面试问题回答技巧 重要版.docx

面试问题回答技巧 重要版.docx

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面试问题回答技巧重要版

QuestionstoAskDuringYourSummerInternshipInterviews

*Canyougivemeanexampleofmysummerresponsibilities?

Trytomakesuretheansweryoureceiveisasspecificaspossible.Particularlyifyou'renewtotheindustry,youwanttoensurethatyouwillperformworkthatisrepresentativeofafull-timeassociate.

*Howmanypeoplearetypicallygivenpermanentjoboffers?

Andaskforpercentagestoo.Thisshowsyou'reinterestedinopportunitiesaftergraduationatthefirm,andallowsyoutoplanyourstrategicoptions.Somefirms,likeGoldmanSachs,areknownforgivingofferstoasmallproportionofthesummerclass.Youmaywanttotrybetteroddsatanotherfirm.

*WillIbeabletorotatebetweendepartments?

Again,themoreyouknowaboutthecompany,thebetteryouwillbeabletodeterminewhichdepartmentinterestsyoumost,orwhetheryouwanttoworkatthefirmatall.Ifthere'saspecificdepartmentyouwanttoworkin,youshouldmakethisknown.

*Doyouprovideanyassistancewithrelocation?

Manyfirmswillhelplocate,andevensubsidize,summerhousing.Ifthismakesadifferenceinwhetheryoutaketheposition,ask.

StrategiesforAnsweringBusinessCaseQuestions

Ifyou'regoingintoaninterviewwhereyoumightexpectacasequestion（abusinessquestionpresentedtoyouforyourdetailedanalysis）,it'simportanttohaveafewbasictipsdownpat.

1.Takenotes.

Asyourinterviewerpresentsyourcase,besuretotakecarefulnotesonthenumbersorotherfactsgiven.（Alwaysbringanotepadandapentoaconsultinginterview.）Youdon'twanttoaskyourinterviewertolaterrepeatinformationthathasalreadybeengiven.

2.Askquestions.

Yourinterviewerexpectsyoutoaskquestions--asmanyintelligentquestionsasyouneedtoobtainanaccuratepictureoftherelevantfactsinthecase.Manyinexperiencedcaseintervieweesmaketheerrorofnotaskingtheirintervieweranyquestions,perhapsafraidthattheywilllookignorant,ornotwishingto"bother"theinterviewer.Onthecontrary--notaskingquestionsisafatalerrorinacaseinterview.Ifyoudon'tknowthefirstthingaboutthehelicoptermarket,askhowmuchitcoststomanufacturearotor.Ifyouneedtoestimatethedemandforabeef-flavoredpotatosnackinWichita,Kansas,thenfeelfreetoaskthepopulationofWichitaandenvirons.

3.Bepreparedtotakecharge.

Youwilloftenfindthatyourinterviewerwilldirectyourlineofquestioningtoaspecificarea,butyoumustalwaysbereadytocontroltheconversationincasetheinterviewerdoesnotdirectyourreasoning.Ifyouareunsure,simplyasktheinterviewer.Forinstance,ifyoufindtheinterviewerofferinglittledirectionasyoumovethroughyourinitialscoopingquestions,youmaywishtoask,"Ifindthelackofariskassessmenttobeapotentialshowstopper.MightIasksomedetailedquestionsaboutthis?

"Oryoumightsay,"Givenwhatyouhavetoldmeaboutthesituation,Iwouldliketodrilldownforfurtherclarityregardingtheclient'scurrentrelationshipwithitsdistributionpartner.WouldthatbeOK?

"Inthisway,youtakechargeofthelineofquestioningwithoutsteppingontheinterviewer'srole.

4.Makenoassumptions!

Asacaseinterviewee,youshouldnevermakeanyassumptions.Youshouldassumethepersonaofanactualconsultanttryingtolearnaboutanassignment.Itmightseemobviousthatthereisnopreexistingworkplan（becauseiftherewas,whywouldthisbeacaseinterview?

）butyoushouldask.Youshouldalsoaskifthecompanyhasencounteredasimilarproblem,orwhatothercompaniesinthefieldhavedonewhenfacedbysimilarproblems.Yourinterviewermaynotreleasethatinformationbutwillbeimpressedthatyouaskedthesesensiblequestions.Somegoodbasic"professional"questionstoask,whichapplytomostcases:

∙Whohiredus?

∙Howlongwilltheseengagementslast?

∙Isthereaworkplan?

∙Hasthecompanyfacedthisproblem（oropportunity）before?

∙Ifso,howdiditreact?

∙Whatwastheoutcome?

∙Whathaveothercompaniesfacingthissituationdone?

∙Hasthefirmalreadydoneanyresearchintotheissue?

∙Ifso,whatwereitsfindings?

5.Maintaineyecontact.

Alwaysmaintaindirecteyecontactduringthecaseinterview.Eyecontactiscriticalwhenansweringcasequestions--itdemonstratesconfidenceandauthority.Rememberthatinconsultingyoumayfindyourselfinfrontof20executivesatamajorcorporationpresentingastrategyyouwerebriefedononlyahalf-hourago.Andthenyouhavetoanswerquestions!

Soyoucanseewhybusinesscaseinterviewingissoimportanttoconsulting--itisadirectparalleltotheenvironmentconsultantsmustfaceeveryday.

