 In this video, I'm going to share with you how to answer one of the most important investment banking interview questions which you can get, and that is, why are you interested in investment banking? In fact, this question is so important that if you fail this, it could mean the end of your interview. So, stay tuned till the end of this video because we're going to go through multiple examples which you can use. Hi, I'm Nassir, founder and CEO of High Finance Graduate, the place where future investment bankers can get all of the answers they need to break into the industry. A couple years ago, when I was preparing for my Morgan Stanley interview, I did everything to prepare from reading all the books I could get my hands on, reading all the blogs, web posts, watching videos. So when I was asked, why do you want to be an investment banker? I said what I was supposed to. Investment banking will provide me a great learning opportunity, it's a fast-paced environment, I really enjoyed my work experience in finance, but my interview was not impressed. Now, needless to say, I felt that interview, but at the end of the interview, I asked my interviewer, why did you want to be an investment banker? And his response was completely different compared to everything which I've seen and read online. So, in my next interview at JPE and Credit Suisse, I use his example, and I had a lot more success with that. So fast forward a couple of years, when I was interviewing candidates, I saw a lot of people doing the exact same mistake as I was, using generic reasons as to why you want to go into investment banking, which is completely wrong. So in this video, I'm going to share with you how to answer, why do you want to be an investment banker, like an investment banker? Step number one, forget everything which you've seen, which you've read online. Oh, and by the way, sign up to our free members area to get access to resume templates, cover letter templates, interview guides, as well as a database of over 10,000 investment banks for you to contact for more experience and roles. Stay tuned to the end of this video. I'm going to show you exactly how you can access that. So let's go back. So the approach we're going to use to explain why you want to go into investment banking is the story approach. And this has three steps. Step number one, your background. Briefly summarize your background, whether your background is in finance or non-finance, whether you studied accounting or engineering or law. Now, don't worry, it doesn't matter what background you're from. If you walk into any investment banking floor, you're going to find candidates from a range of different disciplines. Step number two, this is what you have to talk about once it sparked your interest in investment banking. Was it an investment banking internship you did? Was it a friend or your family member who joined investment banking and that got you interested in investment banking? Was it a lecture you attended? And the person delivering this lecture was an ex-investment banker. And they then explained what they did on a day-to-day basis and that's how you were interested. Was it an event you attended where you networked with investment bankers? Now, it doesn't really matter that much about how you got interested in investment banking. Just make sure that it's investment banking specific. But you can choose from a range of different examples. We're going to go through a couple more examples later on. So then step three, this is where you have to explain your follow-through. You see, it's not good enough to just say, I'm interested in investment banking because I network with investment bankers. There are 10,000 candidates that can say that. What will separate you from everyone else is your follow-through. After you were interested in investment banking, what did you do? Did you go out and proactively seek an internship in investment banking? Did you go out and network with senior investment bankers? Did you learn how to do financial modeling? Did you learn about the industry? Did you start following up on M&A News IPO announcement? What did you do? The more proactive you are, the better chances you have. And that's what separates candidates who progress in the investment banking interview cycles versus those who just fail it in round one. So before we start going through a couple of examples, just a note. As an interviewer, what we're really looking for in this response is two things. Number one, can the candidate communicate coherently and fluently? Number two, does the candidate understand what an investment banker does on a day-to-day basis? Because it's one thing to see a movie or to read a book on investment banking. It's a whole different thing to actually work in investment banking. And the only way you're going to know what an investment banker does on a day-to-day basis is either by getting work experience in investment banking or networking with senior investment bankers. And you can also check out a video which I walk through a week in the life of an investment banker on this channel. Okay, so now let's go through a couple of examples. Now, the first example I'm going to take from a candidate who is from a non-finance background and trying to go for an internship in investment banking. So let's say this person studied architecture. So you can say initially you were interested in architecture, so you had an internship at an architect firm. But you became more interested in the business aspect and the capital raising process whilst working alongside investment bankers at the firm. And whilst you were helping them with due diligence and getting numbers, you got exposure as to what an investment banker does in terms of real estate development. So after your internship, you started reading the Wall Street Journal, keeping up with M&A news, and you taught yourself how to do financial modeling. And after networking with investment bankers in the industry, your long-term goal is now to combine your interest in architecture with investment banking so you can help companies or developers raise the capital they need in order to build the skyline of tomorrow. Now, this could be better, but it's an okay reason. So let's break it down. Step one, this candidate is from an architecture background, so non-finance. And step two, this person's interest was from working alongside investment bankers, helping them with due diligence and getting numbers, arguably the most boring part of what an investment banker does, hence why we normally farm it out to everyone who's around. But even during that process, this candidate was interested in investment banking. Now step three, the follow-through, this candidate started following up on M&A news and as well as network with senior investment bankers in the industry. So this person has an idea as to what an investment banker does on a day-to-day basis. So it's an okay reason. So now let's take a look at someone from a finance background, and someone applying for an analyst role. So let's just say this person has been studying economics. So this person can say they've always been interested in working in finance because they've always been good with numbers. So during summer, winter months, they managed to get an internship at an M&A boutique which specializes in TMT transactions. And they really enjoyed the work. And after networking with senior investment bankers at the firm, they realized that they wanted broader exposure to larger deals. And