【正文】 bviously not a good idea). Thus the best first weighing is 4 against 4. That way, you reserve 4 balls, and can obtain some information about each subset of 4. Secondly, if you think through this problem long enough, you will realize how precious the information gained from a weighing is: You need to transfer virtually every piece of information you have gained from one weighing to the next. Say you weigh 4 against 4, and the scale balances. Lucky you! Now you know that the odd ball is one of the unweighed 4. But don39。ll examine what thought processes an interviewer is looking for, and then we39。s earnings. Defeating the 12Ball QuestionSome interview questions are notoriously difficult. This particular logic problem has made its appearance at various consulting, investment banking and tech firms (including McKinsey and Microsoft). Will you be prepared if your interviewer springs upon you the knotty 12 ball dilemma? Thanks to Vault Reports, you can answer in safety! Here39。s earningspershare will rise, because of the following rule: when a higher P/E pany buys a lower P/E pany, the acquirer39。s P/E ratio is 30 times earnings. After Company A acquires Company B, will Company A39。s cash flow: 5. Company A is considering acquiring Company B. Company A39。s net ine. Then you add back depreciation and amortization. Then you subtract the pany39。s market risk or beta.) Finally, you should also mention other methods of valuing a pany, including looking at parables, that is, how other similar panies were valued recently as a multiple of their sales, net ine, or some other measure. 2. Walk me through the major line items on a Cash Flow statement.A question to test your accounting skills. The answer: First the Beginning Cash Balance, then Cash from Operations, then Cash from Investing Activities, then Cash from Financing Activities, and finally the Ending Cash Balance. 3. What is EBITDA? Also known as cash flow, EBITDA is Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. 4. Say you knew a pany39。 or (2) you take the last year, say year 10, and assume some constant growth rate after that, perhaps 10%. The present value of this growing stream of payments after year 10 is the Terminal Value. Note: To figure out what discount rate you would use to discount the pany39。s projected cash flows by a riskadjusted discount rate. After projecting the first five or 10 years, you add in a Terminal Value, which represents the present value of all the future cash flows that are too far into the future to project. You can calculate the Terminal Value in one of two ways: (1) you take the earnings of the last year you projected, say year 10, and multiply it by some market multiple like 20 times earnings, and that39。re considering buying?One of the most mon questions Wall Street interviewers ask. (Other variations of this question are: how would you value a stock you were considering buying, taking public, etc.) Wall Streeters use this question to separate the finance jocks from the neophytes. Here39。 If so, what were its findings?5. Maintain eye contact. Always maintain direct eye contact during the case interview. Eye contact is critical when answering case questions it demonstrates confidence and authority. Remember that in consulting you may find yourself in front of 20 executives at a major corporation presenting a strategy you were briefed on only a halfhour ago. And then you have to answer questions! So you can see why business case interviewing is so important to consulting it is a direct parallel to the environment consultants must face every day.Finance Interview QuestionsWith Wall Street salaries skyrocketing, investmentbanking jobs are as hot as ever. This means it39。 What have other panies facing this situation done? If so, how did it react? Is there a work plan? Who hired us? s current relationship with its distribution partner. Would that be OK? In this way, you take charge of the line of questioning without stepping on the interviewer39。t want to ask your interviewer to later repeat information that has already been given. 2. Ask questions. Your interviewer expects you to ask questions as many intelligent questions as you need to obtain an accurate picture of the relevant facts in the case. Many inexperienced case interviewees make the error of not asking their interviewer any questions, perhaps afraid that they will look ignorant, or not wishing to bother the interviewer. On the contrary not asking questions is a fatal error in a case interview. If you don39。re going into an interview where you might expect a case question (a business question presented to you for your detailed analysis), it39。re interested in opportunities after graduation at the firm, and allows you to plan your strategic options. Some firms, like Goldman Sachs, are known for giving offers to a small proportion of the summer class. You may want to try better odds at another firm. * Will I be able to rotate between departments? Again, the more you know about the pany, the better you will be able to determine which department interests you most, or whether you want to work at the firm at all. If there39。m a perfectionist. Or: I tend to work too hard. You may want to prepare a more thoughtful answer, but you should at least anticipate this question. 10. If you could go anywhere for 24 hours, with an unlimited budget where would you go?Sometimes, interviewers will ask offthewall questions just to get a better sense of who you are as a person.Questions to Ask During Your Summer Internship Interviews* Can you give me an example of my summer responsibilities? Try to make sure the answer you receive is as specific as possible. Particularly if you39。t necessarily need to say that you want to work for the pany forever, but you should express how you think the position to which you are applying will help you grow. 7. So you just graduated. How did you like school?