Carnegie Mellon Tepper GFA Recruiting Guide - BYU - Marriott

Table of Contents

Table of Contents.................................................................................................................1Introduction..........................................................................................................................2Functional Overviews..........................................................................................................3

Sales & Trading...............................................................................................................3Investment Banking.........................................................................................................7Corporate Finance..........................................................................................................10

What Should I be Doing Now?.........................................................................................15Further Reading.............................................................................................................15

What Comes Next?............................................................................................................16Appendix A: Selected Summer Internship Overviews......................................................17

Banc of America Securities (BAS)................................................................................17Bear, Sterns, Inc.............................................................................................................20BNP Paribas...................................................................................................................22Campbell Soup Company..............................................................................................24Citibank..........................................................................................................................27Commonwealth Capital Group, LLC.............................................................................29Cowen and Company.....................................................................................................33Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM)..........................................................................34Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM)..........................................................................37Deutsche Bank- Global Markets....................................................................................39Deutsche Bank- Global Markets, London.....................................................................41Deutsche Bank- Investment Banking.............................................................................44Deutsche Bank – Global Markets..................................................................................46The Dow Chemical Company - Treasury Department..................................................50The Dow Chemical Company - Treasury......................................................................54The Dow Chemical Company – Business Finance........................................................56The Dow Chemical Company – Business Unit Finance................................................59Fisher Scientific.............................................................................................................61IBM................................................................................................................................63JPMorgan Securities, Inc...............................................................................................66KLA-Tencor...................................................................................................................67KLA-Tencor...................................................................................................................69Merrill Lynch & Co, Inc................................................................................................71Pfizer..............................................................................................................................73PNC Advisors................................................................................................................76UBS Securities...............................................................................................................78

IntroductionMembers of the Graduate Finance Association:

Welcome. It is with great pleasure that we introduce the 2006 – 2007 GFA Recruiting Guide to the incoming Tepper MBA and MSCF classes. This Recruiting Guide represents the collective wisdom of Tepper’s returning finance interns, based on the formidable experience and success they have enjoyed during their first year internships. It is a goal of the GFA to ensure that the placement success of Tepper students continues to grow with each successive class. The Recruiting Guide is a tool provided to help you begin.

The Guide will lay the foundation for your finance internship search from day one. From basic industry overviews to tips on networking and resume preparation to detailed behavioral and technical practice interview questions, the Recruiting Guide will help you become prepared. In conjunction with the GFA’s extensive mentor program, the Guide will provide the tools necessary for each of you to successfully compete against students from the world’s top finance business programs. In these highly competitive fields, preparation is of the utmost importance, and yours has already begun.

Logistically, the content of this Guide will be delivered in steps over the next few months, as you each reach milestones in your internship search. First, we have provided industry overviews, internship profiles, and recommended books and publications you should be reading. Later on, we will provide advice on informational interviews, resumes, and networking dos and don’ts. Together with the GFA Mentor Program and your own commitment to preparation, this Guide will equip you with the information necessary for any and all finance interviews.

The GFA Recruiting Guide was made possible by the hard work of many current GFA members. If you really want to secure these internships (and careers), a thorough understanding of the material in this guide is a necessity. Tepper has some of the best finance professors in the world, and we believe that students will find the finance education they receive at Tepper is truly world-class. However, being taught by the best does not guarantee a great job or a career. Students also need intense preparation aimed at job/internship search. This is why GFA exists. The Graduate Finance Association – through you, its members – is helping complete the picture by guiding you in this job searching process. Best of luck to you all, and here’s to a successful year.

Warm regards,

Pauline Grinberg Wai ChanPresident Editor-in-Chief

Functional OverviewsFollowing are basic overviews of Sales & Trading, Investment Banking, and Corporate Finance designed to introduce you to the information you’ll need to understand in order to take part in GFA recruiting events and to successfully start the finance internship search. While these overviews are intended to provide you with a basic foundation of knowledge about finance careers, please remember that there is much more to learn about jobs in finance.

Sales & Trading

What is Sales & Trading?

In one word: liquidity. The Sales & Trading division of an investment bank provides its clients with liquidity in a number of financial products. Clients themselves come in all shapes and sizes and can be broken down into four main groups: public and private corporations (corporates), hedge funds, mutual funds (also called real-money, a somewhat outdated term), and other banks. Each client has different interests and needs. There are a few major categories (though this is not an exhaustive list): hedging, speculation, and arbitrage. Some may want to hedge1 a particular exposure while others are speculating, or taking a calculated one-sided position to make profits. Arbitrageurs attempt to exploit mis-pricings in the market for a nearly risk-free profit.

Regardless of the type of client or the particular interest, each client needs the ability to execute financial transactions and providing that liquidity is the business of a Sales & Trading division. Sales & Trading divisions act as central market places for financial products and are constantly evolving to better meet the needs of its clients in any variety of financial transaction.

What are the different roles encompassed in Sales & Trading?

Sales – A salesperson is the link between the investment bank and the client. The salesperson’s job is to constantly communicate with and deliver the bank to the client by providing timely and relevant research, market opinions and commentary, flow reports, and trading ideas, to name a few. To add value, a salesperson must be an ideas generator and advisor to clients. A salesperson generally covers one type of client (hedge funds, for example) in a certain broader area, like interest rates, giving a salesperson a wide variety of products in which to be knowledgeable.

Trading – There are two general categorizations of a trader: a market maker, or a proprietary trader. Both types of traders generally focus on a narrow group of products, like interest rate swaps. The market maker will provide markets in these products. They make money for the bank by buying on the bid and selling on the offer2, thereby capturing the spread.3 Proprietary, or “prop”, trading involves using the bank’s money to take a position in the market based on the trader’s expectations for the market. While banks will almost always have dedicated groups of proprietary traders, many of the market makers will also be performing some level of prop trading. Traders constantly face decisions about what risks to take and what risks to hedge.

Structuring – Structuring is a growing field that creates, models, and prices tailored financial products. This work is generally project based. Structurers arrive at the office later, but they also stay later. Structurers commonly present new ideas and new products to clients.

1 Hedging: This is the term used for eliminating (or more realistically, reducing) risks associated with holding a position. For example, if an investor holds a US Treasury bond, the major risk the investor faces is that of rising interest rates, which act to decrease the value of the bond. There are a variety of ways that an investor could protect against, or hedge, this risk.

2 Bid and Offer: Generally speaking, a market maker will provide two prices for a given security; the levels at which he is willing to buy and sell that security. The price he is willing to buy at (the bid) is always lower than the price he is willing to sell at (the offer, or ask).

3 Spread: In this context, the spread is the difference between a market maker’s buy (bid) and sell (offer) price, and is what he makes on everyday transactions.

Research/Strategy – This field can range from long term equity research to more specific, short-term strategies aimed at specific trading ideas. Most strategists sit on the trading floor and are an integral part of servicing clients by providing expert opinions on a range of issues affecting the markets.

This is only a sampling of the most common roles that are encompassed in the “Sales & Trading” title. However, this is not a complete list as many find other niches and cross-functional roles at banks.

What products are traded?

The main organizational division is between equities and fixed income. However, this division is becoming less formalized as some banks are integrating these two divisions.

Fixed Income – Most banks divide their fixed income divisions into three categories: rates, credit, and foreign exchange and commodities.

Rates – This group deals with products driven by interest rates, mainly government securities like treasuries and agency notes, bills and bonds as well as mortgage-backed securities (MBS).

Credit – The credit group deals with corporate bonds whose value is driven by the credit-worthiness of the corporate issuer and is further broken down into investment grade and high yield credit.

Foreign Exchange and Commodities – As you might expect, this group’s title is a bit more self-explanatory.

Equities – The equities business is divided broadly into cash, or traditional stock trading, and equity derivatives, consisting mainly of options.

Again, this organization and structure is not necessarily the same at every bank. There are many groups that cross barriers, such as emerging markets (EM), and still others that are new and not covered by any one group.

What does an intern in Sales & Trading do?

Due to a lack of licensing, expertise, and experience, a Sales & Trading intern will not actually sell anything to clients or trade any sizable, live positions. So what exactly will you do over the summer? Experiences vary widely based on your experience and abilities, the product and function of the desk, and the desk’s needs. Activities can be more long-term projects or shorter-term, day-to-day tasks. Answering phones, creating databases to store trades and positions, strategic research, giving a sales pitch to the sales team, automating spreadsheets, watching positions, and preparing trade ideas represent just a few examples. Some grunt work and light hazing such as getting coffee, ordering lunch, and getting copies is still a part of the job. While this is not always the most exciting work, it often represents your first opportunity to show attention to detail and everybody has done it at one time or another.

What skills do I need?

There really isn’t one specific type of person that succeeds in Sales & Trading because of the great diversity in functions. People’s backgrounds vary greatly. The one universal quality found

is a strong interest in finance and the financial markets. Beyond that, competitiveness, intelligence, quantitative skills, people skills, and entrepreneurship are just a sampling of other traits that one might find on the Street.

Traders must like taking risk and be able to handle the stress of those risks. They are also usually focused on a specific area or group of products. Salespeople, on the other hand, usually have a more high-level understanding and general knowledge across product groups. They must enjoy working with clients to manage relationships and convey information about market conditions and investment opportunities. Structurers enjoy creative project based work. Research requires an interest in becoming an expert in a specific industry sector or area. Those in that role must be able to convey important information both verbally and in written reports.

How can I get a Sales & Trading job on the Street?

We will get further into this in later meetings, but you should immediately start reading the Wall Street Journal if you do not already (especially Section C). Pay attention to news on specific markets and products and think about what forces drive them. Work on your resume so that is ready long before informational interviews start. Lastly, attend all GFA meetings and Investment Banking presentations on campus.

Investment Banking

What is Investment Banking4?

Investment bankers advise companies on financial matters including capital structure, securities issuance, and mergers and acquisitions. Investment banks are divided into product groups and coverage groups.

Product groups execute one specific type of transaction for companies across industries. Product groups include Equity Capital Markets (ECM), Debt Capital Markets (DCM), Syndicated and Leveraged Finance (SLF or Lev Fin), and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A).

Coverage groups pitch deals to companies in a specific industry group. Coverage groups also execute transactions in conjunction with product group partners.

For example, a deal team for a sell-side5 M&A transaction may include a Managing Director from the coverage group who maintains the firm’s relationship with the client, a vice president from M&A to provide execution expertise, and an Associate and Analyst from the coverage group to perform most of the execution, such as financial modeling, document drafting, preparation and maintenance of the buyer log6, and assembly of the data room7 for due diligence8.

Types of investment banks

Full service investment banks are clustered in New York City. These include the large pure-play investment banks9 (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch), financial supermarket money-center banks (JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America), and large foreign banks, (Deutsche Bank, UBS, increasingly HSBC). All of these firms hire large classes of Summer Associates and have structured summer programs.

There are smaller investment banks in New York with summer programs. Two notable names are SG Cowen and Houlihan-Lokey. Regional investment banks also often have summer positions. If you are interested in investment banking, but not New York, look into FBR, AG Edwards and others. Regional firms generally work with smaller clients, but the skill set is basically the same.

The Associate position

Graduating MBA students are offered the position of Associate. First year MBA students are offered the position of Summer Associate. There are four levels on the investment banking ladder: the lowest is Analyst, followed by Associate, Vice President and Managing Director in

4 Within investment banks, the investment banking function is called “corporate finance”. This should not be confused with what MBA students call corporate finance, which is working in the finance function of a corporation.

5 Sell-side: The investment bankers are advising the seller of a business. This will typically include an auction process where potential buyers are invited to submit sealed bids.

