Superday kit
Superday questions
42 questions, each with what a strong answer covers
Answer each one out loud before you open the notes
Competency
Evidence from things you have actually done
Tell me about a time a team you were in was falling behind. What did you change?
What a strong answer covers
- A specific project with a real deadline, and your role in it
- How you spotted the problem early rather than at the end
- The change you made yourself, not what the team did in general
- A result with a number or a clear before and after
- What you would do differently next time
Describe a time you had to make a decision without all the information you wanted
What a strong answer covers
- What was missing and why you couldn't wait for it
- How you weighed the options and the cost of being wrong
- Who you checked with, if anyone, and why
- The outcome, and whether you would decide the same way again
Tell me about a time you found an error in numbers or data. What did you do?
What a strong answer covers
- How you noticed it: a check you ran or a figure that looked wrong
- How you confirmed the error before raising it
- Who you told, how quickly and how you put it
- What changed afterwards so it wouldn't happen again
Give an example of when you changed the mind of someone more senior than you
What a strong answer covers
- Why their view mattered and what was at stake
- The evidence you gathered, rather than opinion
- How you framed your case around their goals
- How you stayed respectful when they pushed back
- The result and what it taught you about persuading people
Tell me about something you set up or started from scratch
What a strong answer covers
- Why it needed doing and why you took it on
- The first practical steps and who you brought in
- An obstacle and how you got past it
- What it achieved, ideally with a number
- What happens to it now
Tell me about a time you worked closely with someone whose style was very different from yours
What a strong answer covers
- The difference in approach, described fairly
- How you adapted without dropping your standards
- A moment where you found common ground
- What you achieved together
Tell me about a goal you didn't reach. What happened?
What a strong answer covers
- A real goal that mattered, not a success in disguise
- Honest reasons, including your own part in it
- What you did straight afterwards
- How it changed the way you work now
Describe a time you explained something complicated to someone without your background
What a strong answer covers
- Who the audience was and what they needed to decide or do
- How you simplified it without losing accuracy
- How you checked they had understood
- What happened as a result
Tell me about a time you dealt with an unhappy customer, client or member of the public
What a strong answer covers
- What had gone wrong from their point of view
- How you listened before trying to fix anything
- What you could and couldn't offer, and how you explained it
- The outcome and anything you changed afterwards
Give an example of a time you used data to make a decision
What a strong answer covers
- The decision and why data could help with it
- Where the data came from and how you checked it
- The analysis you did, kept simple
- The decision, the result and the limits of the data
Motivation
Why this career, why this firm and why you
Walk me through your CV and the choices that led you here
What a strong answer covers
- A clear thread that links your choices, not a list of everything
- Two or three moments that shaped your interest in finance
- What each experience taught you that this role uses
- A finish that shows why this role is the logical next step
- About two minutes, not ten
Where else have you applied, and how would you choose between offers?
What a strong answer covers
- An honest answer that shows a consistent pattern
- Applications to related roles, which signal genuine focus
- The factors you would weigh, such as training, team and the work itself
- Why this firm scores well on those factors, with specifics
What have you learned about this firm since you applied?
What a strong answer covers
- Something you found out from a person, an event or recent news
- Why it caught your attention
- How it changed or confirmed your view of the firm
- A link back to what you would do in the role
What do you expect your first year in this role to be like?
What a strong answer covers
- A realistic picture: long hours, fast learning and lots of detail
- Tasks you would likely do, such as research, models and slides
- How you would handle being new and making early mistakes
- What you hope to have learned by the end of the year
Why should we offer you a place over the other candidates today?
What a strong answer covers
- Two or three strengths, each backed by brief evidence
- A link from each strength to the job itself
- Confidence without criticising anyone else
- A short, memorable close
What is the biggest doubt you have about this career?
What a strong answer covers
- A genuine doubt, such as the hours or the pressure
- Evidence that you have looked into it, for example by talking to people in the job
- How you have handled similar demands before
- Why the doubt doesn't outweigh your reasons for applying
Who have you spoken to in the industry, and what did you take from it?
What a strong answer covers
- A real conversation, event or insight programme
- One specific thing you learned that you couldn't have read online
- How it shaped your application or your choice of division
- What you did to follow up
If you don't receive an offer this year, what will you do?
What a strong answer covers
- A calm, honest answer that doesn't sound like you expect to fail
- How you would use any feedback from today
- A concrete plan to build skills or experience in the meantime
- Evidence that your interest in finance would stay the same
Why this division
Why this team, and what the work really involves
What does a junior in this division actually spend their day doing?
What a strong answer covers
- Concrete tasks rather than job titles
- How the work changes on a busy day compared with a quiet one
- Who juniors work with and report to
- Which parts of that day you would enjoy most, and why
Why markets and not investment banking, or the other way round?
What a strong answer covers
- A fair description of how each one works day to day
- The type of work and pace that suit you, with evidence
- No criticism of the division you didn't choose
- A link to skills you have already shown
What attracts you to the buy side at this stage of your career?
What a strong answer covers
- What buy-side firms do with the money they manage
- Why making investment decisions interests you more than advising or trading for clients
- Evidence such as following markets, an investment society or a stock pitch
- A realistic view of what junior roles involve
In investment banking, would you prefer a sector team or a product team, and why?
What a strong answer covers
- A clear explanation: sector teams cover industries, product teams cover types of deal such as M&A or debt
- A reason linked to what you enjoy, such as depth in one industry or technical deal work
- An example sector or product and why it interests you now
- Openness about where you are placed
Why do you want to work in risk rather than a client-facing role?