FinanceInterviewQuestions

WithWallStreetsalariesskyrocketing,investment-bankingjobsareashotasever.Thismeansit'sespeciallyimportanttobepreparedforbankingandfinanceinterviews.Thesefinanceinterviewquestionsshouldhelp.Formorequestionsandinterviewadvice,readtheVGuidetoFinanceInterviews.

1.Howwouldyouvalueacompanyyou'reconsideringbuying?

OneofthemostcommonquestionsWallStreetinterviewersask.（Othervariationsofthisquestionare:

"howwouldyouvalueastockyouwereconsideringbuying,takingpublic,etc.）WallStreetersusethisquestiontoseparatethefinancejocksfromtheneophytes.Here'sabasicanswerthatshouldimpressyourinterviewer:

Oneanswertothisquestionistodiscountthecompany'sprojectedcashflowsbya"risk-adjusteddiscountrate."Afterprojectingthefirstfiveor10years,youaddina"TerminalValue,"whichrepresentsthepresentvalueofallthefuturecashflowsthataretoofarintothefuturetoproject.YoucancalculatetheTerminalValueinoneoftwoways:

（1）youtaketheearningsofthelastyearyouprojected,sayyear10,andmultiplyitbysomemarketmultiplelike20timesearnings,andthat'stheterminalvalue;or

（2）youtakethelastyear,sayyear10,andassumesomeconstantgrowthrateafterthat,perhaps10%.Thepresentvalueofthisgrowingstreamofpaymentsafteryear10istheTerminalValue.

Note:

Tofigureoutwhat"discountrate"youwouldusetodiscountthecompany'scashflows,tellyourintervieweryouwouldusethe"CapitalAssetPricingModel"（or"CAP-M"）.（Inanutshell,CAPMsaysthattheproperdiscountratetouseistherisk-freeinterestrateadjustedupwardstoreflectthisparticularcompany'smarketriskor"beta."）

Finally,youshouldalsomentionothermethodsofvaluingacompany,includinglookingat"comparables,"-thatis,howothersimilarcompanieswerevaluedrecentlyasamultipleoftheirsales,netincome,orsomeothermeasure.

2.WalkmethroughthemajorlineitemsonaCashFlowstatement.

Aquestiontotestyouraccountingskills.Theanswer:

FirsttheBeginningCashBalance,thenCashfromOperations,thenCashfromInvestingActivities,thenCashfromFinancingActivities,andfinallytheEndingCashBalance.

3.WhatisEBITDA?

Alsoknownas"cashflow,"EBITDAisEarningsBeforeInterest,Taxes,Depreciation,andAmortization.

4.Sayyouknewacompany'snetincome.Howwouldyoufigureoutits"cashflow"?

Abasicanswer:

Youstartwiththecompany'snetincome.Thenyouaddbackdepreciationandamortization.Thenyousubtractthecompany'sCapitalExpenditures（called"CapEx"forshort,thisishowmuchmoneythecompanymustinvesteachyearonplantsandequipment）.Thenumberyougetisthecompany'scashflow:

5.CompanyAisconsideringacquiringCompanyB.CompanyA'sP/Eratiois55timesearnings,whereasCompanyB'sP/Eratiois30timesearnings.AfterCompanyAacquiresCompanyB,willCompanyA'searningspersharerise,fall,orstaythesame?

CompanyA'searnings-per-sharewillrise,becauseofthefollowingrule:

whenahigherP/EcompanybuysalowerP/Ecompany,theacquirer'searnings-per-sharewillrise.Thedealissaidtobe"accretive,"asopposedto"dilutive,"totheacquirer'searnings.

Defeatingthe12-BallQuestion

Someinterviewquestionsarenotoriouslydifficult.Thisparticularlogicproblemhasmadeitsappearanceatvariousconsulting,investmentbankingandtechfirms（includingMcKinseyandMicrosoft）.Willyoubepreparedifyourinterviewerspringsuponyoutheknotty"12ball"dilemma?

ThankstoVaultReports,youcananswerinsafety!

Here'sthequestion:

Youhave12balls.Allofthemareidenticalexceptone,whichiseitherheavierorlighterthantherest-itiseitherhollowswhiletherestaresolid,orsolidwhiletherestarehollow.Youhaveasimpletwo-armedscale,andarepermittedthreeweightings.Canyouidentifytheoddball,anddeterminewhetheritisholloworsolid?

Thislogicproblemissuretoputyouranalyticalabilityondisplay!

First,we'llexaminewhatthoughtprocessesaninterviewerislookingfor,andthenwe'lldiscussonesolution.

Startwiththesimplestofobservations.Thenumberofballsyouweighagainsteachothermustbeequal.Yeah,it'sobvious,butwhy?

Becauseifyouweigh,saythreeballsagainstfive,youarenotreceivinganyinformation.Inaproblemlikethis,youaretryingtoreceiveasmuchinformationaspossiblewitheachweighing.

Forexample,oneofthefirstmistakespeoplemakewhenexaminingthisproblemisthattheybelievethefirstweighingshouldinvolvealloftheballs（6against6）.Thisweighinginvolvesalloftheballs,butwhattypeofinformationdoesthisgiveyou?

Itactuallygivesyounonewinformation.Youalreadyknowthatoneofthesideswillbeheavier,andbyweighing6against6,youwillsimplyconfirmthisknowledge.Still,youwanttogaininformationaboutasmanyballsaspossible（soweighing1against1isobviouslynotagoodidea）.