Questions to Ask Investment Bankers About the Job
Questions to ask investment bankers when you are networking: in a coffee chat, in an informational interview, or on a call with an analyst a friend has introduced you to. They aim at the concrete details of the job: hours, staffing, what juniors actually produce, and where people go afterwards, rather than at general career advice. The last two groups are short ones: one for a networking event, where there is no time for the rest, and one for the investment banking recruiters who run it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Work and hours
What did you work on this week?
Why ask it
Far better than asking what a typical day looks like, which produces a rehearsed answer. A real week includes the dull parts, and those are what you are trying to find out about.
How many live processes are you on right now?
Why ask it
Deal count is the closest thing to a workload figure. Someone on four live processes is describing a very different quarter from someone waiting for a mandate to sign.
What is the split between pitching and executing at your level?
Why ask it
Pitch work is largely materials production; execution teaches you the mechanics. Groups differ sharply, and the ratio determines what you can credibly claim to have done.
How many hours did you actually work last month?
Why ask it
Asking about last month rather than in general gets a number instead of a shrug. Most people will answer honestly in a private conversation, and the range across a group is wide.
How does staffing work in your group, and who controls it?
Why ask it
A staffer who balances workload and a system where MDs grab whoever is free produce opposite experiences. This is also the single largest factor in whether juniors burn out.
How much of your time is modelling, and how much is checking and formatting?
Why ask it
The gap between the job as advertised and the job as lived usually sits here. Analysts who admit the split candidly are giving you the most useful information in the conversation.
What is the analyst's real job on a live deal?
Why ask it
Ask this rather than what analysts do, which produces a job description. The honest answer is usually a mix of modelling, updating materials and version control, and knowing the mix helps you decide whether you want it.
How long does a deal usually take, and where does it tend to stall?
Why ask it
Deal timelines are where the hours come from, so this is really a question about your calendar. Listen for the stages that create all-night work: diligence, regulatory review, or a client changing their mind.
What happens to a pitch that does not win the mandate?
Why ask it
Much of the work in banking never turns into a transaction, which is the part nobody mentions at recruiting events. Their answer tells you how they handle effort that goes nowhere.
What happens when a deal dies late in the process?
Why ask it
Months of work disappearing with no fee is a normal part of the job and one of the harder parts to absorb. How someone describes it tells you a lot about the culture around them.
How much contact do juniors get with clients?
Why ask it
It varies from none to sitting on calls in the first year. Client exposure is what makes the second job easier to get, so it is worth knowing before choosing a group.
How much of the long hours is real work, and how much is waiting?
Why ask it
The distinction matters enormously for whether the job is survivable. Bankers usually answer honestly, and the answer often exposes a culture of staying visible rather than a workload.
What was the worst week you have had, and what caused it?
Why ask it
One concrete week tells you more than any statistic about average hours. Note whether the cause was a client deadline or a senior person's poor planning, because only one of those is unavoidable.
Is there any part of your week you manage to protect?
Why ask it
A concrete answer, such as a standing Saturday morning or a gym slot that survives, tells you where the real edges of the job are. "Not really" is also an answer.
Group and culture
What group are you in, and what does that group actually do?
Why ask it
Coverage, product and capital markets groups do very different work with very different hours. Getting this in the first minute stops you asking a leveraged finance banker about equity research and wasting the call.
How much does the group you land in change the experience?
Why ask it
Coverage and product groups differ in hours, deal flow, and exit options while sharing one brand name. Someone inside can tell you which groups people quietly try to avoid.
What is the deal mix in the group right now?
Why ask it
Whether the group is running mostly sell-side mandates, financings, or restructuring work shapes what an analyst learns there. It also gives you something specific to reference in an interview, which is where these calls pay off.
How would you describe the difference between this group and the same group at a competitor?
Why ask it
Bankers know exactly how their group is positioned and enjoy the comparison. It gives you a genuine reason for wanting this bank, which is the question you will be asked in every interview and the one most candidates answer badly.