What a strong answer covers
- A positive reason, not that other roles felt out of reach
- What risk teams do: measure, set limits and challenge decisions
- Skills that suit it, such as analysis and questioning assumptions
- An example of a risk in the news and how a bank might manage it
How does the division you have applied to make money for the firm?
What a strong answer covers
- The main sources of revenue, such as fees, spreads or management charges
- What drives those revenues up or down
- One current trend affecting it, such as interest rates or deal activity
- How a junior contributes to that revenue, even indirectly
If we offered you a place in a different division, would you take it?
What a strong answer covers
- Honesty about your first choice and why
- Genuine openness, naming a division you would also consider and why
- Skills that transfer between the two
- No sign that you would accept anything just to get in
Which skills matter most in this division, and which one do you still need to build?
What a strong answer covers
- Two or three skills specific to the division, not generic ones
- Evidence that you already have some of them
- An honest gap, with a plan to close it
- How the programme's training would help
Light technical
Core finance ideas explained simply and accurately
How do the three financial statements link together?
What a strong answer covers
- Profit for the year (net income) from the income statement is the starting point of the cash flow statement
- The cash flow statement explains the change in cash on the balance sheet
- Retained earnings on the balance sheet grow by profit for the year less dividends
- A simple example, such as depreciation reducing profit but not cash
Depreciation rises by £10 and is deductible for tax at 25%. What happens to the three statements?
What a strong answer covers
- Operating profit falls by £10 and profit after tax by £7.50
- On the cash flow statement, profit is £7.50 lower but the £10 of depreciation is added back, so cash rises by £2.50
- On the balance sheet, cash is up £2.50 and fixed assets are down £10, so assets fall by £7.50
- Retained earnings fall by £7.50, so both sides still balance
- A note that UK tax relief on fixed assets usually comes through capital allowances rather than the depreciation charge
Structure: Walk through the income statement, then cash flow, then the balance sheet, and check it balances
What are the main ways to value a company?
What a strong answer covers
- Comparable companies: multiples such as EV/EBITDA for similar listed firms
- Precedent transactions: multiples paid in past deals, often higher because buyers pay for control
- Discounted cash flow: forecast cash flows discounted at the cost of capital
- When each method is most useful and why their results differ
- That a valuation is usually a range, not one number
What is the difference between enterprise value and equity value?
What a strong answer covers
- Equity value is what the shares are worth
- Enterprise value is the value of the whole business to all its investors
- The bridge between them: add debt and similar claims, subtract cash
- Why EV/EBITDA uses enterprise value while the P/E ratio uses equity value
How might a surprise cut in Bank Rate affect UK shares, gilts and the pound?
What a strong answer covers
- Gilt yields would likely fall, so gilt prices would rise
- Shares may rise because borrowing gets cheaper and future profits are worth more today
- The pound may weaken because sterling savings earn less
- Markets react to the surprise rather than the cut itself, and the reaction can differ in practice
What is working capital, and how can a growing, profitable company run out of cash?
What a strong answer covers
- Working capital is roughly current assets less current liabilities: mainly stock, money owed by customers and money owed to suppliers
- Growth ties up cash in stock and unpaid invoices before profit turns into cash
- Profit is recorded when a sale is made, not when the cash arrives
- Ways to manage it, such as faster collection, better supplier terms or a working capital facility
Why is debt usually cheaper than equity for a company?
What a strong answer covers
- Lenders are paid before shareholders, so they take less risk and accept a lower return
- Interest is usually tax-deductible, which lowers the after-tax cost
- Too much debt raises the risk of default, which pushes up the cost of both
- A link to the idea of a sensible mix and the weighted average cost of capital
One company trades on a P/E of 30 and its rival on 12. What might explain the gap?
What a strong answer covers
- Faster expected growth justifies paying more for today's earnings
- Lower risk or steadier earnings can support a higher multiple
- Earnings that are temporarily depressed make a P/E look high
- Differences in debt, accounting or business mix, and a view on whether the gap looks justified
Strengths
What you do well and what gives you energy
Think about the last week. What did you do that gave you energy rather than draining it?
What a strong answer covers
- A specific task, not a general trait
- Why it energised you: the challenge, the people or the outcome
- Whether you would choose to do more of it
- Where that kind of task shows up in this role
What do you find easy that other people seem to find hard?
What a strong answer covers
- A real strength with a quick example
- How other people have noticed or relied on it
- Humility: it comes easily to you, which isn't proof you are better
- How it would help your team here
When were you last so absorbed in something that you lost track of time?
What a strong answer covers
- A vivid, specific moment
- What about the task held your attention
- What you produced or learned
- The link to work you would do in this job
What do people come to you for help with?
What a strong answer covers
- A pattern, with two quick examples
- Why you think they come to you
- How you enjoy helping, and when you say no
- How that strength fits a busy team
Which of your strengths can become a weakness when you overuse it?
What a strong answer covers
- A clear strength, such as thoroughness or drive
- An honest example where overusing it caused a problem
- What you noticed and how you adjusted
- How you keep it in balance now
How do you feel about work that is detailed and repetitive?
What a strong answer covers
- An honest answer, because junior roles include plenty of it
- How you stay accurate and focused, with a method
- An example where careful, detailed work mattered
- Where you find satisfaction in doing it well
What role do you naturally take in a team, and when do you step out of it?
What a strong answer covers
- Your usual role, with a brief example
- A time the team needed something different and you adapted
- How your role helps other people work well
- What that says about how you would fit a busy team
What achievement are you proudest of, and what does it say about you?
What a strong answer covers
- An achievement that took sustained effort, not luck
- The part you personally played
- The strength it shows, named clearly
- Why that strength matters in this role