The invitation arrived, the date is set, and it is seven days away. That is enough time to be well prepared if you spend it in the right order. It is not enough time to learn all of accounting and valuation from zero, so the plan below assumes you have seen the basics before and need to turn them into answers you can say out loud.
A first-round conversation at most banks runs thirty to forty-five minutes, often with an associate or vice president, sometimes by video. You will hear some mix of your story, why banking, why this bank, a few technical questions, and a behavioral question or two. Each day below targets one piece of that, and every day ends with something you say aloud, because reading silently feels like preparation and is not.
How the Seven Days Fit Together
The sequence matters. Your story and your motivation come first because they appear in nearly every interview and affect how you answer everything else. Technicals come in the middle, when you have the energy to practice them repeatedly. The mock interview sits near the end so it can reveal weak spots while you still have time to fix them. The final day is for calm.
Plan on ninety minutes to two hours per day, longer on the weekend. If you have classes and exams, protect the time blocks the way you would protect a lab section.
One more setup step: write the interviewer’s name, the group if you know it, and the interview format at the top of a page. Keep one running notes document for the whole week, and add to it every day.
Day 1: Write and Rehearse Your Story
“Walk me through your resume” and “tell me about yourself” are usually the first words you hear. Treat the answer as a script of about ninety seconds with a clear shape: where you started, one or two experiences that built your interest in finance, and where you want to go next.
Start by writing it in full sentences. Then cut it until each sentence either explains a choice or sets up the next part. Your goal is that the interviewer understands why your path leads to banking without you having to say so.
Read it aloud three times, record yourself on your phone, and listen back. If a sentence sounds like it was written for a cover letter, rewrite it in the words you would use with a friend. For help with structure, see our walkthrough on answering tell me about yourself and our post on telling your story in interviews.
Day 2: Build Your Why Banking Answer
Interviewers want to hear that you understand the job and have a reason for choosing it that holds up under a follow-up. A weak answer sounds like “I like finance and I am good with numbers.” A strong one connects something you did to something analysts actually do.
Write down three real reasons, each tied to an experience: a class project, a club, a job, a conversation with a banker. Then pair each reason with one concrete feature of the role, such as learning how companies are valued, working on transactions with a defined end, or getting broad exposure early.
Prepare for the follow-up. After you say why banking, an interviewer will often ask, “Why not consulting?” or “Why not go straight to a corporate finance role?” Have a two-sentence answer ready for both, and make sure it compares the jobs fairly instead of putting the others down.
To check that your picture of the job is accurate, read our day in the life of an analyst and make sure nothing in your answer contradicts it.
Day 3: Research the Bank and the Group
“Why this bank?” is where many candidates fall back on flattery. Skip the praise and bring facts. Spend this day building a one-page profile of the firm.
- The bank’s main businesses and where the group you applied to fits.
- Two or three recent transactions the group advised on, with the parties and the rough rationale.
- Anything you learned from conversations with people there, including names you are allowed to mention.
- One or two features of the program, such as training, rotation, or group structure, that appeal to you for a specific reason.
Then write your answer in three sentences: what drew you to the firm, what you learned from speaking with people there, and what you would hope to contribute. Mentioning a real conversation is more persuasive than any amount of general research.
If you have not yet read a business newspaper this week, do it today for twenty minutes. You should be able to discuss one deal or market event from the past few days in your own words, because interviewers often ask what you have been following.
Day 4: Core Technicals, Part One
Technical questions in a first round are usually direct and finite. They come from a small set of topics, and the same ones appear year after year. Split them over two days so you can practice repetition rather than cramming.
Today covers accounting and the statements. Be able to explain, without notes:
- How the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement link together.
- What happens across the three statements when depreciation changes, or when a company buys equipment with cash.
- The difference between enterprise value and equity value, and how to move from one to the other.
- What goes into working capital and what an increase means for cash.
Use our technical cheatsheet as a checklist. For each topic, close the page and say the answer aloud in under thirty seconds. If you stumble, mark the topic, and repeat it the next morning.
Use a stopwatch. Interview answers that run past a minute and a half usually mean the candidate has not decided what the main point is.
