Citi · Investment banking analyst · Summer Analyst / Analyst
Final stage technical interview
The deciding seat: back-solved valuation, merger math and cross-border judgment
What they actually ask
The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.
- “What if you're 90% terminal value in a DCF?”
- “How would you calculate cost of equity for a company whose cash flows are in a foreign currency?”
- “Company A and Company B have identical balance sheets. What are six reasons Company A could have a higher valuation?”
- “If you were valuing a company in Mexico instead of Brazil, what would be the key differences in your approach?”
- “Company A has an EV/EBITDA multiple of 10x, and Company B has a multiple of 12x. Which company is more leveraged?”
What this round is judged on
- Valuation · back-solving share price, leverage and multiples from a block of figures
- Merger and LBO reasoning · accretion and dilution as arithmetic, and returns intuition
- Cross-border judgment · currency, country risk and what changes in the discount rate
- Composure · mental arithmetic out loud without a model, and catching your own errors
How Larpy grades this
We score these the way an analyst would. Per topic, what a strong answer lands and the confidently-wrong answers Larpy catches.
- VALWalk me through a DCF
- Strong
- uses UNLEVERED free cash flow discounted at WACC (not levered FCF or cost of equity); includes a terminal value and discounts it back; sums to enterprise value, then bridges to equity.
- We flag
- discounts unlevered cash flow at the cost of equity; omits terminal value (it is usually the majority of the value); forgets to subtract the change in working capital or capex.
- MAAccretion / dilution
- Strong
- compares the two P/Es for a stock deal (higher acquirer P/E = accretive); for cash/debt, compares financing cost to the earnings yield; notes synergies can change the outcome.
- We flag
- claims an all-stock deal is always accretive because no cash is spent; ignores the relative multiples entirely.
- LBOWhy an LBO generates a return
- Strong
- names the three drivers: deleveraging, EBITDA growth, multiple expansion; explains leverage amplifies the equity return.
- We flag
- says the return comes from the debt itself rather than deleveraging plus growth; cannot name the return drivers.
Larpy builds a fresh question per topic from your resume and grades the full answer live. Start the mock for the worked model answer.
Where this round sits
Citi’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.
- 01Application (Workday)
- 02Skills evaluation (not simulated here)
- 03First interview
- 04First-round interviews with the banking team
- 05Final stagethis round
- 06Offer extended
What happens in each stage›
- Application (Workday)
- Submit through the Citi online portal, which runs on Workday and needs a Citi-specific account even if you already have one elsewhere. Summer Analyst applications typically open in September the year before the May or June start, are aimed at penultimate-year students, and the internship runs 8 to 16 weeks.
- Skills evaluation (not simulated here)
- Citi publishes this step as a skills discovery survey for EMEA and global Services programs, or an assessment confirming coding skills for programs in Tech. There is no coding assessment on the investment banking track, and Americas banking candidates commonly move straight from application to first interview.
- First interview
- Citi describes a one-on-one interview that goes deeper into your background and how your aspirations line up with the firm. On the banking side this is the screen that decides whether bankers see you at all: motivation, resume walk, and whether you can say something specific about Citi rather than about banking in general.
- First-round interviews with the banking team
- Reported rather than published: roughly 30-minute conversations with analysts and associates, part fit and part analyst-level technicals. Citi interviewers are known for pushing on valuation more than most, so this seat usually turns into multiples and a DCF quickly.
- Final stage
- Citi publishes that the final stage is either multiple interviews, an assessment or a case study exercise, depending on the program and the location. For Banking in the Americas that is a superday of back-to-back interviews with senior bankers. EMEA programs are the ones most likely to carry the assessment or case exercise version, so the shape of this stage is worth confirming with your recruiter rather than assuming.
- Offer extended
- If you are the best fit for the role, a recruiter reaches out with the offer and its details.
Sources
Built from what Citi publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
Citi's published five-step application process (apply, skills evaluation, first interview, final stage, offer extended), the fact that the skills evaluation is a skills discovery survey for EMEA and global Services programs or a coding assessment for programs in Tech, and that the final stage is either multiple interviews, an assessment or a case study exercise depending on the program and the location.
Summer Analyst structure: penultimate-year eligibility, 8 to 16 weeks, a May or June start, applications typically opening in September the year prior, and Banking (including Investment Banking and Capital Markets) as one of the business areas.
Analyst compensation and level context. No interview-process content.
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.