The investment banking superday: what happens and how to prepare

A superday is the final round of an investment banking process: several back-to-back interviews, usually on one day, with bankers from analyst to managing director. Offers are normally decided within a day or two.

The format

• Three to six interviews of about 30 minutes each. Evercore is known for long superdays of five or six.
• A mix of fit and technicals in every interview. Senior bankers lean towards fit and judgement, juniors towards technicals.
• A deal or market discussion. Some J.P. Morgan groups add a short case-like deal conversation; at Goldman Sachs expect "why this group" with a deal you can discuss.
• Group specifics. Leveraged finance at Citi asks LBO and accounting mechanics; restructuring groups at PJT, Lazard and Houlihan Lokey ask capital structure questions.

What interviewers compare afterwards

They meet and compare notes, so consistency matters. Each one asks roughly the same things: can this person do the work, would I want them on my team at midnight, and do they really want this bank?

A one-week preparation plan

1. Days 1 and 2: your story in 90 seconds, why banking, why this bank, and three strengths with evidence.
2. Days 3 and 4: technicals. Accounting links, enterprise value, DCF, comparables, merger maths, LBO basics. Use the technical questions guide.
3. Day 5: one deal in depth: rationale, price, multiple, structure and your view.
4. Day 6: two full mock interviews, spoken aloud.
5. Day 7: markets (index levels, rates, one recent deal in the bank's sector) and questions to ask.

On the day

Answer the first question of each interview well; early impressions carry. If you do not know a technical answer, say how you would work it out. Ask each interviewer one real question about their work.