Leland+ for Investment Banking

Perfecting Technical Delivery

By mid-January, technical knowledge is a commodity. You and your peers all know the finance. What differentiates candidates at this stage is delivery. Interviews are a structured verbal game with specific mechanics and unwritten rules, and success depends on more than having the right answer. In this session, we’ll decode how interviews are actually evaluated and show you how framing, structure, and communication style signal executive presence and confidence. Moving beyond technical correctness, we’ll focus on the tactics that help strong candidates stand out—how to organize responses for clarity, avoid common delivery pitfalls, and communicate at a level that resonates with senior interviewers. Led by experienced interview coaches who have helped candidates secure offers at top firms, this session will give you practical, immediately applicable tools to turn solid preparation into an offer-winning performance.

Best Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

A practical guide to asking smart, strategic questions that impress interviewers and showcase your fit in investment banking interviews.

Build Your Personal Brand: Craft Your Story & Stand

A practical workbook that helps professionals define and confidently communicate their personal brand during a career transition.

What Makes a Good Stock Pitch

These slides include tips and examples for how to communicate your market view, differentiated view, monetization plan, risks, and rewards to investors.

Breaking into IB in Asia: Winning Resumes and Behavioral Interview Strategies

Landing an investment banking role in Asia requires more than technical skills—it takes a sharp resume, compelling stories, and a clear understanding of what regional recruiters value most. In this session, expert coach Hanie L. will share what sets successful candidates apart in Asia’s competitive recruiting landscape. ​Whether you’re targeting Hong Kong, Singapore, or another Asian financial hub, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to refine your application and interview prep so you can stand out and land offers.

Breaking into IB in London

​In this session, Leland coach Vanessa L.—a former investment banker turned operator and investor—shares her insider perspective on breaking into Investment Banking in London. Having worked across M&A and capital markets at top firms in both NYC and London, she’s coached 40+ professionals through high-stakes transitions into IB and beyond. ​You’ll walk away with actionable strategies for refining your story, succeeding in interviews, and navigating the competitive London IBD landscape. Whether you're targeting analyst roles or looking to pivot into IB from another path, this session is designed to equip you with the confidence, clarity, and practical tools to advance your career with intention.

IB Division Structure: Coverage v. Product Groups

Explains the organizational structure of investment banks, distinguishing between coverage groups that manage client relationships and product groups that provide specialized financial services.

The Perfect Finance Resume Template

This resume template is designed to help candidates pass initial resume screens and compete for investment banking and private equity roles. It includes structured sections, formatting guidance, and examples that reflect what recruiters typically look for during early-stage recruiting.

Wells Fargo Investment Banking Resume

See a real-world investment banking resume and learn what it takes to land a top finance job.

Own Your IB Story Before Someone Asks [7/28/2026] (Recording)

Before recruiting begins, you need to be able to explain who you are, why investment banking makes sense for you, and how your experiences fit together. In this session, we'll work through the core pieces of your recruiting package: your resume, your positioning, your "walk me through your resume" response, and your answer to "Why investment banking?" We'll discuss how to translate non-finance experience into a credible banking narrative and avoid the generic answers bankers hear from every candidate. You'll leave with a framework for building a clear, convincing story that you can deliver naturally in coffee chats and interviews. You'll learn how to: - Position your background for investment banking - Structure a strong "walk me through your resume" response - Develop a credible and specific answer to "Why IB?" - Connect your experiences into one coherent narrative - Identify weaknesses in your resume and positioning before recruiting begins

How Candidates Get Cut Early in IB Recruiting [8/4/2026] (Recording)

Investment banking recruiting starts well before the formal interview. Information sessions, outreach emails, coffee chats, and follow-ups may feel informal, but bankers are already evaluating whether they want to move you forward. In this session, we'll break down what happens when recruiting begins and explain the unwritten rules candidates are expected to understand. We'll cover information sessions, coffee chats, outreach, follow-ups, and the small mistakes that can quietly remove candidates from consideration. You'll leave knowing what to expect, how to navigate the early stages of recruiting, and how to make a strong impression without sounding rehearsed or transactional. You'll learn how to: - Understand the recruiting process once school begins - Approach information sessions and bank presentations - Write effective outreach and follow-up messages - Prepare for and lead strong coffee chats - Recognize what bankers are evaluating during informal interactions - Avoid the mistakes that get candidates cut before interviews

Your 2026 IB Networking Playbook [10/12/2026] (Recording)

Breaking into investment banking is rarely just about submitting an application. The right networking strategy can help you build relationships, get on the radar of the right people, and create opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to access. This session is for aspiring investment bankers who want to network more strategically and build a stronger path into the industry. You’ll learn who to reach out to, how to start conversations that actually go somewhere, and how to turn networking into real recruiting opportunities. Join live to hear from an IB expert who formerly worked at Centerview and successfully recruited into investment banking from a different career path. The speaker will share firsthand lessons on building relationships, navigating the recruiting process, and avoiding common networking mistakes. Bring your questions and leave with a practical networking playbook you can put to work immediately.