What is the culture on your floor, and is it different elsewhere in the bank?
Why ask it
Culture in banking is set at the group and floor level rather than by the firm, so the question has to be asked narrowly to get anything useful. Ask what happens when someone makes a mistake if you want the sharpest version.
What has changed about the job since you started?
Why ask it
Coverage of a shifting market, new tooling, or a change in how juniors are staffed. It also tells you whether your information about the industry is current or five years old.
What are clients in your sector worried about at the moment?
Why ask it
Better than asking about market trends, because it forces a specific concern rather than commentary. It also gives you a genuine talking point for interviews with the same group.
What should I be reading to follow your sector properly?
Why ask it
Gives you something concrete to do after the call and a reason to follow up later. It also shows whether they actually track their sector or mostly execute on instructions.
Pay and exits
How do you find out where you stand?
Why ask it
Some groups run structured reviews, others rely on whether the senior people keep asking for you. Knowing which is a better predictor of your bonus than the official process.
How does the bonus process work, and how much do people know in advance?
Why ask it
Bonus is most of the compensation and the part least described in offer letters. Ask about timing, the range within a class, and how much of it is discretionary.
Who leaves your group, and what do they leave for?
Why ask it
Exit destinations are the honest measure of what the job is worth on the market. A group where everyone leaves in year two is a different proposition from one people stay in.
Who did well in your analyst class, and where are they now?
Why ask it
Tracks real outcomes rather than intentions. If most of the class has moved on within three years, ask what they moved to, since that is the honest career path rather than the one on the recruiting slide.
What kind of person burns out fastest here?
Why ask it
The answers are specific and unflattering: people who cannot let go of a slide, people who will not push back, people with no life outside the desk. Worth hearing before you start.
How do you describe the trade-off to friends who ask whether it was worth it?
Why ask it
The question invites the version they give in private rather than at a recruiting event. Hesitation here is more informative than any answer about learning curves.
Getting hired
How did you end up in your group, and would that route still work today?
Why ask it
The second half stops you copying a path that has closed. Hiring routes in banking change quickly, especially for people coming in without a traditional background.
What does a strong analyst do that an average one does not?
Why ask it
Answers are usually practical: flagging problems early, being accurate the first time, managing a version-control mess. It is a better guide to preparing than any list of skills.
What do candidates most often misunderstand about the job?
Why ask it
Bankers who take recruiting seriously have a ready answer, because they have watched people leave in the first year. It is the closest thing to a warning you will get.
What do candidates get wrong in interviews for your group?
Why ask it
Close to being handed the marking scheme, and bankers usually answer it because they sit on the interview panels. The common answers involve rehearsed answers and shaky accounting fundamentals.
What technical questions should I make sure I can answer cold?
Why ask it
Gets you a specific list from someone who knows what this group actually asks. Take notes, and ask whether they would expect the same in a first round or only later.
What do interviewers here weigh most: technicals, the story, or fit?
Why ask it
The weighting differs by bank and by group, and someone who has sat on interviews knows it. It tells you where to spend the next month of preparation rather than spreading it evenly across everything.
Is there anything on my resume that would not survive a screen here?
Why ask it
Direct, briefly uncomfortable, and more useful than any general feedback. People rarely volunteer this, but most will answer it when asked, and one sentence can fix something that was quietly costing you first rounds.
If I wanted to end up where you are, what should I do in the next year?
Why ask it
Specific and time-bounded, so it produces actions rather than encouragement. Answers about a particular exam, technical skill, or timing of applications are the ones to act on.
What would make you regret putting someone forward?
Why ask it
Referrals carry the referrer's name, and asking shows you understand that. The answer usually involves someone who did not follow up, arrived unprepared, or dropped out late, and it tells you exactly what to avoid doing next.
Is there anyone else here you think I should speak to?
Why ask it
The single most useful question in a networking call, and it works best after you have asked good questions rather than at the start. An introduction from an insider carries far more weight than a cold message.