6 Buyer log: List of potential buyers with history of contact and interest level.7 Data room: Physical or virtual location of all data available to the potential acquirer of a company.8 Due diligence: The process through which potential buyers review all available information about the company

they are seeking to acquire.9 Pure –play investment banks are not attached to large money-center banks.

increasing level of seniority. Analysts do not have MBA degrees and typically join the firm directly from undergrad. Associates are either MBAs who joined the firm after business school or former Analysts who have been promoted (they are known as “A-to-A’s”).

Associates are responsible for deal execution and the preparation of pitch books and books for meetings. Associates are responsible for making sure that the Analyst’s work is correct and may work on projects with no analyst, in which case the Associate is responsible for financial modeling and page creation, and must make sure that his or her own work is correct. In this business, attention to detail is extremely important.

The lifestyle

Investment bankers, especially Associates, spend tremendous amounts of time in the office. It is not unusual for junior bankers to be at their desks past 2 AM. All-nighters happen occasionally. At bulge bracket banks in New York, Saturday and Sunday are workdays just like any other day of the week. When out of the office, bankers are beholden to their blackberries and their voicemail. As a junior banker, your schedule will be largely unpredictable. It is not uncommon to have no idea when you will be able to leave the office on a given night.

The demanding work schedule is the result of demanding clients. Investment bankers are paid big fees for the work they do, so clients expect tremendous amounts of work. As an Associate, you will often find yourself waiting in the office for comments on your work from a senior banker. You will then have to “turn” these comments by the next morning. This can be very aggravating as there is nothing you can do but wait and senior bankers often have limited regard for your sleep schedule.

Generally speaking, people in product groups other than M&A have slightly more balanced lifestyles than bankers in coverage groups. However, all investment banking hours are demanding.

Why would someone want to do this?

Investment banking is fundamentally a hard job. People who are attracted to the field enjoy the variety of work, the fast pace and the exceptionally good compensation. First year associates at bulge bracket banks have the opportunity to make total compensation approaching $200,000 and the pay increases rapidly as one moves up the scale. High producing Managing Directors make several million dollars per year.

In addition, the job is entrepreneurial and offers the opportunity to work on lots of projects simultaneously. There is a tremendous amount of information to learn, so it is attractive to people that like to be slightly out of their comfort zone. Generally, investment bankers tend to be highly motivated and very hard working.

The recruiting process

The most difficult part about getting an investment banking internship is getting an interview. Not all banks recruit at Tepper, so you will need to establish your own channels of communication and become proficient in networking. Start to network by creating a list of anyone you know that works for an investment bank. Communicate via email and try to set up individual meetings in October. Build a relationship with people at that bank. Once you meet one person, try to have him or her introduce you to others. No one wants to stick his or her neck out for you. You need to build a network of support and make sure everyone you meet knows

that you have talked to other people at the bank.

Once you get into the process, you will have a first-round of interviews that will be followed, if you are successful, by a final round of interviews, often called a “superday”. Your superday will feature 3 to 5 interviews that last between 30 and 45 minutes each. These interviews will be difficult. You will be asked standard behavioral questions as well as technical corporate finance and accounting questions. Your answers will need to be smooth and correct. The GFA will provide supplemental materials to help you prepare for these interviews as the interview season approaches.

Long-term career options

Not everyone who starts out as an Associate in investment banking becomes a Managing Director. Junior bankers develop highly transferable skills that often lead to positions in private equity, business development, corporate finance and treasury roles at large corporations, and hedge funds.

Corporate Finance

What is Corporate Finance?

“Corporate finance” is an umbrella term for different finance-related positions that exist within non-financial services industry businesses. Because finance pervades every aspect of business, playing both supporting and leading roles at different times, positions in corporate finance are numerous and highly diverse. If you take away anything from this section of the Recruiting Guide, it should be that no two corporate finance positions are the same! Understanding and appreciating this is the key to gathering the information necessary to determine if corporate finance is right for you.

Related to this point, it is important to emphasize that corporate finance professionals are generally much more involved in running and growing a business than are financial services professionals. This is a distinction that everyone contemplating a career in finance should consider in the light of their personal interests and goals.

What are the different corporate finance roles?

In general terms, corporate finance professionals evaluate and manage the money associated with their company’s businesses. This section provides a basic overview of the core set of functional duties of a corporate finance professional according to convention. The areas discussed are business unit, treasury, controller, audit, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy. Keep in mind that this list is not complete, and companies might refer to areas using different names.

Business Unit—Analysts working in a business unit will generally work on cross-functional teams that focus on a common project or area. Duties involve determining financing needs, analyzing capital budgeting projects, long-range financial planning, analyzing possible acquisitions and asset sales, analyzing competitors, implementing financial plans, and monthly financial projecting and reporting.

In a business unit, finance professionals must be able to analyze and understand their unit’s performance and communicate stories of success, failure, and risk to upper-management. Finance employees are affected by and must understand how their team manages relationships with supply-chain, marketing, R&D, sales, etc. Finance employees in business units (more so than in the other areas listed below) are more likely to work closely with employees in non-finance functions.

Treasury—Treasury departments are involved in financial planning, raising funds, cash management, acquiring and disposing of assets, and identifying and hedging risk for the company as a whole. While experienced professionals in treasury spend time on setting strategy for the department and managing relationships with investment banks, rating agencies, analysts, and investors; new analysts in treasury will work on the details of individual areas such as credit risk, pension management, foreign exchange, debt management, leases, etc.

Controller—Duties involve financial planning, accounting, financial reporting and cost analysis. Analysts will get involved in property, revenue, benefits, derivatives, lease and joint interest accounting. They may need to develop forecasting models to project revenues and costs and may be called on to implement or work with a complex costing system, efforts at financial reengineering, transfer pricing issues or interface with auditors. This job is very accounting-

intensive.

Internal Audit—Audit positions generally require a lot of travel. Employees visit company locations to test systems and processes to make sure that they are in sync with what has been reported to headquarters.

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)—Companies vary a lot in this area, as some companies and industries are involved in a lot of M&A activity, while others are not. M&A analysts will be involved in identifying and evaluating targets for acquisition, and working with other groups (treasury, legal, investment banks, etc.) to discuss and negotiate deal terms.

Strategy—Companies vary a lot in this area as well, in terms of what role strategy positions play and where they are located within the company. Some companies have finance positions within business units that are devoted to evaluating and setting strategy for their business units, while others may have separate strategy departments.

Strategy finance positions step back from the day-to-day management and think about where the company should go in the future, evaluate how best to get there, and ensure that business plans adhere to strategy over time. In some way or another, all finance employees influence strategy, but there is a need for oversight from the top and from unbiased positions in this area to create and maintain a company’s competitive advantage.

How do these positions vary by company?

Even more important than understanding these generic corporate finance roles is to understand how companies think about finance (what and who drives their business), how they organize their positions, how they develop the careers of their employees, and finally—how big are the companies and what is the nature of their industry. Some companies rely upon certain areas of finance more than others, and it is important to understand this when talking to companies. The best way to determine what kind of environment you want to work in is to hear what people have to say about the companies they work for. That in mind, it will be helpful to note the following.

The role finance plays in the company makes a difference.

The drivers of the business of the company—and business unit—you work for (finance, marketing, technology, R&D, etc.) will affect the type of work you will be doing in any of these finance roles, and more for some than for others. For example, a finance position in a business unit whose success is driven by marketing might look more like a marketing position than a finance position. There are finance professionals that would like this, and there are those that would not. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to how finance jobs may differ in this way.

It is up to you to ask about this and try to get a sense of the differences between companies and industries. You might find that you care about how differences affect what you are doing, and you might find that you do not. But regardless, it is good to find out so that you can make an informed decision.

How companies organize their finance positions makes a difference.

In addition to there being so many types of finance positions, companies and company divisions organize the responsibilities of finance professionals in different ways—sometimes in ways dictated by convention, but other times according to the company’s own needs or the business relationships/politics that exist within the business. For these stated reasons, determining the characteristics of a certain finance position—and beyond that, applying for the job—can be extremely confusing! So, once again: ask questions.

How (and whether) companies facilitate career development makes a difference.

Because corporate finance roles differ so much from one to the next, a single company can offer one person a huge number of different work experiences and opportunities—without ever leaving the finance function. Most finance professionals want to be able to move around and experience different jobs during their careers, but not all companies facilitate this for their employees. Therefore, it is important to do your research and find out how people move around the company and what are the benefits and costs of doing so.

Keep in mind that it is costly for a company to allow for a lot of flexibility in terms of employee mobility, but at the same time allowing that flexibility enables them to keep their employees happy. And after staying with the company for many years, long-term employees that have experience with several areas of finance will be better able to add value to the company.

Some questions to ask on this topic are:

Does the company have a rotational program? Is it highly structured or unstructured (there are pros and cons to both)? Do companies offer training and what kind? How easy is it to move from one position to another? Do managers help new employees move? Are internal moves handled formally (by application/interview) or informally? How easy is it to move outside the finance function (if interested for long-term)?

Company size and industry make a difference.

Finally, a company’s size and its industry have a huge impact on what its corporate finance professionals do. As an extreme example, if you are working as part of a company of 50 people—you might be working in all finance functions. If the company has 30,000 employees, there

could be 20 first year analysts working just in a treasury function. Again—there are pros and cons to both, so it is important to keep asking questions to see what type of environment is best for you and your development.

What skills do I need?

The skills required for corporate finance vary from position to position. A few necessary for all are:

Clear and concise communication skills The ability to persuade Solid Excel skills Good attention to detail & organizational skills Good public speaking skills Comfort with numbers Comfort with making decisions when information is not complete Ability to work well with others

Where to start

If you think you might be interested in corporate finance, the best way to start your job search is by talking. Contact anyone that has some experience, ask lots of questions, and then ask for more people to talk to. This will help you gain enough information to narrow your focus then ask even better questions. It might sound absurd, but these jobs can take on so many different forms that listening to people’s own stories is the best way to find out what you want, where to find what you want, and how best to position yourself to get it.

You will likely find that most people you talk to about corporate finance careers will give you the same words of advice: talk to more people. This Recruiting Guide will provide you with the same piece of advice. Talk to people, ask questions, and ask for references to more people. There is no adequate substitute for the value of a good conversation with someone that is in the job you want to learn more about and potentially apply for. The information that you can get will be invaluable to you in your job search and interview process, both while in business school as well as afterwards.

The easiest way to do this is to begin at school—all of your fellow students are there to help you learn. Talk to them. Call up alumni and see what they have to say about their companies and positions. Ask them what they like, don’t like, what surprises them, etc. At the end of the conversation, it’s always best to ask them if they can refer you to someone else. You can never learn too much. And of course, if you are interested in corporate finance, please attend the GFA Corporate Finance mentoring meetings.

Long-term career options Generally people interested in corporate finance are either aspiring to be a general manager, VP Finance of a business unit, Treasurer, Controller, or CFO. Depending upon the goal, it may or may not be important for you to spend time in certain areas of corporate finance. For example, a CFO must have a solid understanding of both business unit finance and also corporate areas like the treasury and controller. A general manager managing a business unit might not have to have expertise in corporate areas. You will learn more about what is important to you by talking to people and asking about their experiences.

Also, it should be noted that corporate finance professionals with experience from highly regarded and well-known finance organizations (e.g. Fortune 50 firms) are generally in high demand by smaller, higher growth organizations.

What Should I be Doing Now?

Read the Wall Street Journal every day. This is an incredibly useful way to begin to understand financial services and corporate finance.

Rewrite your resume. The COC has many resources available, and guidance from the GFA is forthcoming. Opportunities to “drop” your resume may come without warning over the next several months. You don’t want to have to choose between submitting an inferior resume or missing the deadline altogether. It is essential to have a newly developed resume ready as soon as possible.

