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Search every verified Jeff Hoffmeister interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jeff Hoffmeister, a Georgetown University graduate (B'92) and Managing Director and Head of East Coast Tech Banking at Morgan Stanley at the time of the interview, discussed his career in investment banking in a 2018 alumni profile. He described investment banking as a combination of advising companies, CEOs, and boards on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising. Hoffmeister noted that the hours are long but comparable to other customer service professions, and he advised students to prepare for both technical questions and behavioral questions in interviews, such as being asked to calculate free cash flow or describe how friends would characterize them. Hoffmeister encouraged students to use informational interviews to evaluate both the institution and the industry, and to pursue a dual approach with career services and HR departments when applying. He also stated that it is common for people to enter investment banking for a few years before moving to business school or another industry, though some remain in the field if they enjoy it. He emphasized that at a young age, investment banking provides high-quality time with CEOs and founders, allowing one's input to be heard.
“Investment Banking is basically a combination of giving advice to companies to CEOs to boards on things like buying another company, selling their company, as well as the second half of it being capital raising.”
“You really spend your time advising companies themselves, advising management teams and boards on what course of action they should take on things like buying another company or raising capital, then should you raise capital now, should you raise capital later, should you buy this company and if so how much should you...”
“I think what you do is you find that you're kind of 6, 12, 18 months in, you get a sense for what you're doing on a daily basis, you look at the more senior people that have been there longer, what they're doing on a daily basis and you look at them and you say is that what I want to be doing, does it look like they're...”
“The hours in investment banking are long, there's no question, but like any customer service job, whether you're in consulting or law or banking, you're providing advice and service to someone else, so your hours and schedule can change quickly because a client needs your help.”
“I think a lot of people go to investment banking and say I want to do it for a couple of years then maybe I go to business school or maybe I've tried another industry. We see that a lot. We also have a lot of people that just go straight through and for the people who are in investment banking and love it, they say why...”
“Every investment banking firm will always grab good people at another firm, so maybe you've really had your heart set on firm X, it doesn't work out to start with, you go work for another firm, you do a great job and eighteen months after graduation you're back working in firm X where you really wanted to be.”
“You should interview the institution, interview the industry and see if it's something you want to do. Informational interviews can really help you do that. You should ask the same question of three or four people at one informational interview and three or four people in the next informational interview.”
“I think a lot of times people go through this and feel like this is a three-month interview, I'm getting interviewed the whole time and I got to figure out I get the job at the end of the summer. I'd encourage you to do an interview with the firm, do an interview of the industry, like take the time to grab coffee with...”
“You should expect more questions along the lines of 'help me figure out the cost of capital for a business' or 'help me figure out how much I should pay for this company' or 'help me figure out the calculation for free cash flow'. You should be prepared for those because the last thing you want to have happen is get ca...”
“What I love about Investment Banking is that at a very young age you get to spend very high quality time with CEOs, founders, with the executives that are forming our economy in many ways and it's just not with all due respect to other industries, I think this is one where you get to have your input heard and your advi...”
Jeff Hoffmeister(B'92), Managing Director, Head of East Coast Tech Banking at Morgan Stanley discusses his career in ...
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