that is what the banks look for. Any signs of panic might kill your chances. There is no right or wrong answer when asked for your view on some issue or market. What they just expect is that you should be able to give reasons for whatever your view is.


Prepare a enthusiastic 1-minute pitch


Company: Merrill Lynch, Global Markets, Hong Kong

Name Ajay Jain

Educational Qualification B.Tech. (Electronics and Communication Engineering), IIT Roorkee

Work-ex 23 months, Amazon.com(12), Oracle Corp.(11)

Summers Company & Role Merrill Lynch, Global Markets, Hong Kong. Desk: Equity Structuring



Interned with the Equity Structuring Desk. Mostly, interns are given a week‟s time to broadly understand what the team does and then they work on assigned projects. Given the market conditions, there were not many projects this time which were assigned. So, more of self initiative was required. I was expected to myself come up with projects which I thought could add value to the team and help solve some of the problems which the desk regularly faced.


My working hours used to be pretty long (8am to 11 pm types). The idea was to use the office hours (till 6pm) to interact with people on the floor and learn about their teams and then work on the projects later


The work environment was as good as it can get. People were very helpful and were always ready to spend time with the interns to patiently listen to their issues and help them come up with solutions. There was constant guidance, support and encouragement not only from my mentor but from the other members of the team as well.



I guess prior knowledge of financial derivatives is a must. It might get a bit difficult otherwise, given the fact that people start talking in terms of delta, gamma and vega right from day 1.

Dos and Don‟ts

Don‟t show attitude. Bankers are pretty egoistic people and I am sure you don‟t want to hurt their ego during internship. Also, when interacting with people don‟t constantly keep talking about yourself and your achievements. There is a lot of other interesting stuff which can be discussed.



36 . Prateek Mankad

Profile


Company: HSBC Bank

Interviewed for Commercial banking division

No. of Interviews First round with CMB Head for Large Corporates- Southern India; Joint second round with HR and CMB Head

Interview Outline

First round (20 mins): General questions: HR questions- introduction etc, Why HSBC,

and a chat about how the interview process runs Technical questions about how a commercial bank‟s CEO would

assess its performance- (was asked such questions because of prior banking / financial services experience)

Questions about work ex- ethical dilemmas faced / independence of auditors; asked because of experience as a team leader for audit of large clients and 6 years of audit experience

Concluded with are you open to working in any location and meeting the colleague from HR in some time

Second round (5-7 mins): Was explained CMB‟s structure and the business segment they

were interviewing me for and was asked whether I was open to making a career in commercial banking


Inter personal skills, confidence, frankness Some very basic information / background about the bank


What went right: Good technical / practical knowledge of the banking / financial

services industry was a bonus for them Knowledge about HSBC, their businesses Confidence and diplomacy (avoiding answers to questions where

confidential information at work ex was involved) What went wrong Nothing significant


Confident communication; technical knowledge


Dos: Background search about the bank Knowing basic macro-economic environment and basics / pillars

of a commercial bank (capital adequacy, SLR / CRR, asset-liability mismatch, NPA / NPI).

Name Prateek Mankad

Educational Qualification CA, B Com

Work-ex

27 months- Assistant Manager- Audit, Financial services KPMG (BSR & Co.)

Summers Company & Role Commercial Banking Division („CMB‟), HSBC Bank


Dont’s: Nothing specific to HSBC


Company: HSBC Bank, Commercial banking division


Was a part of the Relationship Management team for the bank‟s corporate clients based out of Bangalore and southern India

Was given a project for two months. Involved analysing the impact of slowdown on specific industries in which the bank had an exposure. Also performed an impact assessment for select clients of the bank in those sectors


There were no deliverables to be provided to the bank‟s clients and so reporting was internal and quite flexible.

Had the freedom to plan the project and execute it; In terms of working hours, it was from 9 to 630 or 7


Opportunity to work for a global brand and interact with people in the bank and network with them

Were told to complete the project in 8 weeks in place of 10 weeks and interact with other departments in the bank to understand the bank, its business and the people better

What did you dislike about it? Would have been more challenging if opportunity of speaking to and meeting with the bank‟s clients, other players in those industries was provided


Skills required for a full time RM role would be analytical skills, and client interaction / client management skills and working knowledge of the banking industry

Dos and Don‟ts -


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All

The Best

- Team NETWORTH

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