Attend the corporate presentations. This is the best way to learn about particular jobs and organizations. Here is a sampling of companies that are currently signed up to give presentations for finance internships during the month of September (see EASE for more details):

United Technologies Campbell Soup Company Citigroup M&T Bank First Data Corporation Morgan Stanley BNP Paribas Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Company IBM Merck Texas Instruments

Bank of America PNC Financial Services Federal Reserve Bank of

New York UBS Barclay’s Capital Hewlett Packard Union Pacific Railroad The Dow Chemical Company KLA-Tencor

Read relevant books (see below). Do not contact finance professionals at this time. Guidance on networking is coming soon. Join the GFA!!

Further Reading

Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage of Wall Street, Michael Lewis When Genius Failed: the Rise and Fall of Long Term Capital Management, Roger

Lowenstein F.I.A.S.C.O.: The Inside Story of a Wall Street Trader, Frank Partnoy The Money Culture, Michael Lewis The Predator’s Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond

Raiders, Connie Bruck Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, Bryan Burrough and John Helyar Merchants of Debt: KKR and the Mortgaging of American Business, George Anders The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America’s Top Traders, Jack D. Schwager Infectious Greed, Frank Partnoy The Vault Guides Risk Magazine The Economist

Finance Texts Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, John C. Hull Principles of Corporate Finance, Brealey & Myers The Frank J. Fabozzi Series

What Comes Next?

This guide and binder are designed to form the foundation of the GFA’s first year recruiting efforts, so make sure to keep it handy if you plan to pursue a finance-related internship. As the first two minis progress, the GFA will issue additions to this guide that will cover:

Resume Writing Networking Overviews of Investment Banking, Sales & Trading, and Corporate Finance interviewing,

including more in-depth schedules A collection of potential interview questions

You will be able to insert those new sections into this binder for easy reference.

Appendix A: Selected Summer Internship Overviews

Banc of America Securities (BAS)Patrick Scully, MBA class of 2006Global Commercial & Investment Banking Division, Consumer Retail Investment Banking Group - Chicago

Description of the recruiting process for your summer internship:

Please describe the details of the process through which you got your internship.

My resume was submitted to BAS through a family connection with a CEO whom BAS has a good relationship via an MD-interview with a VP was very technical in nature and revolved around public/private comps, DCF, FCF and LBO valuation. Two weeks later I was asked to fly to Chicago for a day of interviews. I was given 5 half-hour interviews.

Please describe how you prepared for the interviews, what was effective and ineffective, and what you could have done better.

The biggest help was the TTS. Absolutely need to memorize that information. The B-School Jobs black-book was also invaluable. Finally, read the WSJ every day for the previous couple of weeks and have general commentary on recent deals, macroeconomic and political happenings. Finally, check out TheDeal or other similar resources to have an understanding of recent transactions the bank has announced/leaked.

Please describe in as much detail as you feel is appropriate the interviews themselves (behavioral, stress, technical, the types of questions asked, the behavior of the interviewers, etc.).

Associate- graduated from Chicago and initially started in the LevFin product group. Absolutely brilliant with a tough demeanor – will be VP within the next year. Of Pakistani linage, with an uncanny ability to always ask the most pertinent and therefore generally most difficult question.Interview:Q: “OK, let’s skip the technical… Having only a single year of b-school, and no financial background, what do you possibly think you can bring to the table?”Repeated multiple times in different language – eventually he walked out of the interview early, obviously unsatisfied with my answers.Stress interview.

Associate - coming from IT consulting (Accenture?) and a good guy to work with. Loves the work and is viewed favorably by management.Interview:After basic introductory questions:Q: “What do you think you will be doing here?”

A: “Creation of marketing material (pitches), public/trading comp, accretion/dilution and DCF/FCF/LBO analysis, brainstorming of corp. fin. ideas, due diligence and accompanying bankers on sales calls.”Q: “Yep, that’s it. Except you probably wont have any client interaction until you’ve been here a couple of year. What questions do you have for me?”Behavior interview with a focus on why he decided on banking and about his new baby. Being able to speak to what they do is key.

MD - Late 40’s and a nice woman. Interview was behavioral with basic questions. Make sure you understand the different between commercial and investment banking.

Principal - Interview consisted of him lecturing me on the difficulty of the position (hours) and his taking of several calls that appeared to regard an active deal. I listened (both his talking to me and on the phone), shook his hand and left for the next interview.

VP - Initially started in S&T and made the switch to IB. David is a tough manager whom prefers front-loading assignments. David’s interview (over lunch) was pressed for time - he said he had other interviews to conduct that day. He encouraged me to look elsewhere (possibly a Tech. group with some other bank) which he felt I was better positioned for with my Consulting Tech. background.

Please add anything that you feel might be of use to an incoming GFA member pursuing a summer internship position with this firm.

If not interviewing in NY, place emphasis on why you prefer the satellite office’s location.Make sure you understand the group’s clientele and why you wish to work there.Ex: C&R – “I like clients whose products are tangible.” – give examples.

Description of your internship:

Briefly outline your role for the summer.

As multiple associates were out for various personal and work related reasons, the summer associates were assigned full-time roles instead of the usual shadowing of a senior associate. We would be assigned projects with complementing analysts.

Briefly outline your actual day-to-day activities.

Arrive at 9amLunch at noonDay doesn’t really get going until 3-4pmWork on Pitch/Live Deal/Internal Projects:

Meet with your analysts and discover where they left off last night (hopefully they worked latter than you).

Provide guidance, take over and/or instruct on most difficult aspects of

project Meet with VPs/Prins./MDs overseeing project Endless turns of product outputs Brainstorm ideas for clients (research, historicals, etc.) Check / Recheck / Triple Check numbers and sources. Then do it again

with a calculator.After 7pm you are able to order dinner from SeamlessWeb for deliverySend any finished work to the Printers and triple check finished decksUpdate analysts and possibly send grunt work to India for overnight turnaroundLeave between 12-4amRead Monkey Business for more detail

What was your supervisor’s position in the company?

Vice President

Bear, Sterns, Inc.Mike Walton, MBA Class of 2007



My first interaction with Bear Stearns was with a 2nd level family connection (i.e. friend of coworker of family member). I was put in touch with someone on the High Yield desk, who found me suitable given my Bankruptcy & Restructuring background. Before the interviews, I knew a bit about the firm through their reputation on Wall Street (the “scrappy investment bank”), so I came in to the interviews prepared to be eaten alive. Two rounds of interviews, 2 interviews first round, 3 second round. Each interview was 45-60 minutes.


Before the first round of interviews, I memorized the options greeks. I wasn’t asked anything about them. Before the second round of interviews, I memorized the options greeks again. I wasn’t asked anything about them. I was however, in each round, asked accounting questions -- from ratios to trick questions on capex and cash. Aside from the trick questions, interviews were more qualitative in nature than quantitative.


Interviewers in the first round were young and aggressive. A few brain teasers and several accounting questions. Aggressiveness, integrity, and honesty were important qualities to convey.

Interviewers seemed to focus on revealing indicators of stress and my performance under stress. Questions were not difficult, but you were expected to answer them accurately and quickly. Interviewers wanted to know that you were involved in the stock market (I was quizzed extensively on my past investments) and how those investments were doing now.


Aggressive, honest, and hungry. Read Ace Greenberg’s book before interviewing at Bear. Be prepared for condescending interviewers, and aggressive lines of questioning.


Briefly outline the organization of the firm you interned with and where you were in that organization. Also, very briefly outline your firm’s business.

I rotated through several desks: Emerging Markets Trading, CDO Trading, CDO Structuring, Distressed Research, Credit Derivatives. Desks have individual heads (senior managing directors) that are connected to various areas of the firm.


Bear is not as structured as most firms. “Entrepreneurial” really does hold here. You were expected to be hungry and humble -- seeking out projects and going from playing softball to creating your own pricing spreadsheets for equity tranches.


Days started at 6:30 and went to 4:30-8:30PM, depending on the desk. The program is “rotational” which means if you don’t seek out work, you won’t end up doing anything. Once you got a feel for the desk, you were able to find where they could use help. Asking questions and finding where your feet were during the day was optimal for finding projects you could work on. Once finding an underserved niche, you were busy for your whole rotation. In one rotation, I was working on 3 projects at once, coordinating with different SMDs across the firm.


During your rotation, your supervisor was the desk head. Junior mentor that was a 2nd year MBA hire.

Please add any other information about your experience or company that you think would be useful to an incoming GFA member.

Bear Stearns is a unique place, and favors a specific personality. Cursing, crude jokes, and aggressive behavior were the norm.

BNP ParibasDoug Dunn, MBA Class of 2006Project Finance



1st round general interview on campus w/ COC. 2nd round in NYC. Total of 2 hours w/ 3 people. Individual sessions. 3rd interview in NYC for 3 hours w/ 4 people. Individual sessions.


Most of the interviews were behavioral. Research on BNP Paribas, Project Finance, and Energy and Commodities. Also, brushed up on high-level finance using the Vault Guide. All were very effective, especially the current situation w/ Energy prices. Most of the questions were behavioral but I tried to steer the conversation to these topics.


Behavioral. Why BNP Paribas? Tell me about yourself? Why Project Finance?


Make contact as early as possible and practice the behavioral questions.



BNP Paribas is an investment bank – 7th largest in world. Presence in US is small but plans on becoming largest organically grown foreign bank in US (so it will never be as big here as CSFB, UBS, or Deutsche).


Summer Associate. I would consider the tasks assigned to be on par with what an analyst would perform.


Reviewed existing projects and wrote annual reviews for existing projects. Worked on getting reviews approved by credit committee.

Built models, performed stress tests, and wrote sections of pitchbooks.


Vice President


BNP Paribas is just starting to get their new analyst/associate program in order so their recruiting is not as organized as the other banks. I think that this can be taken advantage of by a 1st year if they make contact with HR as early as possible because they would stand out a little more than if they did this somewhere else.

Campbell Soup CompanyJane Reardon-Anderson, MBA Class of 2006Beverage Division (finance intern)



I submitted my resume through the COC in late December. The interview process consisted of one on-campus interview in early January with two representatives—one HR rep and the VP of Investor Relations. There was a dinner & cocktails the night before the interview. The interview was 30 or 45 minutes long.


I prepared first by talking to people that worked or had worked at the company. I also reviewed their website, annual reports, corporate presentation videos, analyst calls, etc. By the time I interviewed, I knew a lot about their full-time finance rotational program, their products, culture, etc.

What was most important in this process was communicating interest in finance, Campbell’s and Philadelphia. By the time recruiters get to this point, they know they are getting smart people. Campbell’s wants people that are really interested in their company and city. Reaching out to alumni at the company helped as well.


Interview was behavioral, low-stress. There were no technical questions—but for full-time interviews there will likely be technical questions. Questions were basically about how you work in teams, handle stress, manage your time, etc.


Briefly outline the organization of the firm you interned with and where you were in that organization. Also, very briefly outline your firm's business.

Campbell Soup is a $7-8 billion food company. Beyond soup, Campbell’s owns Prego, Pace, V8, Godiva, Pepperidge Farm, Swanson, and various brands in Canada, Europe, Latin America, Europe, & Asia Pacific.

I worked in the beverage division, which produces four products (V8, V8 Splash, V8 Splash Smoothies, and Campbell’s Tomato Juice). The division consisted of about 40 people, most of which were in a marketing function. There were also a few in sales, supply chain, and admin positions. There was a finance director for the division and two financial analysts. I worked on projects with all three of these people, plus a few outside the division—in the company’s strategy and licensing departments.


I worked on two main projects, both of which culminated in a presentation to the VP Finance, Campbell USA, the director of the beverage division, plus a general audience of about 20 people.

