Applied online (numerical test necessary), took a few weeks before I got a reaction 2 rounds of phone interviews + assessment center First phone interview was with an analyst and was mostly about motivation. Quite short (30 mins max). Second phone interview was with an associate and was quite technical (calculate a rough LBO without calculator and say what happens to P&L, BS and CF Statement in each year; had to estimate multiples etc. and estimate IRR without calculator) AC consisted of 2 interviews, a Kenexa numerical test (20 questions in 20 minutes), an individual presentation (M&A case), a group discussion (similar case), and a modelling test (3 hours) The interviews were quite hard, but as I was well prepared I had no major problems (in my opinion, I didn't get the offer though). For the individual presentation you had 20 mins to prepare an M&A case (did not really expect that for a buy-side job tbh) and present it without PPT or Flipchart in 10 mins, followed by 10 mins of questions (from an ED in my case). The group discussion was based on a very similar case. 10 mins to prepare, then discuss for 10 or 20 mins, followed by 10 mins of questions by a group of employees. The numerical test was paper-based, but time was a major problem for us (the online version had 18 questions in 25 minutes, this one 20 in 20). In the modelling test, you got two Excel sheets (input and calculations). You had to find some important inputs yourself using a market report, the rest was given. The calculation page included all the necessary lines to come up with the cash flows and returns of the investment, but you had to fill in all the formulas and make it dynamic (e.g. dynamic holding period). In the end, you had to create two sensitivity tables.