Why Rothschild Interview Questions
How to answer the question "Why Rothschild?"
What is Rothschild?
Rothschild & Co. is a multinational investment bank founded in 1811 by Mayor Amschel Rothschild. The firm’s inception resulted from a merger of the Rothschild houses of France and Britain.
With a current valuation of 3.7 billion euros, the firm specializes in wealth and asset management, global advisory, and merchant banking services. Its reputation in the world of finance is exemplified by its ranking as a top 10 investment bank for M&A advisory, based on the number and size of deals it handles.
With a strong reputation in M&A and wealth management, securing a role at Rothschild & Co. demands a robust skill set and a thorough understanding of the company's core values.
Here's how you can position yourself as a strong candidate:
- Thoughtful: Be understanding and make a solution that serves the client’s needs. Be considerate.
- Principled: Treat people and their challenges with respect. Integrity and empathy go a long way in relationships and business.
- Creative: Offer innovative, imaginative, and functional solutions to clients.
The company’s interview process has several stages:
- Apply: Submit your application to be considered for a position.
- Background Check: If shortlisted, the company will conduct a background check to verify your credentials.
- Phone interview: This is conducted to assess your qualifications and compatibility with the role.
- Group interview: It is conducted to gauge your teamwork and communication skills.
- Superday: If you progress, you will participate in a Superday, where you'll meet with multiple interviewers and showcase your abilities.
- Review offer: The company will review your performance and make a decision.
- Accept!: If offered a position, you can accept the offer and begin your journey with Rothschild & Co.
Visit the company’s official website to get more in-depth information about the company and its values.
Interview Tips
- Highlight the deals you've worked on in previous roles, emphasizing your contributions. Provide specific examples of how you added value to these deals.
- Be on top of current news, as Rothschild has a fair amount of current events questions in their interviews.
- Have a strong grasp of the leveraged buyout (LBO) model, given Rothschild's focus on finance.
- Emphasize your ability to work in a global context, showcasing your experience with international clients or projects.
- Ask meaningful questions to show that you are an active listener and want to work at Rothschild.
- Emphasize your problem-solving skills by sharing examples of complex problems you've successfully solved in your career and describe your approach to tackling challenges.
Why Rothschild Interview Question
“Why Rothschild?” This two-word question can make or break your interview experience. If you have taken other finance interviews, then you must have seen this type of question before.
Candidates interviewing for a finance or investment banking role for the first time should prepare well. This question aims to understand why you chose to apply for that specific company, how you fit in with the company, and why you want to work there.
Investment banks can receive thousands of applications for the same role. This question is a great way to separate yourself from the group.
Make your answer great by:
- Being genuine and focused on yourself, do not bring up salary.
- Emphasizing personal growth by describing how the company's culture, opportunities, and resources align with your long-term goals.
- Using an anecdote to add depth to the response.
- Illustrating how your skills, work ethic, and values align with the company's mission and vision.
An example response is:
“Rothschild & Co is a leading finance firm. I look forward to being a part of such an esteemed institution. I believe I have a lot to bring, and the firm will allow me to reach my goals as well.
As a professional for over 15 years, I have an idea of what my career goals are. I don’t want to keep bouncing around the place. I want to stay with a firm long-term, and I think this firm is just that for me.
At Rothschild, I hope to continuously learn and have the unique opportunity to speak with other knowledgeable finance professionals daily. I want to be pushed, and Rothschild can do this for me to reach my goals.
In my career, I have honed my finance and problem-solving skills. As someone who hopes to get into M&A at this firm, I think I have what it takes to succeed here.
As the firm offers a commitment to developing employees, I have no doubt I will better myself when working here.
The firm has three values. Principled, creative, and thoughtful. I am keen to work here as the firm values genuine work, which pushes employees to be better. Each solution is different. I want to work at this firm.
I have held positions at firms where communication is close to 0, and the environment felt constricting. I have learned through the years that I prefer an open environment as that is where I feel most productive and learn more. Rothschild offers this.
One may ask why I am applying to this company. I believe my connection to Rothschild goes back to my college days.
A Rothschild employee visited my college, and I spent a few minutes discussing with her. She made it evident that the firm truly cares about its employees. They utilize numerous resources to better the employee. These include professional mentoring and professional development.
The firm is committed to innovation and collaboration. Since that day, the firm has been at the top of my list.
Now that I am here interviewing, I feel the fit is as close to perfect.
My work with data analysis can be useful to the company’s M&A department. I can methodically solve problems and if needed, collaborate within teams. My experience at various firms working with accounts and clients’ financial needs will translate well to M&A here.
I can adapt to the dynamic culture that is embraced here. Rothschild will provide me with gateways to further develop my career. The mentorship, resources, and work environment are ideal. I am confident I can contribute to the firm.”
Another sample response is:
“I have been in wealth management for the last 20 years. I have bounced around firms, but none have provided me the stability that I desire. With Rothschild’s history and its desire for employee growth, I believe this is the firm for me.
I have worked with clients across the globe from around 34 different nations. I understand a client’s needs before starting the work and assure my best work will be delivered.
I look forward to working at a firm where employees can have conversations with each other and grow. With my background in finance, I have the essential problem-solving skills for the role. I like to dissect tasks into manageable chunks and get to work.
I am original in my work, care about the needs of the client, and work by a strict moral and ethical code. As I learned from a conversation with a Rothschild employee, the firm upholds these same values.
I would love to be a part of the Rothschild community and make a change in the world.”
