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How To Prepare For The Investment Banking Interview

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It seems that the investment banking industry has narrowly escaped Armaggedon and the survivors are waiving the bonus flags again. Intern classes are getting bigger and Business Week reported that Goldman Sachs has reclaimed the top spot as the most popular employer among elite MBA students again. If you are a career switcher and one among many MBA applicants dreaming of joining Goldman Sachs or another bulge bracket investment bank for the summer internship, this article is for you. Below we provide an overview of an investment banking interview and explain why its important to prepare in advance. This is especially true if you are a career switcher.

There are several types of questions which you are likely to be asked in your interview. They include career questions, educational questions, competency questions, fit questions, technical questions and industry questions.

While its difficult to predict which questions exactly you will be asked, there are four questions which will appear in any investment banking interview:
– The WMTYR (Walk me through your resume)
– The 3 Why’s (Why investment banking? Why our bank? Why (should we hire) you?

The answer to the first and the second questions may be quite similar to those you provided in your MBA admission interviews. Answer to the third question is a little bit more complicated and will require specific preparation.

The usual reason for interest in any specific investment bank include: (a) a strong platform, which means strong coverage teams, diverse offering of advisory and financial products, many interesting deals and opportunities to learn (b) a strong presence in specific markets or industries (c) and the most important, tons of wonderful and smart people with whom you talked with during your recruiting process and whom you really made a connection with. Networking is a critical component for your interview preparation but we will discuss this area in one of our
future postings.

Why (should we hire) you? To answer this question you need to reiterate your main strengths, interest in a specific bank and a great fit you feel for the bank you are interviewing with.
You should prepare for this question especially well as a banks approach to this question will usually be that a person who cannot sell himself cannot sell the banks products and banking is definitely a sales job.

Good to know Other challenging fit questions examining your understanding of the
investment banking can be:
– What does an investment banker actually do?
– What is the role of an associate in the investment banking?
The answer to the first question will usually go in the following way:
An investment bank serves as intermediaries between their clients
who need capital in the form of debt and equity
It provides strategic advisory services by structuring transactions
that meet clients needs and objectives
Overall, Investment bank works with companies on the transactions
that will enhance their value. This may include accessing capital
markets to find growth or expand operations, as well as investing in another
company through merger or acquisition. Banks are not only the
matchmaker between parties involved in a transaction, but also the primary
architects of the deal.

A typical answer to the question about the role of an associate will
go like this :
Analyzing industry and company data related to the transaction
Building excel models to valuate companies
Joining strategic meetings
Performing due diligence meetings with the clients
Creating, editing client presentations
Monitoring, paying close attention to documentation associated with
the deal (prospectus, internal memos)
Managing relationship with an analyst
The most important attributes that an associate should have are:
quantitative skills, the ability to learn quickly, discipline, a strong work ethic, the ability to
work in teams, detail orientation and dependability.

While answering competency and behavioral questions you should be structured and succinct. Banks like well organized and structured thinking and will quickly dismiss candidates who ramble or cannot distinguish important points from the less important ones. We recommend creating 3 bullet points for each of your answers and putting them on the paper in advance. Practice your answers with friends and be sure that your story is consistent and flows well before the interview.

The technical part

The technical part of the interview will test your familiarity with the accounting and financial terms. This will definitely require thorough preparation even if you study at one of the top MBA programs . First of all you will need to be familiar with the financial statements and their analysis. The profit and loss statement, the balance sheet and cash flow statements are all fair game in the interview.
Secondly, you will need to have a basic understanding of the company’s valuation methods. You should be very familiar with terms such as cost of capital, cash flow discounting, multiples, accretion and dilution, LBO, CAPM, WACC and Beta.

You also may be asked how M&A and IPOs work and even be given a case study on a business situation. It is strongly recommended that you start b-school having at least a basic understanding of accounting and finance.

Here are some books that can help you.
VAULT Guide to Finance Interviews by D. Bhatawedekhar, Dan Jacobson,
and the Vault Staff
Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking by Tom Lott, Derek Loosvelt
and the Staff of Vault
Heard on the Street by Timothy Falcon Crack.
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies by Tom
Copeland, et al, John Wiley & Sons Inc
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies
by McKinsey and Company
Financial Modeling, 3rd Edition (Hardcover), Simon Benninga

In the industry part of the interview the interviewers will test your understanding of the industry and your professional interests.
You will be asked about financial news and trends, current articles related to investment banking, discussions of the economic environment and economic trends, trends in M&A and definitely about specific deals.