The first project was to evaluate a new product initiative and make a recommendation to the VP Finance for Campbell USA on whether or not, and how, to pursue the project. For this analysis, I examined the industry, our fit for that industry, possible companies to partner with in the venture, and assessed the risk and return tradeoffs for the project.

The second project was to assess how profitability in the beverage division differed by channel and product pack size, and to develop a strategy framework for the division to target new and existing channels.


My day-to-day activities varied. I interviewed people inside and outside the company to gather information for both projects. I created a series of PNLs for both the new product initiative and also the beverage division by channel and pack size. I examined customer and industry trends (lots of data gathering, interviewing, reading) to provide information for both projects.

Note: I was not involved in the day-to-day activities of a typical finance employee. My internship was more big picture and strategic in nature. It was similar to a special project that a finance employee at Campbell’s would work on occasionally in addition to their daily responsibilities.


My supervisor was the finance director in the beverage division. She had been with the company in a finance role for about 8 years.

Campbell’s allows for both formal and informal networking, people are generally very approachable. Everyone takes the internship program extremely seriously and is excited to meet its members. Formally, the intern group had 5-6 lunches with senior executives throughout the summer. Informally, I met with about 25 different finance employees during the summer, and about 5-6 of those were at the VP level or above. (Those at the VP level reported directly to the CFO). The rest were directors, managers, and analysts.

CitibankNaoyuki Iwatani, MBA Class of 2006Summer Associate, Investment Banking



I had a career forum, which is for Japanese students who study at MBA program in the States, in Boston last October. Four people interview with me in two days. I could get an offer from the company at the last interview


Read the company’s homepage, relevant books on investment banking, and contacted my friends who did internships last year.


Most questions were focused on the reason why I’m interested in the IBD even though I’m sponsored by McKinsey.


I think that the process that I took is different from those for other classmates as the career forum is especially for Japanese MBA students. Therefore, I could support those who are Japanese MBA students or interested in working for investment banking in Tokyo



The company has following two categories: Coverage-side such as Telecom, Financial institutions, etc… Product-side such as M&A, Securitization, etc…

I interned in the following three groups: Advisory group which focuses on advisory and execution of M&As (Product side) Telecom, Media, and Technology Group (Coverage side) ECM (Equity Capital Market) which deals with equity services such as offering, IPO,

etc…(though ECM belongs to Sales & Trading division)


Advisory group: Developing a summary documentation on defense strategies against

hostile takeovers by considering coming change of Japanese commercial law. Also conducting valuation in several methods for an actual deal.

Telecom, Media, and Technology Group (Coverage side): Developing sales pitch for potential deals. Conducting valuation for a fairness opinion in an actual deal.

ECM (Equity Capital Market) which deals with equity services such as offering, IPO, etc…: Learning the basic process of equity offering and other products such as REIT and convertible bonds.


I was assigned to work by VPs in each group, conducted analysis, and discussed the output with them.


My staffer, who coordinated assignments for me, is a VP in the Advisory Group.

The MD who interviewed with me is also taking a role as both staffer and mentor.

Commonwealth Capital Group, LLCSeth A. Mrozek, MBA Class of 2006


Name the company and group that you interned with this summer.

Commonwealth Capital Group, LLC

CCG is located on Pittsburgh’s North Side, very close to Heinz Field and PNC Park.


This internship was directly the result of my networking relationship with a second-year MBA student at Tepper. Following a few introductory conversations, this student passed my resume and contact information along to one of the principals at CCG, who I then proceeded to contact via e-mail, followed by a telephone call. We met for the first time in early December (Mini II) and we discussed our respective career backgrounds and my interest in the private equity business. At this time, the possibility of an internship was mentioned, and we did commit to speaking again during Mini III.

Following a few e-mails and voice mail messages (private equity professionals are often tremendously busy and also traveling), the principal at CCG with whom I had originally spoken met with me at their offices on the North Side of Pittsburgh. This meeting took place during the last week of March and was the first of two interviews.

The two interviews (one at CCG’s offices, the other at a bar on the North Side) each lasted 1 to 1.5hrs. There was one managing partner present at both.

Please describe how you prepared for these interviews, what was effective and ineffective, and what you could have done better.

I believe I was very well prepared. I was unsure how technical the interviews would be, so I spent a great deal of time reviewing the Training the Street Valuation Seminar materials, the Vault Guide to Investment Banking, plus the standard technical resources (Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, CNBC). I examined CCG’s website thoroughly to learn as much as I could about the fund’s portfolio companies and the managing partners. Most importantly, I spoke in great detail to each of the second-year students and alumni who have worked with CCG in the past. This provided the background information necessary to speak intelligently with and ask solid questions of the managing partners.


The first of the two interviews was very informal and could be considered a standard “fit” interview. Much time was spent discussing my educational and career background, my studies at

Tepper, CCG and its history, and most importantly why I was interested in the private equity business. At that time, we also discussed what roles and opportunities a summer internship with CCG would entail.

My second interview took place at a bar on Pittsburgh’s North Side and was again very informal. Through both interviews, I was struck by the sense that the principals were really interested in what type of person I was, and whether I was someone they would be willing to work with – the standard “8 hour airport test”. We talked about our backgrounds and the business – no technical questions were asked. I received a verbal offer from CCG for a summer internship position within the next few weeks.


The CCG principals are very interested in meeting Tepper students (two of the principals are Tepper alumni) who are excited about both the corporate finance and operations management aspects of the private equity buyout business. To date, they have not participated in on-campus recruiting as each of the fund’s interns has resulted from introductions by second-year MBA students. Personally, I discussed a CCG internship extensively with their former interns (including second-year students and alumni). Networking and relationships are of paramount importance when it comes to working with this firm.



Commonwealth Capital Group, LLC, is a $20MM private equity buyout fund which invests in primarily in established industrial businesses with revenues of $5MM - $30MM that are located in and around Pennsylvania. The fund consists of four managing partners, two of which are Tepper alumni. CCG has historically welcomed one intern per summer.

Each of the four partners has distinct, though often overlapping roles. Three of the four are involved in daily management of the fund’s portfolio companies, while one partner focuses primarily on deal sourcing, legal activities, and negotiations with potential sellers. The four evenly split the duties of limited partner (LP) relations, fund accounting and financing, deal sourcing, plant visits, industry research, and financial modeling.


At the outset, I indicated my desire to learn about the sourcing, modeling, structuring, due diligence, and negotiation phases of leveraged buyouts. Therefore, I spent most of my time learning these deal processes as opposed to the day-to-day management of the portfolio companies. My role was akin to that of an investment banking associate, creating leveraged buyout (LBO) models for five different proposed transactions, conducting industry research as a part of the financial due diligence process, reviewing and commenting on document distribution, and attending meetings and calls where deal structure was discussed.


Much of my time was spent creating LBO and equity vesting valuation models. These models incorporated discounted cash flow projections, deal structure, and management equity vesting

metrics to not only value the business but also understand the potential fund IRR given a future liquidity event with either a financial or strategic buyer. I relied heavily on the skills learned during Training the Street’s Financial Modeling and Valuation seminars. Each of these models was constructed following lengthy conversations with the principal leading the deal. Each was submitted for review to the four managing partners, and revisions/updates were made based on feedback.

Some time each day was also spent speaking with the four principals to learn as much about their personal experiences in the business as possible – please note that the experience gained simply from asking questions was personally one of the most important and beneficial aspects of the summer.

I also participated in numerous additional activities during the course of the summer including a plant tour of a portfolio company, telephone conversations with legal counsel regarding deal structure, off-site meetings with local business brokers and bankers, deal pitches by local entrepreneurs and businesspeople, and presentations to groups of individuals (lawyers, etc.) with whom relationships could be beneficial for CCG.


My direct supervisor was one of the four managing partners. However, I worked on deals and projects for each of the four managing partners, and I was responsible for reporting to each of them.


I was prepared for the kind of complex financial structuring and analysis that my CCG internship required not only because of my coursework during my first year at Tepper, but also because of the additional skills gained through membership with the GFA. Namely, I would not have understood the business nearly as well had I not prepared as though I were entering an internship as an investment banking associate, and the skills learned through the Training the Street seminars were invaluable. Private equity, similar to the rest of finance, is not an easy industry to break into. But hard work, perseverance, and the skills learned both from Tepper and through the GFA resources can certainly point you in the right direction.

Cowen and CompanyChristopher Breig, MBA Class of 2007Investment Banking Summer Associate, Health Care Group


Name the company and group that you interned with this summer.

Cowen and CompanyInvestment Banking, Healthcare Industry Group


This was not a COC position. Through a contact I was able to talk to a summer analyst and worked my way up to a VP through referrals. The VP gave me a recommendation to the Director of recruiting which led to my first round of interviews in New York with 2 people for about an hour. I then had another day of interviewing later with 4 different people each between 45 minutes to an hour back to back.


Memorizing the black book in the recruiting guide made me feel more confident going in. Also developing a strong knowledge of the company through their website and conversations with employees made me feel better prepared for fit questions, as well as which groups I would like to work in.


In the first round of interviews I had one technical and one behavioral, though nothing was terribly difficult. The questions seemed to be of a probing nature, just making sure that I was interested in the industry and was reasonably prepared. The second round of interviews was three behavioral and one technical. Here the questions were more pointed, more about Cowen. The technical interview was difficult; the questions were quick and intense with time limits.


Show dedication and your desire to work there, Chip, the Director of recruiting is proud of the fact that most people who get offers accept.Description of your internship:


Cowen has two main industry groups: Health Care and Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT). Also, our private equity group is a significant contributor to the bottom line by itself. I was a summer associate in Health Care.


As a summer associate in Health Care, I participated in a number of different product deals (PIPEs, M&A deals, and one IPO) within the industry. I did a little bit of everything this summer, including: scrub pitchbooks, do market analyses, perform due diligence and write offering memos.


Neal Karnovsky, who was a senior associate during the summer, and will be a VP at the end of the year.

Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM)Darwei Kung, MBA / MSCF Class of 2006Summer Associate

Getting the Job

I got my internship from the standard COC interview process. Deutsche Asset Management is a part of Deutsche Bank. The Asset Management arm of Deutsche Bank currently has over 800 Billion dollars under management. Carnegie Mellon has a very strong relationship with Deutsche Bank. However, DeAM has not traditionally recruited MBA students for the internship program. This is the first year for DeAM’s MBA internship program. The job was posted around Jaunary, and the interview took place during the first week of February.

The interview consisted of two rounds. Both rounds were conducted on campus. The interviews were conducted in two consecutive days. Both the first round and second round had two interviewers. Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes. During the first round, I interviewed with two Directors from groups that had openings for interns. One director was from the corporate credit research group, while the other was from the Advanced Research and Quantitative Strategies group (AR/QS). The first interview focused on my resume, my personality, and my interest in financial services. In retrospect, I feel the interview was focused on confirming what they have already observed from my resume and my fit with the organization. The decision to select me for second round interview was made by 5 PM that day.

The second round interview was with two Managing Directors. One MD is in charge of the North American Institutional sales for DeAM, and the other MD is the Portfolio Manager for the Technology Equity mutual fund. The second day was very focused on my analysis capability and very detailed questions on my background in business analysis. The main topic of discussion came directly out of the Wall Street Journal that day. An article about Starbucks appeared in the back pages of section C. We discussed the article, and used Starbucks as an example for earning estimate and valuation analysis. The decision to hire me was made by 5 PM on the same day as the second interview.

The personalities and the background of the interviewers are very mixed. The first interviewers have been in the business for at least 8 – 10 years, and the second round interviewers have been in the business for over 20 years. It turned out all four people had internship positions and they were comfortable fitting me into any of the positions available.

