Behavioral / Practice
How to Deliver a God-Tier Mock Interview: The "War Game" Method
Stop being nice. Real interviews are terrifying. Learn how to simulate the pressure, track technical failures, and harden candidates for the actual superday.
The Best Mock Interview
The most valuable mock interview experience came from a tyrannical second-year MBA. No smiles. No pleasantries. Forty-five minutes of relentless grilling.
His closing words: "I'm worried for you. You don't know basic accounting. There is no chance you get an offer if you perform like this."
That feedback was crushing—and necessary. The subsequent week was spent mastering the 3 financial statements. That single hour of simulated terror was the most valuable investment in the entire recruiting process.
Your job as a mock interviewer is not to be nice. Your job is to simulate high-pressure reality.
The Persona: Stone Cold
The biggest mistake mock interviewers make is being too human. Nodding when answers are correct. Smiling to encourage. Saying "good" after a correct EBITDA definition.
Stop doing that.
In a real Superday, the Managing Director might be checking emails, looking bored, or actively trying to rattle the candidate. Mimic this environment.
- No Reactive Nodding: Sit still. Do not signal correctness. Force conviction without validation.
- Silence as a Weapon: After they finish an answer, wait three seconds before the next question. Watch them squirm. See if they ramble to fill dead air—a fatal error.
- Push the Pace: If they are slow, cut them off. "Next question."
The Setup: Scorecard Architecture
Do not wing it. Open a spreadsheet before the call.
The Structure: Three Phases
A proper mock mimics real interview flow but compresses the difficulty curve.
Phase I: The "Whys" (5-10 Minutes)
Start with behaviorals. "Tell me about yourself." "Why investment banking?" "Why this bank?"
Most candidates rehearse these until they sound robotic. Poke holes. If the story doesn't make sense, stop them. Ask "Why?" three times in a row. If they cannot defend their narrative, technicals are irrelevant.
Reference: Banking Stories & Whys
Phase II: Conceptual Technicals (10-15 Minutes)
Move into concepts. No calculations yet. Demand explanations as if speaking to a client.
The Debrief: Holding the Mirror
After 45 minutes, stop abruptly. Break character—slightly.
The Trap
Before giving any feedback, ask: "How do you think you did?"
Their answer reveals self-awareness calibration.
Summary
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