Investment Banking Kickoff: Your Guide to Securing an Offer [10/12/2026] (Recording)

Investment banking recruiting can feel like a maze of applications, networking, technicals, and interviews, but there’s a clear strategy behind how successful candidates navigate it. This kickoff session is for students and professionals who want to understand what it takes to compete for IB roles and turn recruiting efforts into real opportunities. You’ll learn how to build a stronger recruiting strategy, position yourself for the process, and prepare for the key stages that can ultimately lead to an offer. Join live for a panel of IB experts who know what it takes to navigate investment banking recruiting. They’ll share practical strategies, firsthand lessons, and insights into what successful candidates do throughout the process. Bring your questions and leave with a clearer roadmap for approaching IB recruiting with confidence.

Why Banking, Why This Firm, Why This Group [9/1/2026] (Recording)

Swap the word banking for consulting. If your answer still holds, you have not answered the question. That is the test, and most answers fail it. Fast paced, smart people, steep learning curve. All true, all interchangeable, all heard forty times this month by the person across the table. Three questions, scored separately, proved three different ways. Why banking is proved by your past. Why this firm is proved by your conversations. Why this group is proved at desk level, by someone who actually sits on it. One structure underneath all three. Claim, reason, evidence, impact. Sixty seconds. The evidence slot is the one that decides the answer, and it is the only slot you cannot write at your desk. That is why this session sits here in the run and not at the start. You do not walk into the chats with these answers. You walk out with them. What we'll cover: - The swap test and the name swap test, and how to run both on the answer you already have - Claim, reason, evidence, impact, and why evidence is the only slot with lead time - Where firm evidence comes from: named conversations, one deal known properly, platform, direct experience - Coverage versus product, and why a group answer that never names an industry is not an answer - How the bar moves at a bulge bracket versus an elite boutique versus a regional office - The failure that costs the most, which is being specific enough to be interesting and thin enough to collapse on the follow up Want to solidify your whys and be done with them? I run a popular 90-minute session where we go deep and construct a strong, personal story. Book a free 15-minute intro to learn more. Part 5 of Coffee Chat Ready, a six part run on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each one stands alone, so jump in anywhere. I'm the founder of OFFERGOBLIN and ex-Centerview tech.

Ace your Behavioral Interviews! [7/30/2026] (Recording)

Are you ready to ace your behavioral interviews and make a lasting impression? Join me, Fiona, for an insightful session where we'll dive deep into the art of behavioral interview preparation. With my extensive experience as the CEO of QuantMinds and former Executive Director at Haas School of Business, I've guided countless professionals and students in mastering their career stories and interview skills for Finance, IB, Quant, PE and Hedge Fund Interviews! In this event, we'll cover essential topics such as promotion strategy, technical interview prep, resume and cover letter reviews, and even LinkedIn optimization. Whether you're aiming for a role in commercial banking, private wealth management, or any other subcategory within quantitative finance, this session is tailored to help you succeed. Spaces are limited, so be sure to RSVP and secure your spot. Let's transform your interview approach and set you on the path to success!

Your Investment Banking Resume [8/18/2026] (Recording)

A banker reads your resume in about ten seconds. The format is solved. One page, three sections, one line per bullet, strongest first. Most people know some version of that and still spend weeks iterating, because they are trying to be completely understood on the page. That is the most common mistake and it is the one people refuse to fix. Your resume is a conversation starter and a first impression, not a full account of you. We will go through the whole page. What each section is for, how to rank what goes inside it, and the bullet formula that makes a line worth reading. Then the words to cut, starting with the ones nobody says out loud in an interview. What we'll cover: - Why ten seconds decides the format, and what that rules out - The three sections, what belongs in each, and which one should be longest - The bullet formula: strong verb, specific work, scale, result - Resume-ese and what to say instead, including why "reported" beats "researched" - Putting a number in every bullet, and how to round it - The most common mistake, which is over-explaining Want to solidify your resume and be done with it? Send it over and I will pass back a full rewrite, at a discount for anyone here. Book a free 15-minute intro to learn more. Part 1 of Coffee Chat Ready, a six part run on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each one stands alone, so jump in anywhere. I'm the founder of OFFERGOBLIN and ex-Centerview tech.

IB Technicals 6: LBOs and Market Questions [10/1/2026] (Recording)

LBOs come last because they need everything before them, and the paper LBO is the question that proves it. An LBO is buying a rental property with a huge mortgage. Minimal equity down, the tenant's rent services the debt, sell the building later. Once that clicks, the mechanics follow: how much debt a business can carry, what a sponsor is, the three levers of return, and the lookup table that turns a multiple of money into an IRR. Two times in five years is about fifteen percent. Three times is about twenty-five. Then we do a paper LBO out loud, the way you would in the room. The last block of the series is the payoff. Where markets are right now, pitch me a stock, and tell me about a deal you have been following. One structure for each, and how a company, a deal, and a trend become one answer. What we'll cover: - What an LBO is, who the sponsor is, and what the goal of the deal actually is - The three levers of return, and why multiple expansion is the one you do not get credit for - IRR versus multiple of money, and the lookup table to memorize - The paper LBO, worked out loud - Why a strategic buyer can often pay more than a financial sponsor - Where are markets right now, pitch me a stock, and the deal you have been following Want the whole run checked in one sitting? I run a 90-minute mock interview, a full simulation and then rapid-fire technicals on whatever broke. Book a free 15-minute intro to see if it is a good fit. Part 6 of IB Technicals, a six part run on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each night covers how the concept works and, more importantly, how to actually answer the questions on it, with the stories and details behind them. Each one stands alone, so jump in anywhere. I'm the founder of OFFERGOBLIN and ex-Centerview tech.