Overall, the interviewers were very thorough and prepared. They have read the resumes in depth. If a person put certain experience or knowledge on the resume, he or she should be prepared to demonstrate concisely that they truly know the subject, not just putting key words on the resume for attention. Most of the asset management jobs are in investment management, so if you are interested in this field, you should expect investment analysis and valuation questions. If you have experience in managing your own investment, make sure you can describe your stock or mutual fund selection process, and rationale behind your choices.

Internship Experience

The internship at DeAM was 10 weeks. Each internship sponsor had to create and structure a project or projects designed to evaluate the intern’s potential as a permanent employee and get some real work done. My project was to construct a pure-alpha U.S. corporate credit portfolio using mean-variance analysis. I won’t take too much time to describe alpha and beta. Suffice to say, alpha of a portfolio is gain / loss which is uncorrelated to the market. This project turned out to be very quantitative in the fixed income space, which is exactly what I hoped to get.

I reported to a senior fixed income portfolio manager (Managing Director) with both retail and institution portfolios under management. The portfolio manager provided me with an outline of the project, but expected me to figure out exactly how to construct and implement the idea. I spend the first few days translating the high level objective into a project plan for the summer. I spent rest of the summer follow my plan to realize this portfolio. This includes gathering research data, learning all the tools and analysis methodology, and figure out how to fill the gaps. I implemented the portfolio using standard Microsoft Office software. After I figure the investment strategy, I had to back test it against historical data, and then determine the profit and loss of this portfolio.

In terms of alumni networking, I met one CMU alumni who did his undergraduate degree at CMU. I believe there may be one Tepper alumni, but I am not certain. While CMU has strong presence in the Deutsche Bank Sales and Trading area, there is very little presence in the Asset management organization. My observation is CMU was targeted for its reputation as a strong quant school. Two of the three interns worked on quantitative investment projects, and both have MSCF background.

Like Sales and Trading and Investment Banking, the other interns in the DeAM associate program are from top MBA schools with quantitative reputations. The other interns came from Columbia, Wharton, Sloan (MIT), Chicago, and BYU. The internship program was very well organized. Participants had many opportunities to network, and socialize together. I rate my experience very highly. The recruiters were very open about the summer internship as an opportunity for the bank to observe potential full time employee in action. The candidates are expected to evaluate their fit with the bank. Most of the interns were offered permanent position at the end of the internship, though details of the positions are yet to be determined. In conclusion, I highly recommend DeAM for people who are interested in buy-side career.

Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM)Henry Navnitlal, MBA Class of 2006Summer Associate



COC, 2 round (2 day process), interviewed with 4 people (2 each round), approximately 45 minutes per interview


I read the past quarterly and annual report of the company and tried to get a feel of the corporate strategy going forward

Also listen to the earnings call on their website. Pay attention to the Q&A at the end.


While much of the interview was behavioral, there was a consulting type question asked in the second round interview. I presume this was done to get a feel for my thinking abilities.


You have to understand the firm and REALISTICALLY want to work for them. They want to know how enthusiastic you are and how much you want to work for DB.



I was given a position within DB Real Estate in NYC. I asked to work in the Chicago office for RREEF, a UBS acquisition made a little over 2 years ago. RREEF specializes in both the physical asset management and securities management (via mutual funds) side of the business. I worked within securities, specifically given the task of an equity analyst for the hospitality sector.


I followed and analyzed 20 hotel stocks. The other teams were apartment, storage, medical, and retail. In addition there were several large projects that I completed: terminal cap rates and updating the models to include incomplete components.


Most of my day-to-day activities were centered on updating the models to include information from recent quarterly reports and other market changes.


My direct supervisor was a partner at RREEF. His position, most of the time, is to authorize changes in positions for each of the strategies that are followed. In addition he serves as an analyst of last resort to double check and analysis done for each company, in each of the 5 sectors.


This position was very Excel intensive. This required that I understand the underlying fundamentals of the business and be able to translate them into inputs/outputs in the corresponding models. One of the biggest mistakes other analysts make is choosing those inputs to create a justifiable output. Instead if justifiable inputs produce an unrealistic output, the model should be questioned. This requires quite a lot of industry knowledge and a drive to truly understand the business fundamentals.

Deutsche Bank- Global MarketsSandhya Gyanapathy, MBA Class of 2006Global Markets



I got the job through campus placements. I had two rounds of interview, my first round with 2 people and second round with one person, all of whom were members of the senior management. The interviews lasted roughly 30-45 minutes.


I focused on three main things... knowing more about the firm, my personal ‘fit’ with the organization, its culture and values and technical questions.


First round interviews were a combination of both behavioral and technical. It was relatively less stressful. Second round consisted a lot of technical question, some behavioral and quite a few brainteasers. It was relatively more stressful.



I was in the Global Markets division of Deutsche Bank. This includes sales, trading, research, structuring and origination desks. I was in the London office of the bank.


Deutsche Bank summer program is a 10 weeklong program with two rotations. My first rotation was with the securitization desk where I got the opportunity to work on live deals as well as client pitches. My second stint was with the Debt Capital Markets team and here I essentially worked on client pitches in connection with bond issues in the European/Australian market and published a capital market update to be sent to all the clients. Therefore the role was more task-based rather than project based and this enabled me to learn more.


I think an important part of my summer program were the networking events organized by the bank for us. These networking opportunities are a good platform to meet other people in the bank and know their teams and functionalities.

Deutsche Bank- Global Markets, LondonRachel Duncan, MSCF Class of 2006 and MBA Class of 2007Global Markets



The school captain who heads up Carnegie Mellon MBA/MSCF recruiting for Deutsche Bank London came to Pittsburgh in October and had dinner with several students who were referred to him by second-years. I had to submit a cover letter and resume by early December. My first-round interview was Wednesday of the first week of mini 3 in January with an MD and a Director for half an hour. That night, they invited me to a reception, and second-round interviews were the following day with the same Director and a different MD for another half an hour. I got the offer Friday evening. The recruiting process was through the COC.

As much as possible, please list the names of the people who interviewed you for your summer job, and whatever you may know about them (age, position, alumni status, general personality and interviewing style, etc.).

Christopher Davis, MD in Special Situations, not an alumni but is the school captain for CMU at Deutsche Bank London. Can be tough, but fair. Came up through Securitization in New York and transferred to London to help get the business going there.

Aurelia Lamorre-Cargill, MD in Client Solutions Group, not an alumni but does a lot of recruiting for Deutsche Bank. Can be tough, but fair, and she’s fun and interesting to talk to. Came up through rates structuring, then credit structuring. Parisian.

Greg Branch, Director in CDOs, undergraduate alumni of CMU. Super-fun personality, makes you feel comfortable and not intimidated even though obviously a brilliant guy.


I read Heard on the Street, which is absolutely essential for preparing for sales & trading interviews, but is only one piece of the preparation. I spent a lot of time learning about Deutsche Bank from alumni and second-years and by reading their strategy documents from their investor relations website. I prepared a coherent view on equity markets, interest rates, and the dollar/yen and dollar/euro. I read the Wall Street Journal, in particular any articles on Deutsche Bank, their Credit Markets update every day, plus anything on the markets in general. I prepared answers to the questions why Tepper, why sales & trading, why you, why Deutsche Bank.Please describe in as much detail as you feel is appropriate the interviews themselves (behavioral, stress, technical, the types of questions asked, the behavior of the interviewers, etc.).

The interviews were two-to-one, and they did a little bit of the good-cop, bad-cop routine. They asked a mix of behavioral and technical questions. Behavioral questions were things like “What do you think are the three most important qualities for a trader to be successful?” Technical questions were things you would see in Heard on the Street, like if the spot interest rate is 5% for two years, and 10% for four years, what’s the forward rate for two years starting in two years?

Plus all the usual, tell me about your background, why do you want to be in trading, why do you want to work for Deutsche Bank, etc.



Deutsche Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking is split into Global Markets and Global Banking. I was in Global Markets on a rotational internship program. I spent four weeks in an equity quantitative products group and five weeks on an emerging markets illiquid assets trading desk.


Summer interns at Deutsche Bank are spending 10 weeks trying to get a full-time offer. I pitched in on a lot of different projects and tried to meet as many people as possible. I did a lot of powerpoint and some spreadsheet stuff, but I did not have one particular big project like some of the other interns did.

Briefly outline your actual day-to-day activities

Arrive around 7AM. Go to morning sales meeting. Get back to desk, where trader would expect me to talk to him about what went on in the meeting. For the rest of the day, balance work for the desk with sitting with people on other desks to get to know what goes on in as many parts of the bank as possible. Listen in on traders’ phone calls. If desk gets quiet later in the afternoon or early evening, read research reports and play with pricing models to try and get a better handle on what’s going on. Leave around 8PM.

Who was you supervisor, and what is his/her position?

Both of my supervisors were Directors that headed their desks – Frank Copplestone in equities and Pedro Mayrinck in emerging markets.List any other executives or senior managers you may have met, or at least became aware of.

Deutsche Bank had a speaker series for the interns, where we got to meet or at least listen to Josef Ackermann, the CEO, Anshu Jain, the head of Global Markets, Anthony Burgess, the head of Global Banking, Mark Ferron, the COO of Global Markets, and Michele Faissola, the head of Global Rates. I met at least a dozen other senior managers over the course of the summer.


Deutsche Bank provides a lot of exposure to their summer interns, and it’s a great way to learn about the sales & trading business. It’s also a very big internship program, and you have to take a lot of initiative to make the most out of it.

Deutsche Bank- Investment BankingKatherine Donellan, MBA Class of 2006Investment Banking Summer AssociateGroups: M&A and Energy, Utility, and Chemicals


Process to get my internship: I had 3 thirty-minute interviews. The first interview was with the Sales and Trading team, which was set-up by the COC. The second two interviews were at the bank with the investment banking group. Each interview I had 2 people interview me, and they were both technical and behavioral interviews. Preparation

Contacted people in the industry to get an inside into the details of the Investment Banking job.

Took both Training the Street courses. Went to all the banking presentations on campus and in New York City. Worked with second years to prepare for the technical and behavioral interviews. Made sure to take advantage of the mock interviews. Studied valuation, accounting, and the markets on my own time. All of these things were instrumental in getting my internship and I would not change

anything. I think the key is preparation and making as many contacts as possible.

Interviews: The interviews were short and contained both technical and behavioral questions. All interviews were followed up by a question and answer session led by the interviewee.


Where I worked: I worked in the M&A group and the Energy, Utilities, and Chemicals group at the bank. My internship was split into 2 five-week rotations.

Role: I work on a wide variety of projects during my ten-week internship. I worked on a sell side deal, an IPO, asset swaps, buy side, etc.

Day to day activities: Built models, created pitch books, attended client meetings, worked on comps, etc.

I had 2 supervisors during the summer. Both of them were VPs. I was also given a mentor at the Director level and a sponsor who was a Managing Director. All of these people were instrumental in making sure that my summer was successful.

During the summer I was exposed to many Managing Directors throughout the firm. Each week we had a lunch with a variety of MDs. Plus I was introduced to other MDs through my groups and senior management.

Deutsche Bank – Global MarketsDevin Anderson, MBA/MSCF class of 2006Global Markets



Had information interviews via phone in Nov/Dec Went to corporate presentations in Dec Interviews

o First round interviews at CMU via COC One thirty minute interview

o Dinner for everyone who made it to the second round the same nighto Second round interviews at CMU next day

Two thirty minute interviews Got offer the following day, accepted Attended a reception in New York in April to meet placement managers

o THIS IS A CRITICAL, CRITICAL TURNING POINTo You really have to get in front of the desk heads that you are interested in working

for. I learned after my internship that both of my placement managers were actually really bullish on hiring me FROM THIS MEETING ALONE, which is what got me on two great desks.

o That means that you must have some direction on the products areas that you might like work with and have a plan of attack to find and meet the desks heads.

o With out that plan you’ll end up meeting random people and end up with random placements in areas you might find boring or uninteresting.