so this is why they're now applying for an analyst position at a bulge bracket bank because they want to combine their previous experience in TMT which they really enjoyed as well as get a more formalized training at the larger bank which will allow them to work on larger TMT transactions. So let's break down this answer. Now for this candidate, they pretty much combined step one of their background and step two of their interest in investment banking together. Because this candidate is from a finance background, you're not going to get challenged onto why all of a sudden you switch from whatever background you're from to finance. They've always been in finance. So naturally, they gravitated to investment banking. But what's important here is whilst in investment banking, this candidate enjoyed the work as well as enjoyed networking with senior investment bankers and has a clear vision as to the kind of transactions they want to do which is larger TMT transactions which they can find at larger bulge bracket banks. And hence why they're applying for an analyst role. Okay, so those are some examples. Now let's say if you're struggling to find your investment banking spark, your aha moment. Here are some other examples which you can use. You can say that one of your friends or family members started working in investment banking and they invited you to have a look at the investment banking floor and that's where you had the opportunity to network with investment bankers. And after keeping in touch with them, you naturally over time develop an interest in investment banking. Another example could be you attended an event given by investment bankers where they explained what they do on a day to day basis and that's how you were interested in investment banking. Another example could be you are interested in investment banking as a result of your studies. Having research and M&A transaction, that's what gave you an insight as to what an investment banker does on a sell side or buy side M&A deal. Again, there are a lot of examples as to why you want to go into investment banking. What is important is the follow through. What did you do as a result of your interest in investment banking? Now, guys, I want you to comment down below why you're interested in going into investment banking. Now, I don't want the obvious answer of just money, but I want another reason, something which is more tangible, which you're going to use during your interview. Okay, as I mentioned before, we do have a free members area where you can register for free and get access to a couple of reasons as to why you want to go into investment banking, resume templates, cover the templates, interview answers and questions, as well as a database of over 10,000 investment banks, private equity firms, hedge funds for you to contact for either internships, work experience and full-time roles. And again, make sure you use the three steps on how to answer why you're interested in investment banking when you're going to contact these banks. To get access to this, take a look at the link in the description below. Now, before you go and register, let's take a look at what can complicate your story. Now, there are usually four main issues here. Issue number one is what if the interviewer asked you why didn't you stick to your old internship? Why didn't you stick to your old investment bank where you had an internship? Now, not everyone is going to receive a returning offer after the internship, so should you tell them that you didn't receive one? In reality, you shouldn't. You should try to avoid telling them that you didn't receive a full-time returning offer because it would make you seem weak and undesirable and that's not what you want to portray. Tell them that you didn't mesh well with the culture at the bank, either because it was too small, it was personality-driven, or you just didn't get along. Now, don't focus too much on the negatives. They're usually going to know that you didn't receive a full-time offer, but just try to play it off as you didn't fit in well with the culture, as opposed to you not receiving a full-time offer because you weren't good enough. Issue number two is what if you don't have any experience? Now, unless you're going to go for an internship, there's a very slim chance you're actually going to make it through to the analyst or the associate stage. So it's really important that you try to get investment banking work experience. And there are a lot of ways which you can get experience. And the easiest way, I'm going to make a video dedicated to just explaining this, it's by far the easiest way anyone can get experience in finance and I'm sure 99% of people have no idea this exists. So have a look at that video if you're struggling to get investment banking work experience. And it works no matter where you are and it doesn't matter what experience you have. Issue number three is what if you have a very spotty or broad background? So you have work experience in retail, in management consulting, in public sector, engineering, finance. What should you do then? In that case, you should just summarize all of your experience and make sure you can summarize it in 30 seconds. Issue number four is what if you are a mature student with years of experience in different fields? In that case, try to be as finance specific as possible. Again, don't drag on for 30 minutes explaining what you did at every single stage of your life. We don't want to hear that. If you have any problems here, then just drop me a comment in the comment section below and I'll try to answer it or I will answer it in our weekly Q&A session. Alternatively, you can add me on Instagram and just ask me the question there and I'll be sure to answer it within a couple of hours. I'll put all my social handles in the description below. Now let's talk about what you should never say in this answer. Never say you want to be an investment banker because of the money. Now I know every single year someone is going to try and make a joke that they want to do it because of the money. It's not a good joke. It's not a funny joke. Even though you're doing it for the money, the interview is doing it for the money, everyone in investment banking is at least partly doing it for the money, but you cannot say that. You can't say it's for the money and you can't even joke about it. Unless you actually know the person really well, then that's an exception. But unless you know them, don't joke about it. Number two, don't say you want to advise CEOs or CFOs because then you're confusing the role of an investment banker with a management consultant. An investment banker helps their clients execute transactions, either M&A transactions, capital raising transactions, restructuring. Management consultants, they consult CEOs on the direction of their company. Don't confuse the two because if you do, that just shows that you're just not prepared and you have no idea what an investment banker does or you have no idea of the difference between an investment banker and a management consultant. And I've seen a lot of websites, a lot of videos out there who says to always end with I want to advise the CEO and CFO. Never say that because that's not what an investment banker does. And if you want to know what investment bankers do then have a look at our video dedicated to just that. Okay and if you've enjoyed this video then please subscribe and hit the like button and make sure to join us for our next video.