Investment Banking Associate

My interview process is quite unique, so it would be more helpful to provide the interview experience for some interviews that we recently conducted, where I was a part of the interviewing team.

Since we are a small firm, interviews at the junior level occur in various ways. It's more about being in the right place at the right time.

As to be expected, the process has 3 criteria - fit, likeability and financial acumen.

Fit is more about having a connection to the Chicago area, particularly the northern suburbs. As one can imagine, it is difficult to find employees willing to either live in the suburbs or commute from the city every day.

Likeability is straight forward - it is important to have social skills when interviewing.

Last, Marathon is a heavy project finance bank, so financial acumen is an important part of the interview. There are some great resources out there for the technical part of the interview.

In terms of the actual interview, one should be more focused on technicals and fit when interviewing with junior level bankers and more focused on fit and ability to originate when interviewing with senior level bankers. I know it sounds weird to focus on origination at the analyst / associate level, but the firm values the ability to sell at the junior level, despite not being put in opportunities to originate at the junior level.