Started in June


Informational interviews – should have done more to get more exposure to people prior to interviewing. It worked out for me, but should have done more.

As painful as it is, memorize the solutions to the brainteasers in the Vault and WetFeet guides because even if you don’t get asked them during the interviews you might get asked them during. DB didn’t ask many brainteasers, but my other interviews (especially Bear Stearns) did.

It is difficult to remember the levels of the equity indexes and the yield curve during the stress of an interview. Do your best to memorize them, but write them down before the interview. In my DB interview, I actually told them that I had written them down and read a few off. Once I started at my internship, they told me how funny they thought it was that I had done that - no one had just written them down before and referred to them. They were like “he wants to be in sales and that is what sales guys do, good idea”. Would that work for everyone, who knows.

Read the obvious books for your interests (Monkey business, Liar’s Poker, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, The Logical Trader, etc). One interviewer outright asked me what books I read to prepare for the interviews.

Practice with mock interviews, especially with brainteaser and technical questions. It really does take some time to start trusting your knowledge enough to respond to the

questions with confidence. Don’t think that because you know the material that you can communicate it effectively. This was a major mistake I made - I thought that since I got A’s and knew the material I would be able to summon it and communicate it clearly when needed and that wasn’t always the case. I wasted a few interviews up front because I wasn’t practiced.


One interviewer is an alumni and associate in the equity derivatives strategy group. He asked many technical questions (how to find covariance, beta, alpha) and one brainteaser (sq root of .1). He also asked me where the major equity indexes were and the current yield curve. While the most technical interview I had, it was fair at all times. Since the interview I’ve spent a lot of time with him and found him to be a great guy and fair interviewer.

Another interviewer was the NA Head of Repo. He was very relaxed and much more interested in what I do in my time off and my personality than technical knowledge or raw brainpower. Because I was interviewed by these two together, they likely planned the types of questions that they were going to ask in advance.

The first interviewer during the second rounds was a director and the Head of Equity Derivatives Strategy. He was very interested in my work history and why I chose to switch careers into finance at this particular point. He asked only one technical question (the difference between beta and statistical correlation). He is extremely intelligent and thoughtful- I had a hard time reading him during the interview until the very end because he just isn’t very expressive.

The other second round interviewer was an MD and Head of Rates. He was mostly interested in my motivations for wanting to work in finance after I had already had success in another career. He did ask me a few lay up technical questions (where the 10 year is at, bond price/yield relationships). I felt as if he were mostly interested in seeing if I would fit in at personality level. The whole interview was very low key and comfortable.


DB really cares more that you made the effort to prepare, not the results of some technical question. I didn’t nail every question they asked, but what was clear was that I made the effort to prepare, had done informational interviews, and knew an appropriate amount of technical material. Putting as much effort up front into the informational interviews and networking prior to the interviews will pay large rewards during the interview.



Two Five-Week Rotationso Global Equity Derivative Saleso Integrated Credit Sales

One-Day Rotationso Debt Capital Markets – Interest Rate Derivatives (Corporate Customers)o NA Structuring – Municipal Derivatives & Exotic Structureso Short Duration Sales (repo, mmkt ABS, <5 yr duration)o Equity Prime Services Sales


On both desks I spent about half of my time sitting with the people on the desk and the other half doing projects/tasks. The projects and tasks will come from sitting with people because they won’t ask you to do things until they are comfortable with you. So its important to spend as much time as possible observing and listening to calls as possible up front and over time they’ll ask you to do things or you’ll see opportunities to help out and you can speak up. The projects ranged from working on the desk’s trade log to pitching derivative trade ideas. Tasks ranged from setting up research access for clients and answering the phone to getting food/coffee. Of course it is important the easier the task the better it is executed- its ok to flub up a trade idea a little bit but its not ok to screw up the lunch order.


See above.


A lot of people cite luck in their search for a job on Wall Street and they are probably correct at some level. It does take some luck that you’ll meet the right people at the right time in order to make an impression. But keep this in mind, too:

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur (the scientist) said that about his own work. Remember that the trading floor just isn’t that big a place. It likely that if you express and interest in something and the person you are speaking with likes you, they’ll make an introduction, maybe right even on the spot. And you have to be ready to execute on that in terms of being prepared to talk about products or the organization or whatever it takes to network with people at the bank. Every senior executive I got in front of was because I mentioned something to another person and they made an introduction for me to get me into their office. Luck? A little bit. But preparation is increases your probability.

The Dow Chemical Company - Treasury DepartmentKevin Lowe, MBA Class of 2007Treasury Department



Please note that the interview process began well before the formal sit-down one-on-one interview. Like many companies that recruit from Tepper, Dow began their recruiting process with an on-campus corporate presentation in late September. In other words, they started putting on their radar people that showed interest from the start. Because I asked an impressionable question during their presentation and engaged in interesting conversation with the recruiter during the post-presentation break-out session, I was able to ‘get on their radar’. I followed up by networking with other Dow employees (in retrospect, I should have networked more with Tepper alumni) to further demonstrate my interest and gather valuable information for the eventual interview.

The people I networked with provided feedback to the recruiter and enabled me to ‘stay on their radar’. This gave me an upper hand when going into the formal interview. I was not viewed just as a bulk resume dropper, but as someone sincerely interested in working for Dow.

Dow usually performs 2 formal rounds of interviews, the first on-campus and the second at their corporate headquarters. However, last year they only did a single one hour technical one-on-one on-campus interview. Dow also invited interviewees to ‘optional’ drinks the night before. This ‘optional’ event was in great part a chance for Dow to gauge the level of interest by those in attendance who engaged in interesting conversation. Apparently, the event was the ‘fit’ assessment part of the interview.


I interviewed with Rob Sparling, a 1995 MSIA alumnus currently working as a Global Investment Manager in Dow’s Treasury Department. Rob is a passionate alumnus dedicated to recruiting from Tepper, and does so completely voluntarily. Rob’s interviewing style is very intense. He wants you to get right to the point and answer with complete confidence. He is obligated to ask questions scripted by HR, but he won’t waste much time doing so. He will test your ability to handle tough technical questions. Of course, he wants you to know the correct answer, but more importantly he wants to see your logical approach.


For gaining knowledge: I prepared by studying the Brealey and Myers Principles of Corporate Finance textbook, the various Vault guides, analyst reports, and the company’s most recent 10-K. I also regularly read the Wall Street Journal and kept up with relevant Dow specific news by using Google’s News Alerts service. My time was well spent in this area.

For developing interviewing skills: I actually practiced doing finance related consulting cases

with classmates preparing for consulting jobs. This was very effective in helping me to articulately structure my arguments and think on my feet. Equally as important, I did several mock interviews with 2nd years pursuing corporate finance, including someone that interned at Dow. This armed me with specific feedback related to my performance compared to recruiters’ expectations. I wish I would have conducted more mock interviews with 2nd years. In addition to cases and mock interviews, I also practiced using the online tool ‘Interview Mastery’ and learned/practiced the STAR approach (Situation or Task, Action, Results).


The formal interview was a combination of behavioral, stress, and technical. I was asked questions such as, “What would you do if you were a manager and found out that a recent hire lied on his/her resume?” “Construct a simple cash-flow statement from the following transactions” “What is Dow’s largest foreign currency exposure?” and “Tell me about Dow’s dividend policy’. The interviewer tried to create a stressful atmosphere to see how well I performed under tense pressure. It was as if he pushed me up against a wall and wanted to see how I came out fighting, in a calm and diplomatic manner.


I can’t stress networking enough. Also, know as much about the company as possible, especially their financials. As far as location goes, keep in mind that Midland, MI is not for everyone. I’m married with 3 small children and have worked in big cities like New York City and Tokyo, Japan. Working for a world-class finance organization of a Fortune 50 company in a nice little Mid-Western town, where people enjoy life out of the office – lots of nature in Michigan - is appealing to me. Again, it’s not for everyone.


Briefly outline the organization of the firm you interned with and where you were in that organization. Also, very briefly outline your firms business.

Dow is a Fortune 50 $46 billion diversified chemical company. It manufactures chemicals that go into most of the products we use everyday. The organization is divided into Basic Chemicals and Specialty Chemicals. Supporting these businesses, the Finance Department includes Strategic Planning & Business Analysis, Treasury, Accounting, Internal Auditing, and other support units. I worked for the Treasury Department which provides financial risk management, funding, cash management, and other services to all of the business units.


I was assigned 3 projects – 1) Economic exposure study to determine how the futures prices of certain commodities affect one of Dow’s businesses and to recommend an appropriate hedging strategy 2) Analysis and recommendation of market software solutions for credit risk management and collections 3) Credit risk analysis of selected Dow customers


I did not have routine work to perform. I was given project descriptions with objectives and goals. I was also given the autonomy to manage my time and activities to complete these objectives and goals with specific deliverables.


Rob Sparling, Global Investment Manager

List any other executives or senior managers you may have met, or at least became aware of.

Dow held a special dinner where interns could meet the entire senior executive team. I personally met and talked with Andrew Liveris (CEO), Geoffrey Merszei (CFO), Heinz Haller (VP Strategic Development and New Ventures), and others. I presented my project findings and results to Fernando Ruiz (Treasurer) and all of the process leaders reporting to him. I even played soccer with these Treasury leaders in their annual soccer match.


Dow is a flat organization, so obtaining a people management position takes time. Treasury hires start off as analysts in their Customer Financial Services team. This is not the most glamorous place to start, but is viewed as a 2-3 year MBA graduate launching pad for future career development. Overall, I was very impressed by the high caliber of Dow employees and the collaborative culture. Most people I met seemed to enjoy their jobs and enjoy working with each other.

The Dow Chemical Company - TreasuryPurav Adiecha, MBA Class of 2006Treasury



I applied through the COC during the Mid March / Early April timeframe; only one round of interview with two interviewers for half hour. The interviews were at the COC.


Read the notes on Finance and Corporate Finance courses. Also, helps to read the vault guide to finance interviews. The questions were mainly focused on the course work I did in finance. So, as long as you are up to speed with your finance knowledge, you should be fine.


The interview was very stressful and full of technical questions – CAPM, Debt policy; also, know the company, like stock prices, background, etc.

Interviewing style is very aggressive and intense with heavy focus on technical questions. They will push you to the limit during the interview. Make sure to read up before the interview. Their complaint was that a lot of people were just back from the spring break and not ready for the interview. One of the students even said that he was just back from spring break and had forgotten the concepts. Make sure that you are not one of those.



I interned with the Treasury Department at Dow. Mainly involved financial analysis with emphasis on quantitative analysis.


8:00 am – Start work by checking emails, meeting schedules and WSJ. 8:15 am – Review project work and plan work schedule for the day. 8:45 am – Prepare project document for a review meeting with supervisor. 9:30 am – Perform quantitative and statistical analysis based on financial models created

as per the outcome of the meetings. 11:30 am – Meeting with various credit managers to gather data. 12:00 pm – 1:00pm – Lunch meeting / networking. 1:00 pm – Work on project 2 which was put on hold for a conference call. 2:00 pm – Attend the conference call with Standard and Poor’s to discuss company’s

credit position and adjustments they make.

3:00 pm – Review the findings from the meeting with respective managers. 3:30 pm – Adjust the prior model to reflect the new findings. 5:00 pm – Meet with some folks from the risk management group to gather data and

review the models created. 6:00 pm – Read the 10K and related notes for the customer whose credit limit is up for

review. Take notes to discuss with a Credit Manager next morning. 7:00 pm – Send out meeting notices for next day and leave for home.

