The toolkit
Work through it in order the first time. After that, treat it like a reference: jump to whatever you're dealing with this week.
Start here
Foundations
- The recruiting timeline, sophomore to juniorA month-by-month calendar for finance and consulting, and what to do if you're already behind.2 min
- Running finance and consulting at the same timeWhat's shared, what isn't, and how to split your week so neither track starves.1 min
- No big-name internship? Build the substituteHow to show experience and initiative when you don't have a brand-name line on your resume yet.1 min
Resume & story
- The resume template (interactive)An annotated one-page resume with 14 clickable notes, the bullet formula, the formatting spec, and a ready-to-edit Word file.1 min
- The resume that passes the screenFormat, bullet formulas, and the two-version approach for finance and consulting.2 min
- Your story: 'Walk me through your resume' and 'Why us?'Build a two-minute story that connects your past to this firm, and answer 'why banking/consulting' without cliches.1 min
- The elevator pitchA 30 to 60 second introduction: the anatomy, a fill-in template, and two worked examples.3 min
Networking
- Your LinkedIn profile, set up for recruitingWhat alumni see when they click your name, and how to make it convince them to reply.1 min
- The networking systemWho to contact, how many, how often, and how to turn cold emails into referrals.1 min
- Find alumni emails with Apollo and the LinkedIn extensionHow to install Apollo's Chrome extension, pull a professional email from a LinkedIn profile, verify it, and use it responsibly for networking outreach.7 min
- Networking email rules and templatesEight rules for cold emails, plus the outreach, reply, and post-call follow-up templates.4 min
- Networking scripts libraryCopy-paste emails and LinkedIn notes for every situation: cold outreach, follow-ups, thank-yous, referral asks.3 min
- Coffee chat playbook: 20 questions that workHow to run the call, what to ask, what to never ask, and how to leave an impression.2 min
Technicals
- Finance technicals: what they test and how to answerWhy interviewers ask technicals, and the three things every good answer has: accuracy, confidence, and agility.3 min
- Technicals: accountingWalk through the three statements, how they link, and the accounting questions interviewers ask most.9 min
- Technicals: valuation basicsWhat valuation is for, enterprise value vs. equity value, and how dilution works.4 min
- Technicals: DCF, comps, precedents, and LBOHow to walk through each valuation method, plus the merits and downsides of each.5 min
- Technicals: WACC, beta, free cash flow, and terminal valueThe DCF building blocks interviewers drill on: cost of capital, levering beta, FCF, and how to pick a terminal value.5 min
- Technicals: valuation curveballsWhy similar companies are valued differently, ranking the methods, common multiples, other methodologies, and the apple tree.4 min
- Technicals: transactions, debt, and LBO returnsEBITDA, sources and uses of cash, types of debt, PIK, covenants, synergies, and the levers of an LBO.7 min
- PE recruiting and the paper LBOHow PE recruiting differs from banking, and a step-by-step method for the paper LBO.2 min
- Market awareness and the stock pitchHow to stay current without drowning, and a simple structure for a two-minute stock pitch.1 min
Financial modeling
- Financial modeling best practicesThe habits that separate a model people trust from one that gets thrown out: structure, formatting, checks, and the errors that sink candidates.5 min
- Excel shortcuts for financeThe keyboard shortcuts that make you fast and accurate in modeling tests, plus the functions you'll use constantly.5 min
- Build a three-statement model, step by stepThe full build order for linking the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, with a complete worked example that balances.6 min
- Build a DCF model, step by step (with Excel template)A complete DCF build with worked numbers, both terminal value methods, sanity checks, and a working Excel template you can download.7 min
- Build an LBO model, step by stepSources and uses, the debt schedule, the exit, and IRR, with a complete worked example and sensitivities that show what really drives returns.7 min
- Build a comparable companies analysisChoosing peers, calculating enterprise value and multiples, calendarizing, cleaning the data, and turning it into a valuation range.6 min
- Modeling tests and case studies: how to pass themWhat banks and funds test, how the timed Excel test and take-home case work, and a minute-by-minute strategy for the build.5 min
- Modeling interview questions and answersThe model-mechanics questions interviewers ask, with clear answers, plus a worked accretion/dilution example.8 min
Behavioral interviews
- Finance fit interviews: what a good answer looks likeThe four components of a strong qualitative answer, and why 'why banking?' drives everything.3 min
- 'Why banking?' — the most important questionHow to build an answer that shows real interest, with a full example and the follow-up 'where did your interest begin?'3 min
- Resume walk-through and 'where else are you interviewing?'How to walk through your resume in two minutes, and how to answer questions about other offers, big banks, and long-term plans.4 min
- Strengths, weaknesses, and team storiesHow to answer strengths, mistakes, failure, feedback, multitasking, and teamwork questions with real stories.5 min
- What bankers do: industry knowledge questionsAnswers on the job, lifestyle, product and industry groups, pitch books, sell-side M&A, divestitures, and advisory questions.5 min
- Market and deal questions: trends, a company you admire, an M&A deal, pitch a stockHow to answer the four questions that test whether you actually follow the markets.2 min
- Non-target curveballs: 'Why should we hire you?'How to answer 'I just talked to two kids from Harvard,' 'why did you pick your school,' 'you have no finance experience,' and 'why did you get a C?'4 min
Consulting
- Case interviews: the fundamentalsFrameworks that don't sound canned, structuring, and how to run a case from opening to recommendation.1 min
- Case math and market sizingMental-math shortcuts, chart reading, and a repeatable market-sizing method.1 min
- Consulting fit and behavioral interviewsThe story bank method: 6 stories that answer almost every behavioral question.1 min