BIWS 400 Question Guide - Do you need to know “advanced” questions for Canada / UK SA & Off-cycle recruiting?

Are all technicals from the “basic” section, or do you also need to know the “advanced” questions? I am applying for Jan 2025 off cycles and summer 2025. I heard from someone in the US that the “advanced” section is only asked for new grad roles and all technicals for SA’s come from the “basic” section. Could someone provide some colour on this in terms of Canadian and UK recruiting though? Is this also the case or should I start reviewing all the questions in the guide?

 
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For Canada, yes you should know them to be fully prepared. Even questions that are from outside the guide are fair game.

Questions about topics like DTLs and lease accounting aren't necessarily asked frequently, but they are asked enough that you should understand the concepts. Interviews get harder each year and the line drawn between "basic" and "advanced" by BIWS does not work anymore - besides, most of the advanced questions aren't actually that hard. 

 

It really depends on the firm tbh.

Rule of thumb is Spring Week conversion ACs are easier than straight SA recruiting. From anecdotal experience converting 2 springs BBs  for 2025, the hardest it got from 400 BIWS was "How would you value a hotdog stand with no financials" and LBOs.

EBs tend to have harder interviews so will probably grill you more on technicals, but on the other hand Rothschilds (apparently) don't ask any technicals really and only competencies.

So it depends. I wouldn't expect the complex, advanced accounting section to come up, maybe at a stretch study LBOs and complex valuation.

 

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