GoFurther Careers and Education Partners

Tips for an Outstanding Masters/MBA Interview For many college programs, interviewing is usually not a necessary step (although the article below also applies to undergraduate interviews). However, if you end up applying for a Master’s in the future, particularly a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA), the interview is a key part of the admissions process. Business is about communicating effectively and for one to succeed in negotiations, one must know how to speak clearly and eloquently. The following tips for a successful Master’s interview are by no means exhaustive and are just a reference point for candidates to start thinking about how to approach any interviews they might receive. DO YOUR RESEARCH Reach out to current alumni and students:  The conversations you have with alumni will really be important later on in your interview process, when you can support your enthusiasm and seriousness for applying to a school by referencing the people as well as the experi...

A Sample Day in the Life of a Summer Finance Intern in Asia 6 am: Wake up — have to beat the morning traffic so grab a quick breakfast and take a quick shower before heading out into the sweltering morning sun. I have my undershirt and long-sleeves formal attire in my bag to keep them from getting too sweaty 7–8 am: Travel to the office — my phone plan has data so I catch-up on the latest US evening news on the Wall Street Journal and CNN apps 8–9 am: Elevator is broken today, so have to walk up ~8 flights stairs to get to the office. Enter the office, quickly change into my formal clothes, and find receive comments from the managing director on a pitch to a family business interested in raising some debt. Most of the corrections are centered on slides that focus on the firm’s experience dealing with family businesses wanting to raise capital. Edits will need to be quick since the meeting with the business’ founder and CFO is this afternoon 9–10 am: Complete the edits and ...

Sample Day Series: “Busy” Day in TAS VBM 9:00 AM: Arrive in the office. Check emails, grab coffee, water, and fruits in the pantry and set up two external monitors and a headset to work more efficiently throughout the day. 9:15 AM: I have some work left over from yesterday, so I begin working on the corroborative calculations for multiple investments for a private equity fund. Luckily, the first company in the private equity fund’s portfolio I am valuing has a straightforward capital structure, has liquidity preferences for the different equities that are pari passu, does not have anti-dilution preferences or participating preferred stock, and has only a few rounds of preferred financing within the past year, without any complex securities involved. The second is similarly simple and our private equity client has majority stake in the company. Hooray! I get to use the current value method for allocating equity to the different tranches of securities! 10:30 AM: Staff meeting....

Demystifying International Internships Anyone in the mood for a healthy dose of emerging market volatility? There is a common misconception that any aspiring undergraduate banker must obtain a Western (Europe or US)-based investment banking internship their second year before formal third year recruiting begins. There is a fear that having an international internship implies an inability to obtain a more “quality” US or Western-based internship. However, with the right story, an unconventional finance internship in an unconventional location can show diversity of experience and professional flexibility — an ability to work in less structured environments and undertake multiple projects. In fact, an international internship can really round out a resume and can provide exposure to some very exciting emerging markets (certainly more talking points that the guy who did the traditional boutique shop). Of course, if you intern at a Western bank in the region, you will probably still ge...

5 Ways TO dress in an Investment Banking Interview (for Men)  Today we cover what you can wear to finance and banking interviews. Wear traditionally light colors: These colors include really light shades of blue and grey, and white. Other light colors may be okay, but typically you cannot go wrong with a classic white shirt. Business Casual means wear a full suit and tie: Better to stay on the safe side and dress-up rather than down. Have your belt color match your shoe color: You can’t go wrong with this classic principle. Use a tie clip: This is not essential, but it really adds character and simple structure to your overall look. It is not tacky like a pocket square, but has some (perhaps limited) practical use. Wear charcoal grey or navy blue: Grey and blue are traditionally business colors while black often suggests a more formal, serious tone (e.g. wedding, funeral). Basically, everything we have written here follows the conservative rules of GQ. Stay away fr...