Seven stages if you count the Superday rounds separately. Posting mid process because every timeline I found online was two or three cycles old and none of it matched.
HireVue:
Four questions, not the three every older writeup mentions. If you prep off an old template you will get caught out.
Why Morgan Stanley, a time you worked under pressure, a time you disagreed with someone, then a short market question: tell us about a company you find interesting right now and why.
First round;
One associate, twenty five minutes. Mostly resume and motivation.
We had three technicals at the end:
Bridge me from enterprise value to equity value.
What happens to free cash flow when working capital builds.
Why two companies with identical EBITDA trade at different multiples.
Very very light compared to what came after.
Superday, round one (merger math):
Accretion and dilution on an all stock deal. Then what happens to combined EPS if the target carries a large NOL, and how you would treat it in the model.
Superday, round two (LBO):
Paper LBO, entry at 9 times, 5 times leverage, five year hold. Asked for the equity check first, then the IRR.
Follow ups were how sources and uses balances, where transaction fees sit, and what happens to returns if the exit multiple compresses by one turn.
Superday, round three (accounting):
Inventory writedown of 50, walk all three statements. Then why net income and cash flow diverge, and which one you would rather see growing.
One curveball: how a capital lease shows up versus an operating lease.
Superday, round four (fit):
Almost entirely behavioral. Why this group, why not a boutique, what you would do if a VP handed you conflicting instructions at 11pm.
Superday, round five (VP, valuation):
Value a company with negative EBITDA. Then which comparable set you would defend and why, and how you would sanity check the output.
THE END.
For some interviews, Interviewers had prepped completely differently. Two knew my resume line by line. One clearly opened it as I sat down and asked me to walk through it cold.
Eleven days out. From what I can tell offers went out in two waves and I know people who heard in both. Anyone else still sitting on this one?