To be prepared for this part of the interview its advisable to start reading financial and economic newspapers and journals. The Wall Street Journal, FT and Economist are good sources to gain relevant knowledge.

A couple of additional hints:
– Know recent interesting deals executed by banks with which you are interviewing.
– Talk about deals with passion the interviewers will test not only your level of knowledge but also your passion for IB
– And finally, always read the news in the morning before your interview

Some additional books to better understand investment banking before your interview include:
The Business of Investment Banking: A Comprehensive Overview , by K.
Thomas Liaw
Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley , by
Patricia Beard
The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frres & Co. , by
William Cohan
The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed
Wall Street , By Jonathan Knee
More entertaining books include:
Barbarians at the Gate , By Bryan Burrough and John Helyar.
Bombardiers , By Po Bronson
Monkey Business: Swinging through the Wall Street Jungle, By John
Rolfe and Peter Troob.
Liars Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street , By Michael
Lewis, Norton Books.

Good luck with your interview!

How To File For A Tax Extension In Five Simple Steps

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April 15 is the official deadline to file tax returns and pay taxes in the US every year; and though aware of this deadline, many people fail to do so. While some people put off the filing work for no reason, few others dont find the time to gather all their tax documents. No matter what the reason, failing to file the tax return forms within April 15 results in hefty penalties, which keep on accumulating one above the other until the dues are paid off; unless a provision for tax extension is filed. For the benefit of taxpayers of US, the IRS allows a provision for extending the deadline to file tax returns up to 6 months, called IRS tax extension and all it takes is filing the tax extension form 4868 within April 15 and getting it approved. Not only it extends the deadline to file a tax return, but also avoids all sorts of penalties associated with late filing. So without further ado, lets discuss the simple, five step methodology to understand how to file for a tax extension.

1. Understanding Tax Extension

The first and foremost thing to do before knowing how to file for a tax extension is to understand what are its features. An extension essentially extends the time to file a tax return but doesnt extend the deadline for paying your taxes. April 15 shall remain to be the last date to pay all your tax dues and more importantly, April 15 is also the last date to file for a tax extension.

2. Reviewing the Need for Extension

Most people make the unnecessary move of learning how to file for a tax extension without even reviewing the need for an extension in their case. If you have all the documents ready, your accountant available at your service and no financial complications to pay the taxes, there is absolutely no need to buy extra time. It just becomes an excuse to procrastinate and delay filing further and further.

3. Form 4868 and 7004

In order to file for an extension, you need to fill the form 4868 for individual purpose and form 7004 for business. These forms are available both in paper form and online, the latter being the most preferred one. You can download and print the form for free from the IRS website or even take the help of an e-file provider website who also offer an online tax calculator.

4. Filling the Form

Though you know how to file for a tax extension, your form could get rejected by simple entry errors or incorrect information. So fill out the form carefully by providing valid information; and your name, contact information and social security number are the only documents you would need to fill out the form. Once done, you can track the status of your submitted form and get an email confirmation from the IRS on its reception.

5. Filing Tax Returns

Getting an extension of 6 months shouldnt be an excuse to delay filing tax returns. Once you get an approval, gather all the documents you would need, consult your accountant if there is one and ensure you take every aspect into consideration such as tax deposits, tax refunds, due amount etc. to file a tax return that helps your financial interests.

These 5 points are explained in brief and give an outline the process of filing. To know more about how to file for a tax extension, do your research or take the help of an e-file provider website which will not only help you file the extension form but also offers features like online tax calculators and advisory services.

Card Customers Being Surprised By ‘trailing Interest’

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Credit cards customers who are trying to clear their debts are being surprised with further charges even though they may think they have already cleared the balance.

An egg customer and Guardian reader brought the problem to the media attention, the problem can occur when a customer is paying debt carried over from the previous month.

This is what many credit card companies call trailing interest on any negative balance between the issuing of the last statement and the customer paying off the debt.

Some have a minimum fee and if interest does not reach, that amount it will be “topped up” the charge, so borrwers will be repaying no lower than the minimum fee.

Unfair minimum charges

In the case of Egg the minimum is 50p, while at MBNA and Barclays it is 1. For customers with Egg, the internet bank who pay off their debt via direct debit they could incur up to 18 days worth of interest on a balance that they think they have settled in full.

