Citi interview questions, step by step

1. Step 1

   Apply

   Through Citi's online portal on Workday, with a new Citi-specific account. Highlight your skills and relevant experience.

2. Step 2

   Skills evaluation

   A skills discovery survey for EMEA and global Services programs, or a coding assessment for Tech programs.

3. Step 3

   First interview

   If selected, a one-on-one interview that goes deeper into your background and how your aspirations align with Citi's.

4. Step 4

   Final stage

   Depending on program and location, multiple interviews, an assessment or a case study exercise.

5. Step 5

   Offer extended

   If you are the best fit for the role, Citi reaches out with an offer and your recruiter explains the details.

Your background, and how your goals line up with Citi's.

1. 1

   Walk me through your background.

   What a strong answer does

   Citi says this interview checks how your goals line up with its own. So every step should point toward the program, and the last one should be it. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Which experience taught you the most?”
   • “What's your plan if banking doesn't work out?”
2. 2

   Where do you want to be in five years?

   What a strong answer does

   Citi asks how your aspirations align with its own. Show a path that runs through the program, not around it. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Why would you stay past the program?”
   • “Which part of the job do you expect to like least?”
3. 3

   Why Citi?

   What a strong answer does

   Name something specific about its banking business or people you met, and connect it to your goals. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Which Citi team would you want to join?”
   • “What do you know about our banking business?”
4. 4

   Why investment banking?

   What a strong answer does

   Show you know what an analyst actually does, and point to something you did that made you want it. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “What will be hardest about it?”
   • “Why not corporate banking?”

One question for each of its three principles.

1. 5

   Tell me about a time you took ownership of a problem that wasn't yours.

   What a strong answer does

   Take ownership. Show why you stepped in, what you did and how it ended. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Did anyone mind that you stepped in?”
   • “What would you do if it had gone wrong?”
2. 6

   Tell me about work you were proud of. What made it good?

   What a strong answer does

   Deliver with pride. Name the standard you held and the detail others would have missed. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “What would you still improve?”
   • “How did you check it?”
3. 7

   Tell me about a time a team you were on succeeded because of how it worked together.

   What a strong answer does

   Succeed together. Credit others, but make your own part clear. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “What did you do that no one else did?”
   • “What almost went wrong?”
4. 8

   Tell me about a time you failed.

   What a strong answer does

   A real failure, what you did next and what you changed. Taking ownership covers your mistakes too. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Who else was affected?”
   • “What do you do differently now?”

Citi's final stage can include interviews, an assessment or a case study.

1. 9

   Walk me through a DCF.

   What a strong answer does

   Keep it to four beats: project unlevered cash flow, pick a discount rate, value the years after the forecast, then move from enterprise to equity value. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “How do you get from revenue to free cash flow?”
   • “What drives the terminal value?”
2. 10

   A company raises $100 of debt to buy equipment. Walk me through the statements.

   What a strong answer does

   Nothing on the income statement at first, cash in and out on the cash flow statement, and both sides of the balance sheet up $100. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “What happens a year later?”
   • “Why does interest matter for the DCF?”
3. 11

   Enterprise value or equity value: what's the difference?

   What a strong answer does

   Equity value is what shareholders own. Add debt, take away cash and you get the value of the whole business. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Why do you subtract cash?”
   • “Which multiples go with each?”
4. 12

   Why would one company acquire another?

   What a strong answer does

   Growth, synergies, capabilities or a defensive move. Then say how a banker would test whether the price makes sense. Practice it, see a model answer

   • “Which synergies would you trust?”
   • “How would you pay for it?”

• Applying late

  Citi's pages say September of the year before, but US banking roles can open earlier. Check the posting now.

• Reusing another Workday account

  Citi needs a new Citi-specific Workday account. Accounts from other companies don't work.

• A background with no direction

  The first interview asks how your goals align with Citi's. Know where you are heading.

• Not preparing for a case

  Citi's final stage can be a case study exercise as well as interviews.

Follow Citi's steps in order.

1. Before applications open

   Pick the program

   Read the internship pages and attend Citi's recruiting events. Watch the posting, since US banking can open before September.

2. Before the first interview

   Line up your goals

   Practice your background answer until it ends on why Citi's program fits what you want next.

3. Before the final stage

   Prepare stories and technicals

   A story for each Leadership Principle, plus the accounting and valuation basics.

4. For a case

   Practice working out loud

   If the final stage is a case study, practice talking through numbers as you work.