Day 5: Core Technicals, Part Two
Today is valuation. Plan to cover these topics:
- The three main valuation approaches: comparable companies, precedent transactions, and discounted cash flow.
- How to walk through a DCF in about a minute, from projecting free cash flow to discounting it and adding a terminal value.
- Why two companies in the same industry might trade at different multiples.
- What WACC represents in plain language.
A fluent DCF walk-through is the single most useful technical skill to have ready. Practice it until you can deliver it in order without pausing: forecast the cash flows, calculate the discount rate, find the terminal value, discount everything back, and subtract net debt to reach equity value.
If you have time, add one or two basic questions about M&A, such as why a company might acquire another one and what happens to the buyer’s earnings per share when it pays with stock versus cash. Do not try to go deeper than the questions you could reasonably get in a first round. Depth beyond that belongs to later rounds.
If you want a book for extra practice, our list of books for interview prep will point you to a few that work well for self-study.
Day 6: Run a Mock Interview and Prepare Behavioral Stories
Find a friend, a club leader, an alumnus, or a coach, and run a full interview from the greeting to the final question. Ask them to behave like a real interviewer: interrupt, follow up, and stay neutral. Record it if you can.
Afterward, ask for three kinds of feedback: where the answers were too long, where they sounded rehearsed, and where they were unclear. Then redo the weakest two answers immediately while the feedback is fresh.
Today is also for your behavioral material. Choose three stories from your experience that you can adapt: one about leading or influencing others, one about handling a setback, and one about working under time pressure. Use a simple order, which is situation, what you did, and the result, and keep each under two minutes. Our post on answering tell me about a time you led a team shows how a good answer is built.
Finally, prepare three questions to ask the interviewer. They should be specific to the person and group, such as how the team staffs a new analyst on a live deal, or what they found most useful in their own first months.
Day 7: Logistics, Review and an Early Night
The last day has less studying and more setup. Do a light thirty-minute review of your story, your three motivation answers, and your technical flashcards. Then handle everything that could go wrong on the day.
- Confirm the time, time zone, location or video link, and the interviewer’s name.
- For in-person interviews, plan your route and aim to arrive fifteen minutes early. Lay out business formal clothing, a printed resume, a pen and a notepad.
- For video, test your camera, audio and internet, choose a plain background, and keep a charger within reach. Close other applications and silence notifications.
- Save the recruiter’s phone number or email in case something goes wrong.
Eat a normal dinner, skip the late cram session, and go to bed at your usual time. A rested version of you answers better than a tired version who reviewed one more topic.
What to Do During and After the Interview
Start with a calm greeting and a short pause before each answer. If you do not know a technical question, say what you do know, show how you would approach it, and ask whether you are on the right path. Interviewers care about reasoning as much as the final number.
Keep your answers organized: state the main point first, then support it. If you are interrupted, stop and listen, because the interviewer is steering toward what they want to hear.
Within a day, send a short thank-you note that mentions one specific thing from the conversation. Then write down every question you were asked while your memory is fresh, since that record shapes your preparation for the next round.
Key Takeaways
- Spend the first three days on your story, your reasons for banking, and your research on the bank, since these appear in nearly every first round.
- Split technicals across two days, with accounting on one and valuation on the other, and practice each answer aloud under a stopwatch.
- A DCF walk-through is the most valuable technical answer to have ready.
- Run a full mock interview by day six so you have time to fix the weakest answers.
- Use day seven for logistics and rest, not new material.
- After the interview, send a specific thank-you note and record every question you were asked.
Want Personalized Interview Coaching?
If you are serious about breaking into investment banking, the best thing you can do is work with someone who has been through the recruiting process and knows what top banks look for. At Wall Street Mastermind, we have coached over 2,500 students through recruiting at bulge bracket banks, elite boutiques, and middle market firms. Book a free strategy call to learn how we can help you prepare.
Related Articles
- Tell Me About Yourself: How to Nail This Investment Banking Interview Question
- How to Tell Your Story in Investment Banking Interviews
- “Tell Me About a Time You Led a Team”: Best IB Interview Answers
- The Best Books for Investment Banking Interview Prep
- A Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Analyst
Follow Wall Street Mastermind
Stay up to date with the latest investment banking recruiting tips, technical guides, and career advice:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- X (Twitter)
- Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud
