The questions that actually come up

This hub collects the questions that actually come up in graduate, internship and off-cycle interviews across finance, consulting and law, grouped by role and by question type. Every set pairs each question with a model answer and the reasoning behind it, so you are not just memorising responses but learning why a strong answer works and where a weak one falls down.

The sets fall into four families. Finance covers investment banking, sales and trading, equity research, private equity, hedge funds and accounting. Consulting covers the case interview and the fit conversation that sits alongside it. Law covers commercial law firm interviews. General covers the behavioural and brainteaser questions that cut across every sector. Start with the set that matches the role you are interviewing for, then add the general behavioural set, because motivation and competency questions come up in almost every process regardless of the desk.

Almost every interview mixes two kinds of question, and interviewers mark them very differently. Technical questions test whether you understand the mechanics of the job: how a discounted cash flow model is built, why a leveraged buyout generates returns, how an acquisition affects earnings per share, how to size a market or structure a profitability case, or a specific point of commercial law. These have a right answer, and the interviewer is checking your accuracy, your reasoning and how calmly you handle being pushed.

Fit questions, also called behavioural or competency questions, test motivation, self-awareness and whether you will be good to work alongside. Why this firm, why this role, walk me through your CV or resume, tell me about a time you led under pressure, describe a failure. There is no single correct answer, but strong ones are specific, honest and structured. Most competency answers work best with the STAR method: set the Situation and Task, spend most of your time on the Action you personally took, and finish on a concrete Result.

Recognising which mode a question is in tells you how to answer it. Technicals reward brevity and precision, so get to the answer and show your working without padding. Fit answers reward a clear narrative and a genuine, evidenced reason, so lead with the story rather than a generic claim. When an interviewer follows up, they are almost always probing the same thread more deeply, not changing the subject, so stay on your point rather than reaching for a new one.

Reading a model answer is the starting point, not the finish. Questions only stick once you have said the answer out loud under something close to real pressure. A simple loop works well: read the question and try to answer it cold before looking at the model, compare the two, note the gap, then re-answer out loud until it is smooth and unhesitating.

For technical questions, aim to derive the answer rather than recite it, because interviewers change the numbers and follow up on the logic. For fit questions, build a bank of six to eight stories drawn from your CV or resume, internships, projects and positions of responsibility, each one flexible enough to answer several different behavioural prompts. That way you are never scrambling for an example, only choosing the best one.

Where the format itself is part of the test, practise in that format. A HireVue or other recorded video round, a phone or video screen, an assessment centre in the UK or a superday in the US, and psychometric tests all reward familiarity with the medium as much as the content. Intervyo runs AI mock interviews and assessment style practice that simulate these formats and give instant feedback on the structure and delivery of your answers, not just whether the facts were right.

These banks are written for anyone targeting a spring week, a summer internship, an off-cycle placement or a graduate scheme, whether you are applying in London, New York or elsewhere. UK and US processes differ in vocabulary, so a CV rather than a resume, an assessment centre rather than a superday, and pay quoted in GBP rather than USD, but the substance of what is tested is shared. Every set is written to cover both markets.