Invited to a Centerview superday? Here is the format room by room, the technicals, brain teasers and market sizing it asks, how to prepare and how fast you hear back.
Key facts
- Interviews: Usually five or six back to back. A virtual superday for the diversity and non-target process ran four.6,7,8,16,5
- Length: About 30 minutes per interview, back to back, in a single day.6,7,8,16
- Format: Most rooms are 2-on-1. Some are 1-on-1, such as a conversation with an analyst or a partner's round.6,7,16,5
- Who you meet: Everyone from analysts to partners across the day.8,5
- In person or virtual: In person at the New York office. The diversity and non-target process has run its superday over Zoom.7,16,5
- Content: Mostly fit, with one finance technical room, a situational room and brain teaser or case rooms. Market sizing comes up too.6,8,16,7
- Hearing back: Decisions came the day after a February 2025 (summer 2026) superday. Expect offers within a few days and a short window to accept.6,17
The rounds are live and out loud, with no online assessment, modeling test or written case. Many technicals are numbers you work out in your head, so treat mental arithmetic as graded.16,13
What the Centerview Partners superday looks like
The invite
The superday follows a first round of two 30-minute interviews, sometimes after a phone screen. In February 2025 (summer 2026), the invite came two weeks after the first round. In another summer 2026 process, a fall phone round was followed months later by a superday invite in January.6,5,16
Who you meet
Expect everyone from analysts to partners across the day. Most rooms have two interviewers, which means two people taking notes while you think out loud. Some rooms are 1-on-1: an analyst who just wants a conversation, or a partner with brain teasers and niche technicals.8,5,6,7
The rooms
A New York superday in February 2025 (summer 2026) ran six 30-minute rooms: two behavioral, one finance technical, one situational and two brain teaser or case rooms. In March 2025 (summer 2026) it was five 2-on-1 rooms of 30 minutes in person at the New York office.6,7
What they ask
Mostly fit, often with questions that seem out of the box, such as which company you would want to run. The technicals are conceptual: what happens when one assumption changes, rather than the standard question bank. Brain teasers and market sizing take up whole rooms.8,6,9,16,4
Thinking out loud
The rounds are live and out loud, with no modeling test or written case to hand in. In brain teaser and market sizing rooms, the interviewers are watching how you structure the problem, so say your assumptions before you calculate.16,6
A virtual superday
Most superdays are in person in New York, but the diversity and non-target process has run its superday over Zoom: four rounds, two of them 2-on-1. Treat it like the in-person day, with your camera on and a quiet room.5,7,16
The rounds, report by report
- New York, Generalist (Feb 2025, summer 2026) 6 x 30 min
- Two interviewers per room: 2 behavioral, 1 finance technical, 1 situational, 2 brain teaser or case. Decisions the next day.
- New York (Mar 2025, summer 2026) 5 x 30 min
- In person at the New York office, 2-on-1, topics varied by room.
- New York, diversity and non-target (Jan 2025, summer 2026) 4 rounds
- Over Zoom: two 2-on-1 rooms (markets and behavioral; technical), an analyst 1-on-1 and a partner 1-on-1.
- New York (Sep 2022, an earlier cycle) 5 x 30 min
- Analysts to partners. One technical room, one room of unusual questions, mostly fit.
Plan for five or six 30-minute interviews, most of them with two interviewers. Each row above is one superday, with the month it ran.5,6,7,8,16
Before your superday
- Three or four stories you can tell in about two minutes each: a challenge, a failure, a team, a time you led.
- One deal you can explain end to end, and a view on M&A trends this quarter.
- A reason for Centerview, an independent firm that only advises, that you could not give to a bank with a balance sheet.
- Every line of your resume, ready for a follow-up two levels deep.
- Brain teaser practice out loud: state your assumptions, pick the lever, check the answer.
- Two market sizings timed at five minutes each, with round numbers.
- The core technicals cold: the three statements, EBITDA to free cash flow, WACC, and how an LBO makes money.
- Questions for each pair of interviewers, different for an analyst and a partner.
- For a Zoom superday: camera at eye level, plain background, laptop plugged in, dressed as you would be in person.
The questions
Expect five kinds of question across the day: behavioral and fit, finance technicals, brain teasers, market sizing and situational prompts. The technicals test what happens when an assumption changes, so learn the logic, not the script.6,8,9,16
- Behavioral and fit: Your background, plus out-of-the-box questions such as which company you would run or buy.
- Technical: Conceptual valuation and accounting: WACC, free cash flow, returns, and what changes when one input moves.
- Brain teaser: Puzzles that are hard to find online, such as driving around the US or a calendar problem.