The Dow Chemical Company – Business FinancePeter Marschel, MBA Class of 2006Business Finance



There was a single 45-minute interview with two Tepper Alumni, during late March. This interview was delayed for a few weeks due to sickness and inclement weather, so in the future it is possible that there will be a second round interview.

The night before the interviews the interviewers took all of us out for beers at a local bar (Silky’s), with the aim of getting to know us a little better and to interact in a social setting. This was set-up as a very low-key event, but of course this gathering was a key part of interview process.

Offers were delivered in early April, about two weeks after the interviews.


I prepared for this interview in the standard ways:

Research the company (financial statements, analyst presentations, etc.) Speak to alumni/2nd years Review corporate finance Prepared answers to behavioral questions


This was a difficult interview, with a strong “good cop/bad cop” flavor. In fact, one interviewer very frankly mentioned the night before the interview that his style is to push interviewees until he finds something they can’t answer. The point, of course, is to test your response to stress and difficult situations.

As I mentioned, stress was a key component of the interview, which is relatively uncommon for corporate finance interviews. My interview consisted of standard behavioral and resume review questions, an extended discussion of corporate capital structure and corporate finance originating from a discussion of Dow’s dividend policy (know about this!!), and a discussion of ethical issues being faced by the then CEO of Boeing.


Know your finance, know the company, and if you want the job, make sure you communicate that strongly during the interview.



I worked in the Dow Technology Licensing and Catalyst (DTLC) business unit, an approximately $250 M/year global business unit in Dow’s Performance Chemicals and Thermosets (PC&T) portfolio unit (Dow is divided into five portfolio units: PC&T, Chemicals, Plastics, Dow Automotive, and Dow Agro).

I was brought in to provide finance support for DTLC’s effort to implement portfolio management principles for budgeting and prioritization of R&D spending. This involved completing approximately 30 prospective R&D project valuations across the 5 P&L centers within DTLC. Beyond the finance, this was a very interesting project to be part of because it was a major initiative backed by the senior leadership of the business unit to drive improved return from R&D spending. In this context, working as a member of the finance team required the significant use of influence skills, not just technical finance.

I was based at Dow’s headquarters in Midland, MI for the Summer, but I also completed a weeklong project in Texas involving strategic process technology valuation.


This is a little bit difficult to specify, and in business finance day-to-day activities can and will vary quite a bit depending on the nature of the project and the business.


My supervisor was the Finance Manager of DTLC.

Dow is very committed to giving interns access to the senior leadership, and in general Dow people at all levels are very open and approachable.


Dow is a very large company ($45 B/year, 40,000 employees) that is aggressively international in it’s outlook (operating or selling in almost 180 countries). It is the leader of the global chemical industry, and is the only company in the industry committed to leading in all aspects of that industry, from basic commodity chemicals to highly differentiated specialty chemicals and polymers to industrial biotechnology, everywhere in the world. Dow’s product diversity, geographic reach, and logistical abilities are unmatched in the industry.

Having said that, Dow faces a significant growth problem. Growth for Dow is cyclical and pretty flat even in good times, roughly tracking the world economic cycle, despite the fact that the company spends $1 B/year on R&D. It is the leader of a mature industry facing a significant long-term margin squeeze between suppliers (oil companies) and major customers (automotive, consumer products companies, etc.), as well as significant increases in feedstock (crude, natural gas) costs. Because of this, one element of Dow’s long-term strategy is to gradually transition out of petro-chemistry based industries, a major change for the company.

From a culture and personal fit standpoint, this is a company known for operating highly technical and dangerous manufacturing plants longer and harder, yet more safely, than anyone

else – and that background is strongly evident in the company’s culture. It is an engineering based culture that emphasizes analysis, planning, and process, and which also embodies the midwestern values of the company’s traditional headquarters in Michigan. Dow’s finance organization is world class, remarkably flat (only about 1500 professionals worldwide), and plays a very strong role in the corporate hierarchy.

It should also be noted that this is a very international company that has re-committed itself to sending people overseas for extended periods (extended international experience is pretty much a pre-requisite for reaching the senior leadership level in finance). If you hire on full time in finance there is a very good chance that after two or three years you can get yourself transferred overseas, probably either to Europe, South America, or China.

The Dow Chemical Company – Business Unit FinanceG. Josh Beck, MBA Class of 2007Business Unit Finance Analyst



Process: On-campus presentation and breakout session during Mini 1 to gain overview on company and position specifics. Following up with 2nd year students who interned at Dow to gain their perspective on nature of work, hiring process, and overall company impression.Interviews: One round of interviewing on campus encompassed entire process. Offer was made within a week of interview and came with tight, non-negotiable timeline.


Alumni with 5+ years experience at Dow in low to mid 30s. Interview was split between technical and fit portion. Following initial introductions he asked me what Finance classes I had taken and then immediately delved in to technical questions involving CAPM and cash flow statements. Next he focused on industry knowledge and asked questions about why Dow Chemical was a good fit.


Read extensively about the industry and company, this is very important to demonstrate interest and understanding of the marketplace the company operates in. I was not expecting any technical questions but having good talking knowledge of CAPM from Corporate Finance and cash flow impacts from Financial Accounting was a tremendous help – all the more reason to perk up in these classes.


Mood lightened up after successfully completing the technical portion – interviewer gave a good idea whether or not answers were correct.



Perform competitive analysis, forecast industry supply and demand, assess emerging markets potential value, and participate with commercial development group in new product offerings.

Briefly outline the organization of the firm you interned with and where you were in that

organization. Also, very briefly outline your firms business.

Many of the finance groups are centrally organized and report directly to CFO – these groups include Treasury, Risk Management, M&A, Venture Capital, Investments, Strategy, Controllers, and Auditing. Business unit finance is not centrally organized and reports up through business management groups alongside the commercial development (marketing) and R&D groups. The business unit finance function incorporates its own strategy and financial reporting groups and is responsible for supporting decisions at the business unit level.

Dow Chemical is essentially a basic (read commodity) chemical producer that is trying to shift its product portfolio towards performance (read market facing) chemical. Industry is very global in scale and energy intensive because petrochemicals such as plastics and solvents (e.g. antifreeze) consume petroleum (oil or natural gas) both as a raw material and to operate the manufacturing facility.


Make progress on several projects simultaneously, set up meetings with area experts, receive feedback and setup presentations with business unit leadership. Read about current industry trends with a focus on oil, gas prices, and competitors.


Mike Pysarcyzk, Finance Director

Fisher ScientificTom Scherr, MBA Class of 2006Finance/Sourcing Group



I got the job through the COC. The company actually contacted me and invited me to interview. I did not originally apply through EASE. First round was in Pittsburgh and was behavioral. Second round was in Hampton NH and was a combination of behavioral and informal cases.


I looked over the company website, and talked to someone in consulting to understand how to do case interviews. It was pretty effective.


In the second round I had 3 different styles:

The first was a group of valuation questions (very similar to what you would expect in a Wall Street interview.) Questions included: how would you value a company? What is EBITDA, What happens to the financial statements if you change the depreciation schedule for the computers?

This was all based on “a week in the life of the CFO” On day 1: How would you evaluate your new division’s current performance? Day 2: You are looking at a new product, how do you evaluate the decision? There were 3 more days.

Behavioral, with some activity based costing questions.


Know how to value a company using a few different methods.



The interns are all viewed as “Internal Consultants” and are put on projects assigned by senior mgt. I was in Pittsburgh in sourcing, but my project had very little to do with that area.


I was evaluating one of their processes, determining flaws, and making suggestions on how to fix it. At the end of the summer we all gave a 20 minute presentation to the CEO, CFO, and head of marketing.


I pulled data from Oracle, I interviewed people throughout the firm, and I worked on my final presentation. I had no standard deliverables outside of the presentation.


VP Finance Sourcing


Fisher gives you a lot of exposure to management and gives you work that they really care about. I was generally treated well.

The internships are really a combination of marketing, operations, and strategy with some finance mixed in. They do not tend to directly focus on Finance.

IBMSanjiv Kabad, MBA Class of 2006IBM Global Services (IGS) Finance and Planning Group



I got the internship through the COC and had 3 rounds of interviews: The 1st round was conducted on Tepper’s NYC campus in December. The interview lasted for 35 minutes and was mostly behavioral in nature + a short case question related to launching a new service in a country. If the interviewers like you, your resume will be circulated around IBM to all the managers until another manager shows interest in you. They essentially act as screeners.

The 2nd round was conducted by an HR person over the phone and lasted about 15 minutes. I would not even call this an interview as most of the questions were Yes/No type questions. But, treat it as an interview nevertheless.

The 3rd round was conducted in early Jan over the phone by my manager for the summer. The interview lasted for about an hour and 10 minutes. We were slated to talk for 30 minutes but the fact that we spoke for so long was a signal that he was very interested in me.


I prepared answers in advance for the common behavioral questions and adapted my responses based on the questions asked. However, I was unprepared to handle case based questions as I was told that most Corporate Finance interviews were mostly behavioral. But more and more companies have started throwing case questions in the mix. So, although you do not need the kind of preparation that someone preparing for a consulting interview would require, it would be prudent to understand the general framework required to be successful in case interviews. Also, go over the basics of finance and corporate finance. The Vault Finance guide is a good reference. For most of my interviews, I did not do a good job in telling the recruiter why the company interested me.

Go through all the popular literature for e.g. Business Week, Forbes, WSJ, Business 2.0, Hoover’s. Study the annual report in detail, especially the MD&A section. Prepare a list of 10 questions that you want to ask the interviewer.


Please refer to my responses above.


I contacted several alums at IBM beforehand. It helped me answer division-specific interview questions with more confidence. Also, based on the suggestion of a Tepper alum, I called up the interviewer a few days before my interview and asked him what I could expect in the interview so that I could prepare better. It helped break the ice and also showed my interest.

Make it a point to contact Tepper alumni if you are interested in IBM. They are great ambassadors of our school and will really help you out.

Know EXCEL cold. Most people in IBM use Lotus 123 but have started moving towards EXCEL. You can really put your stamp if you know EXCEL.



IBM is divided into several business segments or brands such as IBM Global Service (IGS), Systems and Technology group (STG), Software Group (SWG), etc. I was a part of IGS’ Worldwide Finance and Planning Group.


I was asked to revamp IGS’ Offerings Report process, as it was taking too long to compile. I also worked on analyzing IGS’ competitors, performing business case analysis, and assisting with the formulation of the 2006 financial plan.


Redesigning IGS’s Offerings Report, which tracks quarterly performance and meets IBM’s audit requirement. Assisting the team in the creation of a Financial Spending model. Performing Business case analysis related to corporate restructuring, resource reallocation, and asset commercialization. Creating Income and Expense templates for the 2006 IGS Financial Plan. Performing competitive analysis of IGS's competitors.


IBM Global Services Worldwide (WW) Plan Consolidation Manager


My internship was completely unstructured. So, it will be up to you to be proactive. Meet your manager regularly, set goals, inform him of your progress, and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.

Go out of your way to help your peers. I helped 2 colleagues in Excel by conducting Excel training sessions. I also created an Intern Survival Guide for my manager on my own time so that he would continue to consider Tepper students for future internships.

Unfortunately, you will not have much interaction with other MBA interns. So, you will get few

opportunities to network. Also, access to senior management is very limited. It is next to impossible to get on their calendars. Your manager for the summer will be your biggest advocate and your ticket into the company. As long as your manager thinks highly of you, you should be ok.

Once you join the firm, you will definitely move on to a new position every 18 months or so.

JPMorgan Securities, Inc.Barret Rea, MBA class of 2006Summer Associate



Information interviews, first round, final round. Submitted resume through COC, but had already made several contacts within the firm.

Please describe how you prepared for these interviews.

