With over $6 trillion in assets under management, Cantor Fitzgerald is one of the largest financial services firms in the world Landing a job here is no easy feat, as their interview process is known to be quite rigorous. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of Cantor Fitzgerald’s interview process, insider tips from current employees, and the most frequently asked interview questions.
Overview of the Interview Process
The standard Cantor Fitzgerald interview process consists of:
- A phone screening with HR
- 1-2 rounds of in-person interviews
- Potential superday with multiple interviews
The entire process usually takes 1-3 months from start to offer.
For junior roles like investment banking analysts, you can expect 2-4 total interviews. Associate and VP level candidates will likely have at least 4-6 interviews The interviews are primarily fit-based with some technical finance questions mixed in
Some tips from current employees:
- Brush up on accounting, valuation, and technical finance
- Prepare stock pitches and be ready to discuss markets/sector trends
- Fit is very important – show interest in the firm and demonstrate culture add
Now let’s look at some of the most commonly asked interview questions:
Most Frequently Asked Cantor Fitzgerald Interview Questions
Fit / Behavioral Questions
- Why Cantor Fitzgerald? Why this division?
- Walk me through your resume.
- Why investment banking / trading / sales & trading?
- What are your long term career goals? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
- Tell me about a time you faced a conflict at work. How did you handle it?
- Describe a time you went above and beyond to complete an assignment.
Accounting and Technical Questions
- Walk me through the 3 financial statements.
- What are the difference between revenue and net income?
- How would you calculate working capital? Walk through the formula.
- How do you calculate EBITDA? What are some adjustments?
- What is WACC and how is it used? Walk through the calculation.
- How would you value a company using comparables? What multiples would you look at?
Market and Pitch Questions
- Pitch me a long or short stock idea.
- What investment themes / sectors are you following currently? Why?
- Walk me through your investment thesis for [Company X].
- What factors drive equity valuations in the current market environment?
Stock Pitch Framework
Since stock pitches often come up, it’s important to have a framework in mind. Here’s a sample structure:
- Investment thesis summary
- Company overview
- Industry drivers and outlook
- Competitive landscape
- Financial overview
- Valuation
- Risks and downside scenarios
- Investment recommendation
Additional Tips for Interviews
In addition to preparing for likely interview questions, keep these tips in mind:
- Research the firm’s culture and demonstrate strong interest
- Ask thoughtful questions about the role, group, firm strategy
- Be prepared with stock ideas and market views to discuss
- Use specific examples and walk through your thinking process
- Maintain eye contact, speak slowly and clearly
With thorough preparation using the tips above, you’ll be well equipped for the Cantor Fitzgerald interview process. Reach out to employees for insider perspectives and practice responding to likely questions out loud. This will help ensure you stand out amongst the competition for these highly coveted roles.
Frequency of Entities:
cantor fitzgerald: 16 times
interview: 14 times
investment banking: 5 times
questions: 5 times
process: 4 times
prepare: 3 times
practice: 2 times
phone screening: 1 time
superday: 1 time
tips: 3 times
employees: 2 times
technical: 2 times
accounting: 2 times
experience: 1 time
offer: 1 time
valuation: 1 time
modeling: 0 times
Cantor FitzgeraldInvestment Banking
Based on the Interview Insights at this company, the Interview Experience is a score between 1 star (very bad) and 5 stars (very good).
The number in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the mean of all these scores. If you move your mouse over the different parts of the doughnut, you’ll see exactly how each score was calculated.
The title percentile score is based on an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates that is applied to the whole Company Database. This is done to account for companies that don’t have many interview insights. For easy explanation, when a business gets more reviews, the belief in its “true score” grows. This makes it move closer to its own simple average and away from the overall average of the dataset. 3. 8.
Based on the Interview Insights at this company, the Interview Difficulty is a score that goes from “very difficult” (red) to “very easy” (green).
The number in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the mean of all these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. This doughnut has different parts that, when you move your mouse over them, show you the 20% breakdown of each score given.
The title percentile score is based on an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates that is applied to the whole Company Database. This is done to account for companies that don’t have many interview insights. That is, as a business learns more, it becomes more sure of a “true score,” which moves it closer to its own simple average and away from the overall average of the data set. 2. 7.
Based on reviews at this company, the 20% of interns getting full-time offers chart is meant to give you a good idea of how the company hires people.
The number in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the mean of all these scores. This doughnut has different parts that, when you move your mouse over them, show you the 20% breakdown of each score given.
It uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates to account for companies that don’t have many reviews, which is how the percentile score in the title is found. To put it simply, when a business gets more reviews, the “true score” becomes more likely to be accurate. This makes it move closer to the simple company average and away from the average of all the data. 56%.