- Market sizing: An estimate built from round numbers, such as windows in the US or a niche education market.
- Situational: What you would do in a work situation, or a scenario such as surviving a zombie apocalypse.
Which division question you get
- New York, Generalist
- February 2025 (summer 2026): six 30-minute rooms with two interviewers each, two of them brain teasers or cases. Which company you would want to be CEO of; driving clockwise or counterclockwise around the US.6,4
- New York, in person
- March 2025 (summer 2026): five 2-on-1 rooms of 30 minutes. Market sizing the physical therapy continuing education industry, and how you would survive a zombie apocalypse.7,4
- New York, diversity and non-target
- January 2025 (summer 2026), over Zoom: a 2-on-1 on markets and behavioral, a 2-on-1 banking technical round, a 1-on-1 with an analyst and a 1-on-1 with a partner on brain teasers and niche technicals. Have you ever stolen a pen; what company would you buy and change.5,4
- New York, earlier class
- September 2022 (an earlier cycle): five half-hour interviews from analysts to partners, with one technical room and one room of unusual questions. The one harder technical across the process was an LBO.8
The San Francisco questions are our best guess, drawn from the office's healthcare and biotech focus and the technicals New York and Menlo Park ask. The Menlo Park line describes the phone screen and first round, the latest report for that office.
Using Centerview Partners's values in your answers
Centerview names four values on its home page: Excellence, Client Focus, Collaboration and Community. Its careers and About pages say what it looks for in people, and those lines are the most useful to quote back.3,1,2
- Excellence
“Taking individuals with high levels of intellectual curiosity and diligence and providing them with a solid foundation in practical finance.”3,1,2
Brain teaser and technical rooms. Curiosity shows in how you attack a problem you have not seen before.
- Client Focus
“We are a tight-knit partnership that prizes long-term relationships and provides objective advice that cuts through complexity to create value for our clients.”3,1,2
Why Centerview, and situational questions. Show you would give a client the honest answer, not the convenient one.
The value names and quotes are Centerview's own; pairing each quote with a value and with questions is Intervyo's advice. Use one as the reason your story matters, rather than reciting the list.
Example questions and how to answer them
Brain teaser"Is it faster to drive clockwise or counterclockwise around the US?"6,4
- 1Set the terms: follow the border by road, same roads both ways, Americans drive on the right.
- 2Find the lever that differs by direction: which side of the road you are on, and which way you turn.
- 3Work through each lever in one or two sentences, and say which way it points.
- 4Name anything that could cut the other way, such as wind or traffic, and say why it is small.
- 5Give a clear answer and how confident you are.
Tip: Asked in a New York process with two brain teaser rooms in February 2025 (summer 2026). There is no single right answer; the interviewers are watching your structure.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example. I will assume we follow the border on roads, the same roads either way, and we drive on the right. Going clockwise on a map, the inside of the loop is on your right. That puts you in the lane closer to the inside, so the loop is very slightly shorter. More important, following the border clockwise means most of your turns are right turns, which do not cross oncoming traffic and are often allowed on red, so you wait less at intersections. Things like the prevailing westerly wind help on one coast-to-coast leg and hurt on the other, so they roughly cancel. So I would say clockwise is slightly faster, mainly because of the right turns, though the difference over the whole trip is small.
Technical"A company has $1B of cash and $500M of debt. It pays a $1B special dividend funded by new debt. What happens to WACC, and did shareholder value change?"9,4
- 1Walk the balance sheet: debt rises to $1.5B, cash is unchanged, equity value falls by about the $1B paid out.
- 2Mechanics: the weight of debt rises, and debt is cheaper after tax, so WACC falls at first.
- 3Second-order effects: more leverage raises the cost of equity (beta relevers) and the cost of debt.
- 4Value: with no taxes, total value does not change, only who holds the claims.
- 5With taxes: shareholders gain roughly the present value of the interest tax shield, minus the higher expected cost of distress.
Tip: From a February 2026 (summer 2027) New York process; the review does not say which stage asked it. "Not just mechanically" is the point: finish on whether value was created.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example. The company borrows $1B and pays it straight out, so debt goes from $500M to $1.5B, cash stays at $1B, and the equity is worth roughly $1B less, because that value is now in shareholders' pockets. Mechanically, WACC falls: there is more debt in the mix, and debt is cheaper than equity, especially after tax. But that is not the whole story. With more leverage the equity is riskier, so the cost of equity rises, and lenders will charge more too, which pulls WACC back up. On value: in a world with no taxes, nothing changes; you have just split the same enterprise value differently. With taxes, the interest is deductible, so shareholders gain roughly the present value of that tax shield, around 25% of $1B if the debt is permanent, less the higher chance of financial distress. So shareholders are better off only if the business can comfortably carry $1.5B of debt.
