At the beginning I thought I would be easily bored by browsing some entry-level career guide (this one is not exactly a guide but some variant concentrating on Q & A during IB interviews). It turned out, however, quite informative and amusing -- even better if regarded as a time-killer.
The manual is composed of three main types of questions (and suggested answers): 1)"Fit", 2)"Tech" and 3)others (e.g. restructuring, distressed M & A, transaction discussion).
I like it when the author cannot underscore enough the importance of preparing specific anecdotes. If I was an interviewer(and particularly a lazy one), when I throw out some generic questions on the table, I don't actually expect generic answers -- I would murmur to myself"jada jada" and consider the buddy I'm facing not interesting or funny to be around.
My suggestion with regard to using this manual:
1. Don't read everything. Directly find the topics by which you need to be inspired and start reading. Otherwise you may feel like throwing it away as the author is patiently instructing just like teaching you 1+1=2 (which by the way is worth applause as it covers readers from different backgrounds/knowledgeable about investment banks to various extent) .
At first I tried to list in the mind-mapping, exhaustively, those well-structured suggested answers or simply the ones that immediately sparked something related to my experience. That slowed me down. Later I dumped this method and drew lines and created notes directly on the manual. So my maps are terribly incomplete. Nevertheless I still keep it if I want to step out and see the big picture. I attach it here anyways -- as an example of failure XD
2. When it comes to clearly structured answers (for the ones applying summer internship or analyst positions) towards some basic knowledge of what you're getting into, you may want to memorize it-- I mean, avoid the general understanding and not to leave out critical parts-- just appear as professional as you can.
e.g. regarding to some questions (or its variants) like "what's in a pitch book?"
It depends on the types of deal the bank is pitching for, but the most common structure is:
1) Bank "credentials" (similar deals they've done to "prove" their expertise).
2) Summary of a company's options("strategic alternatives" in banker-speak).
3) Valuation and appropriate financial models (for example, if you're pitching for an IPO you might show where the IPO proceeds would go).
4) Potential acquisition targets (buy-side M & A deal) or potential buyers (sell-side M & A deal). This is not applicable for equity/debt deals.
5) Summary and key recommendations.
(from page 35)
3. You need further REVIEW of the notes you've taken beside the questions (might be the ones still lack of specific stories derived from your CV or some technical questions that require further digging -- so that you can better APPLY)
P.S. Mind-mapping, in my humble opinion, is usually more beneficial to be used as a tool for REVIEWING purpose (with the original book put aside) than as a repetitive version of the book; plus it functions much better FOR THE ONE WHO MAPS IT rather than the one who reads it;and certainly the ways to mark what we need differentiate a great deal in terms of genres of our books. (Of course it might be completely another story if our primary orientation is to construct the mapping mainly/solely for the audience.) Therefore it's hard or impossible to judge the usefulness for someone who (only) sees the map but not the book itself.
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