Got destroyed last week when an interviewer asked me to adjust a DCF for a non-standard divestiture scenario. How do seasoned bankers approach these curveballs? Looking for concrete examples of how actual deal experience informs shortcut calculations – what’s acceptable to approximate vs. where you绝对不能 cut corners?
‘destroyed’ lol welcome to banking. heres the secret: when they throw a curveball, they’re testing if you’ll panic. say ‘in practice, i’d pull comparable carve-out adjustments from capiq’ even if you’ve never touched the damn thing. confidence > accuracy 90% of the time
same thing happened to me! i think they wanted me to talk about synergy reversals? not sure tho. following for tips!
For atypical scenarios, anchor to first principles. If asked about divestitures, clarify whether it’s a full or partial carve-out. For partials, emphasize segment EBITDA adjustments and incremental working capital needs. Bonus: reference a real transaction (e.g., Pfizer’s Consumer Health spinoff) to show applied knowledge.
Curveballs mean they see your potential! Deep breaths – you’ll crush the next one! 
In 68% of reported ‘curveball’ DCF interviews, successful candidates used industry-specific beta adjustments or cited precedent transactions. Recommendation: Memorize 2-3 niche WACC calculations (e.g., renewable energy projects) to deploy as needed.