Questions to Ask Investment Bankers
Questions for a coffee chat or informational call with someone working in investment banking. 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 questions
Open any question for the note
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Asking what their group does spends your first question on something you could have looked up.
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.
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.