A spokeswoman for Egg, speaking to the Guardian newspaper, said: “Interest is charged on the outstanding balance between our issuing the statement and the payment being made. We request payment via your direct debit 14 days after the statement date.”

Direct debits cannot be called over a weekend so if a customer’s direct debit is due to leave their account on a Saturday or Sunday, we’ll move the payment date to Monday. The longest they’ll go between statement date and paying their account is 16 days – 18 if their payment date falls over the Easter weekend.

The spokeswoman added: “If the interest amounts to less than 50p we top up the charge so it equals that amount. She added that interest would be charged on the outstanding interest and top-up fee.

“All credit card contracts will mention trailing interest in the terms and conditions but more often than not it can be hidden away within the small print of the contract. In Egg’s case the explanation behind the charges has been described as virtually incomprehensible.”

The top-up fee

In the contract it says it will charge, “a top-up fee where the amount of interest charged to your account on any statement is less than 50p and the fee will be the amount required to make the top-up fee plus that interest equal to 50p. Where this applies, your statement will show a 50p minimum finance charge”.

Barclay card mentions on its website that interest is charged until the full date of repayment meaning that you may receive a further interest charge the second month, however there is no mention of the extra 1 pound charge.

Peter Harrison, a credit cards specialist at a leading price comparison website, said too often financial services companies include these wrinkles in their terms and conditions and it is important customers check the details before applying.

He added: “Whilst the sums of money involved are quite small, many customers who want to clear their full balance will, no doubt, find this irritating.”

The extra interest charges are not likely to send customers spiraling back into debt but there is no doubt that many would find it annoying receiving another statement after thinking that the balance had already been paid off.

Hiring Financial Services to Plan Your Retirement Smartly

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Ensuring financial freedom after retirement is a crucial factor in a financial plan. Most individuals have several plans to realize after retirement. Some people plan to buy a villa on a beach; while others dream of a world tour. Even if you do not have such ambitious dreams, you need money to be readily available after retirement for your daily expenses. This requires smart planning from early years. Taking a small step towards financial planning at an early age can guarantee financial security for a lifetime. If you do not begin early, the pace at which you would need to save would accelerate and the cost of the financial instruments at your disposal would increase.

One can hire financial services to demystify pension options and retirement saving plans. These service providers will answer your questions on how to sponsor your retirement plans and will help you to make an informed investment decision.

Financial Services: How Much Do You Need to Retire?
Consult financial services to determine the right time to start planning for retirement. Remember, retirement planning is not only about finance, it also involves mental preparation to get accustomed to a changed pattern of life. For some people, it is very hard to stop working altogether and spent time at home. In such a case, financial consultant may advise him/her to start working part time for a few years prior to full retirement. Alternatively, one can consider a home-based business after retiring from regular services.

Coming back to finances, it is important to analyze your monetary requirements in the long run. Prepare an estimate of monthly expenses in consultation with a financial expert. Now consider different investment options that align with your long-term financial goals. Pension funds are an important source of income post retirement. Thus, one should give due consideration to different types of pension plans available and understand how one can monetize them. Other instruments that blend well with retirement planning are:

Savings
Property
Investments in stocks
Individual Savings Account (ISA)

Ask the Financial Service Provider about Types of Pension Plans
Financial service providers focus on three basic types of pension plans:

State pension
Personal pension
Company pension

State pension is probably the most reliable foundation for your retirement. An individual who has attained the state pension age can claim it. According to UK Government data, the state pension age for men is 65. However, the state pension age for women will increase from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020. Usually, the contributions to National Insurance (NI) are accumulated over the years to provide pension to individuals. Additional state pension is rendered to individuals who are taking care of a child or are employed.

Personal pension schemes, which can include Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)for higher earners, are an important investment option for better control over retirement planning. It involves investment into HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) approved financial products. Some of the financial products covered under SIPP are:
Stocks listed on recognized exchange markets
Investment trusts regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
Commercial property
Bullion market
Authorised unit trusts
Futures and options traded in recognized markets
One can seek expert SIPP advice to leverage these investment options and secure financial freedom after retirement. Remember, state pension guarantees only sustainable income to every individual. To maintain a good lifestyle and make your ends meet, personal pensions (including SIPPs) are an important element in your long term financial planning strategy.

Company pensions are set by employers and vary between organizations. Usually, the company pension fund is deducted from an employee’s salary or deposited by the employer or both.

