Updated 2026

Industrials Interview Guide

Comprehensive Industrials guide for investment banking interview preparation

2
Lesson Levels
24
Flashcards
24
Quiz Questions

Lesson Outline

Understand the industrials sector covering manufacturing, aerospace & defense, and industrial services.

  • 1. Industrials Subsectors
  • Aerospace & Defense (A&D)
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • Machinery & Capital Goods
  • Building Products
  • Diversified Industrials (Conglomerates)
  • 2. Business Models: OEM vs. Aftermarket
  • The "Razor / Razor Blade" Model
  • Why Aftermarket Matters
  • Servitization and Outcome-Based Contracts
  • 3. Manufacturing Types & Factory KPIs
  • Process vs. Discrete Manufacturing
  • Key Factory Floor Metrics
  • 4. Airline Unit Economics
  • 5. Key Metrics for Industrials
  • Book-to-Bill Ratio
  • Backlog
  • Organic vs. Inorganic Growth
  • Utilization Rates
  • 6. Valuation Considerations
  • Primary Multiple: EV/EBITDA
  • Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP)
  • Cyclicality & "Mid-Cycle" Earnings
  • 7. Industry Dynamics
  • Operating Leverage
  • Short-Cycle vs. Long-Cycle
  • Capex and Replacement Cycles

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Flashcards

Preview: 6 of 24 flashcards
Why is EV/EBITDA the most common valuation multiple for Industrial companies?
Technical
Review Module
Industrials
Question 1 of 6

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Practice Quiz

Preview: 4 of 24 questions
Question 1 of 4

If an Industrial company has a Book-to-Bill ratio of 1.2x, what does this imply?

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About This Industrials Interview Guide

Understand the industrials sector covering manufacturing, aerospace & defense, and industrial services. Includes structured lessons, interactive flashcards, and practice quizzes to help you master Industrials for investment banking interviews.

This guide is part of the Industry Verticals section of our interview preparation platform. Each guide includes structured lessons at basic and advanced levels, interactive flashcards for active recall, and practice quizzes to test your understanding.

Structured Lessons

Basic and advanced content levels

24 Flashcards

Active recall for interview prep

24 Quiz Questions

Test your understanding

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Monkey

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Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
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I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
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As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
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From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
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heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
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Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Lazard

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The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Qatalyst Partners

Analyst

I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Greenhill & Co.

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Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
Anon

User Story

I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
J.P. Morgan

Analyst

I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
RBC

Analyst

I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
Anon

User Story

As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Anon

Seen on Twitter

heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
Anon

User Story

Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Lazard

Analyst

The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Qatalyst Partners

Analyst

I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Greenhill & Co.

Analyst

Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
Anon

User Story

I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
J.P. Morgan

Analyst

I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
RBC

Analyst

I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
Anon

User Story

As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Anon

Seen on Twitter

heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
Anon

User Story

Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.

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