By Victor Paquet (Mergersight Operations) and Carlo Leopardi & Tommaso Arona (Boston University partners)
Walkthrough
Investment banking applications are a numbers game. If you are not applying to as many companies as you can then you are doing something wrong. With that being said, when an interviewer asks you these questions, a natural way of thinking would be to lie and express their company as your only choice. This is a huge mistake. Interviewers are not stupid, they know you are applying to other banks. As such, the best course of actions is:
Honesty
Remain honest and admit you are indeed applying elsewhere.
Do not specify
However, do not precise which banks. Being honest is good, but the interviewer does not want to hear you are applying to their competitors.
Focus
Finally, despite the fact you are diversifying your applications, remain focus on the firm you are applying for. This is a great opportunity to follow a “why this bank?” basis and reiterate why you are here.