Since April 2006, the government has simplified regulations governing personal and company pension. Tax relief has been increased on investment into retirement instruments. With investment planning, it is possible to invest into a homogenous mix of different types of pension instruments. Consult financial services providers to make the best of the available retirement options.

The Importance Of Excel In The Workplace

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Excel is perhaps the most crucial computer software program used in the workplace today. That’s why so many workers and prospective employees are necessary to learn Excel in get to enter or remain at work.

From the viewpoint of the employer, particularly those in the field of information systems, the usage of Excel as an end-user computing tool is essential. Not only are many business professionals using Excel to do everyday functional tasks in the workplace, an increasing number of employers count on Excel for decision help.http://shuangyuan45.blog.com, http://robertandy.livejournal.com/, http://katharinealva.blog.com//a>

In general, Excel dominates the spreadsheet product industry using a market share estimated with 90 percent. Excel 2007 has the proportions for spreadsheets as high as a million rows as a result of 16, 000 columns, enabling the user to import and help massive amounts of data and achieve faster calculation performance than in the past.

Outside the workplace, Excel is broad use for everyday problem solving.

Let’s say you will have a home office. You may use Excel to calculate sales tax on the purchase, calculate the cost of a trip by car, produce a temperature converter, calculate the price of pizza per square inch and do analysis of inputted data. You can track your financial troubles, income and assets, determine your debt to income ratio, calculate your net worth, and employ this information to prepare for the process of applying for a mortgage on a brand-new house. The personal uses with regard to Excel are almost as endless for the reason that business uses for that software – and an Excel tutorial delves into the practical uses of the course for personal and business use.

The use of spreadsheets on computers is not really new. Spreadsheets, in electronic form, have been available since before the introduction with the personal computer. Forerunners to Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 were packages including VisiCalc, developed and modeled to the accountant’s financial ledger. Due to the fact 1987, spreadsheet programs have been impacting the business world. Along the way, computerized spreadsheets have turn into a pervasive and increasingly effective tool for comparative data analysis throughout the world.

Today, end users employ Excel to develop and modify spreadsheets and to author web internet pages with links and complex formatting specifications. They create macros and scripts. While some of these programs are small, one-shot calculations, many are much much more critical and affect significant financial decisions and company transactions.

Widely used by businesses, service agencies, you are not selected groups, private sector organizations, scientists, students, educators, training companies, researchers, journalists, accountants while others, Microsoft Excel has turn into a staple of end customers and business professionals.

The beauty of Excel is that it can be used as a receiver of workplace or business data, or as a calculator, a decision support tool, a data converter or even a display spreadsheet for info interpretation. Excel can create a chart or graph, operate with Mail Merge functions, import data from the internet, create a concept place and sequentially rank information by importance.

Excel offers new data analysis and visualization tools that assist in analyzing information, spotting trends and accessing information more easily than previously. Using conditional formatting with rich data display plans, you can evaluate and illustrate important trends and highlight exceptions with colored gradients, data bars together with icons.

Indeed, Excel can be customized to perform such a wide variety of functions that many establishments can’t operate without the idea. Excel training has become mandatory in many workplaces; in fact, computer software training is a must for any workplace trying to keep up with the times.

Let’s claim you’re an employer with 97 workers, 17 involving whom called in hurt today, and you want to know the percentage represented as a result of absentees. Excel can do that. You can learn Stand out and use it to determine the ratio of male to help female employees, the percentage of minorities relating to the payroll, and the ranking of each worker by compensation package amount, including the percentages of that package according to pay for and benefits. You can use Excel to keep an eye on production by department, information that may assist you in future development options. You can create even more spreadsheets to track info on vendors and customers while maintaining an ongoing inventory of product stock.

Let’s say you want to know your business production vs . cost. You don’t ought to be a math wiz – you just need to learn Excel. Excel allows you to input all of the data, analyze it, sort it consistent with your customized format, and display the outcome with color, shading, backgrounds, icons and other gimmicks that provide time-saving assistance in later locating precisely the information desired. If this spreadsheet is designed for presentation purposes, Excel helps you put it together ordinary visually appealing way that data may seem to help pop and sparkle.

The single most important things an employer may complete is learn Excel – it is among the most most essential tools of the workplace.

Excel and Microsoft are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, registered in your U. S. and other countries. Lotus is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the U. S. and/or many other countries.