Why Rothschild Interview Questions: Behavioral Questions
A behavioral question seeks to understand a candidate's past behavior and experiences in various situations. These questions focus on the candidate's soft skills, interpersonal abilities, problem-solving capabilities, and decision-making processes.
Behavioral questions aim to get answers to questions like:
- How well do you demonstrate the firm’s core values?
- How do you work in certain situations?
- Can you work well with people?
Thoughtful and well-structured responses to behavioral questions can significantly impact an applicant's chances of landing the job, as they help the interviewer gauge the candidate's potential for success within the organization.
Although they are not about what coding languages you know or how well you know pivot tables, these questions make up a significant part of an applicant’s file. Do not overlook them.
Examples of behavioral questions include
Behavioral Interview Questions
Answer this question by breaking down a task into subsections where analytical skills were useful.
A strong answer looks like this:
‘In college, I worked with a group on a stock pitch. It was my first experience working with advanced financial metrics. I remember we first chose to pitch a lithium battery company.
Then, we delegated roles. I was in charge of looking at the company’s past financials. I had to work with P/E ratios and EBITDA and analyze whether the company was profitable from its financial statements.”
Be completely honest. There is no use saying you have experience if you don’t. If you have the experience, speak about it in detail about the occasion, who you spoke to, and what you spoke about.
Sample answer:
“I have never presented in front of a large audience. I want to learn the art of public speaking and hope to engage in opportunities in this role.”
Go about this question by only highlighting the opportunities Rothschild presents. If you speak too much about the negatives of the last job or how things ended, it may come off to the interviewer in the wrong way and make them reconsider hiring you.
Sample answer:
“I am seeking opportunities to further develop my skills in M&A. M&A is an involved field; one needs to know finance and analytics. Through a career in M&A, I could learn in more than one area. I believe the firm will contribute to my growth as a dynamic and innovative firm.
At my old job, the work was stagnant. Employees were not motivated, and the overall culture was not beneficial to me. I am positive that will not be the case here.”
Answer this question by explaining the situation clearly. Try to put the interviewer in your shoes to make the answer more impactful.
Sample answers:
“For as long as I can remember, getting a job right out of college on Wall Street was my goal. I had decided that since I was in middle school. All my friends graduated college in May and started their full-time roles in June. Meanwhile, I was stuck at home.
I applied to over 300 positions. I did not land even one. I felt discouraged. I was a top student. I thought I was as successful as possible. 4.0 GPA, lots of extracurricular activities, great network. Yet, none of this was good enough to land me a job.
From May to September, I moped. In September, at a family reunion, I spoke to my uncle. He said he had a similar experience. He said it may be easy to be sad, but the truth is that it will not get you anywhere in life. Take disappointment as a motivator. That struck me.
I then applied to more and more roles. I took online courses to learn desirable skills such as public speaking. Eventually, I was able to land a role. Employers liked that I never quit. They admire my character over anything else.”
Explain what was demanded of the client’s ask. Make sure you discuss the client’s side of things. This will set you up for a better response.
Sample answer:
“I have worked with a demanding client. At my last job, I had a client who was dissatisfied no matter the work the firm put out.
I took on the initiative to meet with this client. It was better to sort things out at the source.
I met with her and understood their needs. Additionally, I met with my supervisor and team members to find the best methods to handle the client. We did not want to lose the client. She was a longstanding client of the firm. So, her business was much appreciated.
Through my strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills, I was able to mend relations with the client and help the team deliver the solution successfully.”
Use the STAR method, provide details, and be personal. These tips will help you ace behavioral questions.
Why Rothschild Interview Questions: Technical Questions
Technical questions are the other types of questions asked in interviews. While behavioral questions aim to learn about the individual, technical questions concern knowledge and abilities to apply theoretical concepts.
Think of it like a test in school or college. Ensure you understand the position, company, and latest news.
Examples of technical questions include
Technical Interview Questions
“Investment in an associate is a type of investment in which the investor does not have full control.”
“You must calculate the free cash flow after the payments. So, the only difference is to take the payments into account. Thereby, the levered free cash flow is a smaller amount.”
“Factors that affect the cost of capital for a company are capital structure, income tax rates, the marginal cost of capital, and the current state of the economy. Additionally, the market risk premium, beta, and risk-free rate play a factor.”
“Some considerations in M&A are the foreign exchange, corporate laws, antitrust laws, and investment laws.”
“Purchase price is calculated by taking the base purchase price, adding cash and the excess net working capital. Then, subtract indebtedness, the deficit of net working capital, and transaction expenses.”
Note
You don't add and subtract figures for net working capital. If NWS > NWC Target, add the excess. If NWC < NWC Target, subtract the deficit.
Technical questions are not impossible to answer. They are the direct result of how much effort you put in. Study hard, and you will do great.
Conclusion
Rothschild has a presence on the global level with numerous clients and partners. Expect a lot of competition. The interview process won’t be easy, so prepare well. Read as much as you can about the company and past interview experiences.
Every interview is a learning process. Don’t worry about the results. Enjoy the process.
Do as many practice questions as possible, both behavioral and technical. They may not be the same questions as asked in the actual interview, but the experience is the most important. Interviewers can tell if you practiced for the interview, as practice will make you more calm and composed.
Try to reach out to Rothschild employees. They have valuable insights that can help you excel at your interviews.
Don’t worry. You got this!
This article, the Wall Street Oasis website, Wall Street Oasis’s Rothschild interview site, and the company site are great resources to check out.
Good luck with your applications and interviews!
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