The 3 questions that start all interviews, Part 3: Why this bank
By SuperdayReps · Wharton MBA · ex-Greenhill · investment banking interview coaching
9 min read · updated August 31, 2026
This is the third of the three questions that open almost every interview, after walk me through your resume and why investment banking. It is also the one candidates most often wing, because the first two are about them and this one is about a firm they have mostly read about.
And that is exactly the trap. Everything you can find on the firm's website, every other candidate also found. Deal league tables, the founding year, the "entrepreneurial culture" line from the careers page. Reciting those proves you can use a search engine. It does not distinguish you from the forty other people interviewing that day, several of whom read the same page an hour earlier.
What the question is really testing
Two things, and neither is trivia.
Did you do work that costs something? Reading a website is free. Getting six people at the firm to give you fifteen minutes each is not. The interviewer is trying to find out whether you are genuinely interested in this bank or whether you applied everywhere and are now reverse-engineering a reason.
Are you likely to accept? This is the underrated half. Analyst recruiting is a staffing problem, and an offer that gets declined is a wasted slot and a rerun of the process. A candidate who has already met a chunk of the team and liked them is a much safer bet than one who is clearly running a numbers game. Signalling that you would say yes is doing the interviewer a favour, and they know it.
Which is why the strongest answer is not a fact about the firm at all.
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Frequently asked
- How do you answer 'why our bank'?
- Lead with the people you have actually spoken to there. Name how many, say what they told you that you could not have read anywhere, and be honest that you liked them and could see yourself working with them. Firm facts anyone can look up are the weakest possible answer, because every other candidate looked them up too.
- What should you say if you have not networked with anyone at the bank?
- Be honest and pivot to specifics you can defend: the group, the sector, a live deal you followed and what interested you about it. Do not invent conversations. But the real answer is to fix it before the interview, because a candidate who has spoken to five people there will out-answer you on this question every time.
- Should you mention other banks you are interviewing with?
- Only if asked, and never critically. Never disparage another firm, including the one you are sitting in. Banking is small, people move constantly, and the person across the table has friends everywhere. If asked why not Firm X, talk about what drew you here rather than what is wrong with them.
- How do you answer 'which group do you want'?
- Have a real preference and a reason, but stay open. Name a group and connect it to something specific: a sector you have followed, a deal type you find interesting, a conversation you had with somebody in that group. Then make clear you would be glad to learn elsewhere, because a rigid answer can screen you out of the seat you would actually have got.
- Is it okay to say you liked the people you spoke with?
- Yes, as long as it is specific rather than a compliment. 'Everyone was smart and friendly' is filler. 'I spoke with six people, three of them told me the same thing about how juniors get staffed, and I came away thinking these are people I would learn from' is evidence that you did the work and formed a view.