At a networking event
What do you wish people asked you at events like this?
Why ask it
A banker at a recruiting event hears the same three questions all evening. Handing over the choice of subject usually gets you the thing they would tell a friend about the job, and it is easy to answer with a circle of people listening.
Which groups are here tonight?
Why ask it
Banks send whoever can leave the desk, so the room is rarely the whole firm. Knowing which groups turned up tells you who to find before the hour runs out, and saves you pitching an interest in healthcare to a banker who covers industrials.
How different is the first year from the internship?
Why ask it
An analyst who did the summer internship first can compare the two from memory. A summer is partly a long interview, and what changed once the offer stopped being at stake is the part worth hearing.
What is one thing about your group that people outside the bank would not guess?
Why ask it
A light question that suits a circle, because everyone hears the answer and nobody is put on the spot. It also gets past the description on the careers page without sounding like a test.
Did meeting people at events like this make any difference when you applied?
Why ask it
Tells you whether these evenings count for anything at this bank or are mostly a display. Some bankers will say a name they met got their application read, and others that nobody they spoke to was ever asked.
May I email you one or two follow-up questions this week?
Why ask it
The event conversation exists to earn a longer one. Asking in person turns a cold message into one they are expecting, and naming the week commits you to sending it while they still remember your face.
For recruiters
When do applications open for the next analyst class, and when do interviews begin?
Why ask it
Recruiting calendars in banking shift from year to year and differ by bank, division and country, so dates passed on by a friend may be wrong here. The recruiter is the one person in the room who works from the actual schedule.
Do candidates apply to a named group or to the division as a whole?
Why ask it
Some banks hire into a pool and place people after training, and others interview for a specific group from the start. Ask how it works at this bank, because it decides which bankers are worth meeting before you apply.
What comes between the online application and the final round?
Why ask it
The steps vary by bank: an online test, a recorded video interview, a phone screen, then a day of back-to-back interviews. Knowing the order lets you prepare for the stage in front of you instead of the one people talk about most.
Do the bankers at these events pass their impressions back to you?
Why ask it
At some banks names and comments are gathered after every event, and at others nothing is written down. It is a fair thing to ask a recruiter, and the answer tells you how much the conversations in this room count.
Is there a way in for someone who missed the usual internship cycle?
Why ask it
Off-cycle internships, graduate hiring and moves from accounting or consulting exist at some banks and offices and not at others. A recruiter can say which are real openings this year and which are only listed on the site.
How to run the conversation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Setting up the call
Ask for twenty minutes and stick to it
Junior bankers have unpredictable evenings. A short, specific request gets accepted far more often than an open invitation to coffee, and finishing early earns you a second conversation.
Do the public reading first
Know their group, roughly what it covers, and any deal that has been announced. If you ask what their group does, ask for the part the website does not say.
Pick five questions, not twenty
Choose the ones whose answers would change what you do next, and let the conversation follow whatever they get animated about.
What to listen for
- Whether they give numbers. Hours, deal counts, and bonus ranges are the answers with real content.
- Whether they distinguish between their group and the bank. People who talk only about the firm often have limited visibility.
- How they describe the seniors who staff them. It is the best available proxy for daily working conditions.
- Where their former colleagues went, and whether they keep in touch with them.
- Any pause on the question about whether it was worth it.
Common pitfalls
Asking for a referral in the first conversation
It puts them in an awkward position before they know anything about your work. Ask for advice first, follow up on it, and let the introduction come later if it comes at all.
Asking questions with public answers
League tables, deal announcements, and headcount are all findable. Spend the time on staffing, hours, and what juniors actually produce.
Treating a networking event like a coffee chat
At an event the banker has a circle of people waiting behind you. Ask one question from the event group, give your name, and ask whether you can follow up by email. Hours and bonuses belong in a private call, where an analyst can answer honestly.
Not following up
A short note a few weeks later saying what you did with their advice is rare and remembered. It is the whole point of the first conversation.