Technical"You are valuing a business that has never been profitable and will not be for 7 years. Terminal value is 95% of the DCF. What do you actually do?"9,4
- 1Agree with the premise: a 5-year DCF here is mostly a terminal value guess.
- 2Fix the DCF: extend the forecast to a steady state, 10 to 15 years, so less sits in the terminal value.
- 3Cross-check the terminal value with exit multiples from mature companies in the sector.
- 4Use other methods: forward revenue multiples from comparable companies, and recent deals.
- 5Build scenarios and weight them, and check how much more funding the company needs before it turns profitable.
Tip: From the same February 2026 (summer 2027) New York review, stage not stated. Show you know when a tool stops working, then offer a better one.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example. I would not throw out the DCF, but I would stop relying on a 5-year one. First, I would extend the forecast until the business reaches a steady state, maybe 12 years, so the terminal value carries less of the answer, and check the terminal value against the exit multiples of mature companies in the sector. Second, I would lean on market evidence: forward revenue multiples for comparable companies and prices paid in recent deals. Third, I would build a few scenarios, such as on plan, delayed and failed, and weight them, because the risk here is whether it ever gets to profit. Finally, I would check the cash runway: if it needs to raise more money before year 7, today's shareholders will be diluted, and that belongs in the value too.
Technical"Which gives a greater return: an IRR of 25% over 5 years, or an IRR of 30% over 3 years?"13,4
- 1Turn each IRR into a multiple of money: 1.25 to the 5th, 1.30 to the 3rd.
- 2Compare: about 3.05x against about 2.20x.
- 3Say why the answers differ: IRR is a rate, the multiple is total money back.
- 4Close on what decides it: what you can earn on the money for the last two years.
Tip: Asked on a January 2026 (summer 2027) New York phone screen, not the superday, but it is the kind of conceptual technical the finance room asks. Step back before you calculate.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example. As multiples, 25% for 5 years is 1.25 to the 5th, about 3.05x, and 30% for 3 years is 1.30 cubed, about 2.20x. So the 25% deal returns more money in total, while the 30% deal has the higher rate. Which is better depends on what you do with the money after year 3. To get from 2.20x to 3.05x in two more years you need about 18% a year, so if you can reinvest at more than about 18%, take the 30% deal; if not, the 5-year deal wins.
Market sizing"How many windows are there in the US?"4
- 1Clarify the scope: buildings only, or cars too? Say which you are counting.
- 2Split buildings into homes and commercial buildings.
- 3Homes: housing units times windows per unit, with a different number for houses and apartments.
- 4Commercial: number of buildings times an average per building.
- 5Add up, round, and sanity-check per person.
Tip: From a January 2025 New York analyst process described as highly technical, with brain teasers and market sizing. Say every assumption before the arithmetic.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example, with rough assumptions. I will count buildings, not cars. The US has about 145 million homes. Say two-thirds are houses with about 15 windows each and a third are apartments with about 6: that is roughly 1.45 billion plus 0.3 billion, so about 1.75 billion. There are around 6 million commercial buildings; at about 40 windows each, that is roughly 240 million. That gives about 2 billion windows, or about 6 per person, which feels reasonable. If cars count, add roughly 290 million vehicles at about 6 windows each, close to another 1.7 billion.
Behavioral and fit"If you could buy any company in the world, what would you buy, and what would you change about it?"5,4
- 1Pick a company you know well enough to defend for 10 minutes, not the biggest name.
- 2Say why it is worth owning: the business, its position and what is undervalued.
- 3Name one or two changes you would make, and how they create value.
- 4Say what could go wrong, and how you would know your plan was working.
Tip: Asked in a January 2025 (summer 2026) New York process alongside "Have you ever stolen a pen?" Expect follow-ups on price and risk, as if you were advising a board.
Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)
Written by Intervyo as an example. I would buy the regional heating and cooling services company I worked for last summer, because I saw how much demand it turns away. It has a loyal customer base and steady repair work, but it runs on paper schedules and loses technicians to bigger rivals. I would change two things: put in scheduling and routing software, so each technician fits in one more job a day, and add maintenance contracts, so revenue becomes recurring. The risk is that software alone does not fix staffing, so I would also raise technician pay out of the extra margin, and I would track jobs per technician and contract renewals to see if it was working.