Mock interviews were very effective, study TTS material, put together a Powerpoint pitch with all of the points I wanted to get out.

Please describe in as much detail as you feel is appropriate the interviews themselves.

Standard investment banking interviews – see the upcoming IB interviewing guide.


See the attached IB overview


Investment banking division, diversified industrials coverage group.


Summer associate, see the investment banking overview for details.


IB overview

KLA-TencorAlex LinWIG Surfscan/Viper Division



Preselect through COC, Interview Room 1 Round Interview with the Hiring Manager 30 min Behavioral/Technical Interview


Understand the Company Business and Functions Knowledge of what I want to do at KLA Tencor Explain which parts of my experience can be applied to KLA Tencor. What could have been improved: Better preparation on Accounting and Financial

Statements.


The interview with the Hiring Manager was very professional and broad – includes behavioral, technical, interests, background…etc to find a fit for yourself and for the company.


KLA Tencor is a very cost accounting and operations focused company. Company organized by product lines – Division compiles its own P&L. Hands-off Management style designed for self-starters to promote independence and

creativity.



Company organized by product lines – Division compiles its own P&L. Divisions make up a Group. Groups report to Corporate – which compiles the P&L. I was in the Wafer Inspection Group’s Surfscan/Viper Division. KLA-Tencor is a “Semiconductor Process Improvement” company that builds inspection

equipment/tools for Wafers and IC manufacturers.


FY06 20% Product COGS Reduction Plan Manufacturing Driver / Spend Model ADE’s Financial Statement Analysis Offshore NPV Analysis Divisional Analyst –P&L


Projects based work, so you do not have any routine activity - mostly Data Interpretation / Mining and Building Spreadsheets.


Business Unit Controller


A great internship for those interested in doing corporate finance at a technology company that is very focused on operations and cost accounting.

KLA-TencorStav Gil, MBA Class of 2006Corporate Finance



KLA is very active on campus and they have a corporate presentation and recruit for finance and product marketing. KLA interviews for corporate finance were in February and they extended offers 3 weeks later. There is one 35-minute interview which mainly include typical behavioral section and some finance related questions (Financial Statement, Corporate finance Policy).


The Hiring Manager uses simple and easy style interview, looking for cultural fit and basic business/finance understanding.

It is very important to learn about what KLA and the industry, be involved in their corporate presentation and have a basic understanding of corporate finance and cost accounting.


He uses simple and easy style interview, looking for cultural fit and basic business/finance understanding. Important to be familiar with the industry and cost accounting!

Also, you will have many opportunities to speak with the hiring manager during the corporate presentations, getting the first contact and making good first impression increase the chance of being selected for an interview and you will be more relax during the interview.



The firm is in the process control segment of the semiconductor manufacturing process. There is nothing more I can say here to explain it. You need to do your reading and learn more about the industry. Don’t worry about KLA itself too much, but learn about the Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing Industry


My role was divided to two; my day job was filling in for an Analyst in Maternity Leave. The role allowed me to learn about KLA finance processes; my second role was performing specific project mainly in financial operation and cost accounting.


My supervisor was the director for financial planning and Group Controller (KLA has groups with 8-12 Business Units)

Merrill Lynch & Co, Inc.Wai Chan, MBA Class of 2007Equity Research Summer Associate, Asia Pacific Region, Hong Kong, GMI



Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific does not come to Tepper for campus recruiting. However, they do post a job on EASE. I applied by submitting a cover letter along with my resume. I was selected for interviews. For the super day, I traveled to Philadelphia and interviewed at a hotel. I was then made an offer after about a month since the interview.


I prepared through reading the Vault Guides and paying very good attention to all the finance and accounting classes. In addition, I participated in Training The Street seminar. I also went to many informational interviews to get additional practices.


My interview mostly consisted of technical questions regarding accounting and finance. Since I have industry background, they also asked questions about the industry I came from.



Merrill Lynch GMI (Global Markets and Investment Banking) consisted of two main divisions: Global Markets, and Investment Banking. Equity Research belongs to the GM division and helps the sales force in providing clients research support. In the Asia Pacific Region, the research department is organized based on industries. Additionally, we also have research coverage in particular countries, economics, and investment strategies.


My group covers the semiconductor industry in the APR region. I assisted the senior analyst in preparing data, financial modeling, and industry wide analysis.


My manager is a Managing Director in the Research Department at Merrill Lynch.

PfizerMelissa Marshall, MBA Class of 2006Corporate Finance Summer Associate – Corporate Internal Audit (CIA)



I applied for the internship through the COC. There were two rounds for the entire hiring process. My 1st round interview was with the HR Recruiting Rep. Usually the first round is conducted by an alum of the school; however, he had a conflict that day and did not make to Tepper to interview. The 1st round interview was a 30 minute behavioral interview. It was very typical: walk me through your resume, give me an example when…, any questions for us. There was nothing tricky about it.

My second round interviews were conducted at Pfizer’s World Headquarters in New York City. The entire day consisted of 3 interviews. Each interview was conducted by someone at a different level within the company. The lower-level and mid-level manager interviews were 45 minutes each and the high-level interview was only 30 minutes. However, I got along really well with the high-level guy and my interview ended up being 45 minutes with him, too.


The first second-round interview was a standard behavioral interview. The interviewer actually used the same form that was used in my 1st round interview. She was extremely laid back. She also kind of gave me a case question, but it was something she was working on at the time, but it was no big deal.

The second second-round interview was interesting. I walked in and the interviewer said that he believes that HR does a great job at picking second round candidates; therefore, he didn’t even look at my resume. He wanted to know what I wanted to ask him. It was like I was interviewing him, but he managed to get all of the information about of me that was in my resume. He was an awesome guy. I played golf within him this summer and this is what he remembered from my interview: “That I went to Carnegie Mellon by way of Texas as a consultant and that I had a funky materials engineering degree.”

The final interviewer was absolutely brilliant. He is another person who does not like to hear people talk just to hear themselves talk. His interview started out tough. His second question was “How should Pfizer position their $20 billion of cash and $18 billion of debt in this interest rate economy?” I had no idea and I could think any answer that might sound intelligent, so I said that I didn’t have enough of a finance background yet and that I probably needed a lot more information. He said it was a good answer because even he didn’t know. I guess that’s part of his job that he works on every day. There was no answer to the question. He also asked knowing that I was a former consultant: “Should Pfizer tell a consultant to bill by the hour or on a fixed budget?” Always say fixed budget. We consultants will run amuck if you let us bill by the hour.

To be honest, I didn’t do too much to prepare for the interviews. At the time of the 1st interview, this wasn’t my first choice, so I didn’t put a lot of effort into the interview. Once I got into the

interview and realized how well Pfizer runs their summer associate program, I changed my mind about the internship. Looking back, I probably should have done more research because I couldn’t have even told the first interviewer the CEO’s name if she asked.


See the interviewer descriptions.


Be honest about why you want to work for them. Don’t make up an answer you think they want to hear. One of my questions in both rounds was why do you want to work for Pfizer. My simple answer was that “I loved science and chemistry from the time I was little and Pfizer is a science company. By working for Pfizer, I had the opportunity to work of for a scientific company while doing finance.”



Pfizer is the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. It’s divided into three areas: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Animal Health. Corporate Finance is part of the headquarter functions; therefore, we are not in one of these three areas.


I worked in the Corporate Internal Audit department. I essentially did the same work as a Senior Financial Auditor. In fact, when we were at a site doing an audit, the supervisor and manager would list me as a Sen. Auditor and not an intern. My internship consisted of two audits: 1 domestic and 1 international. Both audits were SOX audits, which means we were making sure that the sites were complying with the regulations in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 especially Section 404. For my first audit, I spent 3 weeks in Memphis, TN, where Pfizer has their North American distribution center. I helped with the inventory and travel/entertainment audits. For my second audit, I spent two weeks in Singapore auditing Pfizer new manufacturing plant located in Tuas. I was in charge of the financial reporting portion of the audit.

In addition to my audit assignments, I was on the Corporate Governance team within the audit department. I helped to make sure that the corporate policies and procedures were updated on the CIA website. I also helped to plan and coordinate an “audit boot camp” for the 70 person audit department.


See above.


Manager, Corporate Internal Audit


Pfizer has one of the most organized programs that I have ever seen. Every week there were social activities for the 13 interns. Also, once a week we met with senior directors and above to learn about the various areas within the company.

Finally and most important: If you want a full-time position with Pfizer, you MUST intern with them. They do NOT recruit full-time on campus. In the 2nd round interviews, there were a total of 25 students from various schools. Pfizer picked on average 1 student from every school. We had 13 interns in the class. Pfizer will then reduce this group by offering 5-6 full-time offers for their rotational program and 1-2 direct hire offers for the internal audit department. You normally find out in September about the offer; however, mine was made a few days after the end of my internship.

PNC AdvisorsLarry Shank, MBA Class of 2006Advisors Finance


Please describe the details of process through which you got your internship.

I had an hour interview in early May with a Vice President at PNC Corporate Headquarters in Pittsburgh - I received an offer within a few days, as I needed to know immediately as I had other outstanding offers.

I got the job through the COC using the EASE system.


Annual Report and website The interview was mainly behavioral and my offer stemmed basically from my experience

in what they had a need for over the summer. There were no difficult finance questions or anything like that.


Almost strictly behavioral and experience based questions No stress at all


Ask questions about particular job functions, as my finance job relied very little on using finance.



PNC is undergoing a lot of changes, so the outline of the organization is constantly changing. I worked in the customer profitability area of PNC Advisors Finance. Recently, the Regional Community Bank and the Advisors area were merged to eliminate operating redundancies.


Using Access, Excel, Oracle and a ton of proprietary data sets/software packages to identify fee initiatives and cost savings throughout the entire PNC Advisors network. Generically speaking it was Activity Based Management.


Pulling huge amounts of data from various databases Checking the integrity of the data (i.e. making sure all fields are formatted properly to use

in different files/formats) Merging this data with other datasets to form aggregated reports at multiple levels Create final levels of data Automate reports using VBA to pull data automatically and compile information to require

the least amount of human interaction possible Check and finalize reports that were then distributed among VPs of PNC Advisors and the

CFO


Vice President, PNC Advisors

UBS SecuritiesAya Fujiki, MBA Class of 2006Equity Research, Tokyo



I got an offer right after the Boston Career Forum in the end of October. Boston Career Forum is a career fair for Japanese/English bilinguals. So it is not through COC. During the career forum, I had two interviews plus dinner reception. I also visited a recruiting event in Philadelphia in early October.


Resume session at COC and advise from 2nd year students are really helpful. But most of the COC session is far behind my recruitment schedule, so I had to ask help personally.


Mostly behavioral questions or straightforward “walk through your resume” kind of questions.


For Asia-Pacific area investment banking job, Boston Career Forum can be very beneficial. Conversational Japanese skill is necessary.



UBS Tokyo has around 1,000 employees, overseeing the Japanese market. Most of the management came from UK or European countries. For Equity Research, they have about 25 analysts, covering 11 sectors and small-caps.


I was assigned to the Financial sector, and spent most of my time on my own project and sometimes helped research tasks of senior analysts.


In the morning, I attended a morning meeting and then doing research on my project or tasks, sometimes company visits with analysts.


Senior Analyst of non-bank financial sector.


The Equity research position is fun. More MBAs should consider this role. For Equity, as I mentioned above, one of the interesting areas is Prime Brokerage Business. Goldman Sachs is very strong in this area. During one of the on-campus presentations last year, an equity analyst gave this summary; “If you are interested in many topics like marketing, finance, accounting, strategy, and operation, equity analyst is the right job for you.” I found this to be completely true after going through the internship myself.

Documents

Carnegie Mellon Tepper GFA Recruiting Guide - BYU - Marriott