More Centerview Partners superday questions
Behavioral and fit
“What company would you want to be the CEO of?”6,4
New York, Feb 2025 (summer 2026)
“Have you ever stolen a pen?”5,4
New York, Jan 2025 (summer 2026)
“If you could teach any class, which would you choose, and why?”13,4
A phone screen in New York, Jan 2026 (summer 2027); wording ours
“Questions on your background.”6
The behavioral part of a first round, New York, Feb 2025
Technical
“Walk me from EBITDA to unlevered free cash flow, then bridge that to levered free cash flow.”11,4
Menlo Park first round, Jan 2025 (summer 2026)
“How do you drive returns in an LBO?”11,4
Menlo Park first round, Jan 2025 (summer 2026)
“If WACC rises by 1%, which falls more: an early-stage biotech or a late-stage consumer company?”13,4
New York phone screen, Jan 2026 (summer 2027)
“Share price $20, 100 shares, $400 of debt, $300 of cash, $300 of EBITDA. What are enterprise value and EV/EBITDA?”13,4
New York phone screen, Jan 2026 (summer 2027)
“What are the different valuation methods, with pros and cons? What can a company do with excess cash?”12,4
Menlo Park, phone screen or first round, Jan 2026 (summer 2027)
“Build an LBO.”8
New York, Sep 2022 (an earlier cycle); the review does not say which round
Brain teasers and market sizing
“What angle do the clock hands make at 3:15?”11,4
Menlo Park first round, Jan 2025 (summer 2026)
“A puzzle placing dates on a calendar from a complex set of clues.”14,4
New York first round, Feb 2026 (summer 2027); wording ours
“Size the physical therapy continuing education market.”7,4
New York, Mar 2025 (summer 2026)
“How would you survive a zombie apocalypse, and for how long?”7,4
New York, Mar 2025 (summer 2026)
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How long to hear back after the superday
Superdays move fast. Decisions have come the day after, and offers can come with a short window to accept, so know your other timelines before you walk in.6,17
Fall 2024 to Jan 2025 (summer 2026)
Generalist, New York (diversity and non-target)
A fall phone round, then nothing for a few months, then a superday invite in January, held over Zoom. Accepted an offer.5
Feb 2025 (summer 2026)
Generalist, New York
Superday two weeks after the first round, and decisions the day after. Accepted an offer; 1 to 2 months in all.6
Mar 2025 (summer 2026)
Generalist, New York
A virtual 30-minute first round, then an in-person superday at the New York office. Accepted an offer; 2 to 3 months in all.7
Jan to Mar 2026 (summer 2027)
All offices
In the thread on the January posting, one comment said the New York process was done, while another said first rounds were still running the week before.15
Offers often come within a few days of the superday, with short decision windows.17
Best guessExpect a call within a day or two. If three or four days pass, one short, polite email to your recruiting contact is reasonable; then keep your other processes moving.
What happens after the superday
Online application
A resume through Centerview's form or a target-school Handshake posting, for one office only.1
Phone screen (sometimes)
Done, if you had one. A phone or Zoom call with an analyst before the first round: all technical in New York, a resume grill and your interest in technology in Menlo Park.13,12,16
First round
Done. Two 30-minute interviews with analysts, or with an associate and a principal, technical and behavioral.6,12
SuperdayYou are here
This page. Five or six 30-minute interviews, most with two interviewers, from analysts to partners.6,7,8
Offer
Decisions have come the day after the superday, often with a short window to accept.6,17
First round vs superday
Both stages are live and run on 30-minute slots. The first round checks your technicals and interest; the superday puts you in front of the whole range, from analysts to partners.
FAQ
How many interviews are in a Centerview superday?
Usually five or six, back to back, at 30 minutes each. A virtual superday for the diversity and non-target process ran four rounds.6,7,8,16,5
Is the Centerview superday in person?
Usually, at the New York office. The diversity and non-target process has run its superday over Zoom.7,16,5
Who interviews you at a Centerview superday?
Everyone from analysts to partners. Most rooms have two interviewers; some are 1-on-1, such as a partner's round of brain teasers and niche technicals.8,6,5
How technical is the Centerview superday?
One room is usually a finance technical, and the questions are conceptual: what happens to WACC after a debt-funded dividend, or how to value a company that will not be profitable for years. The rest is mostly fit, brain teasers and market sizing.6,8,9,16
Does Centerview ask brain teasers?
Yes, often a whole room or two. Examples include whether it is faster to drive clockwise or counterclockwise around the US, and a calendar puzzle. They are hard to find online, so practice the method out loud rather than memorizing answers.6,14,4
Superday at other firms
Sources
Firm pages first, then dated candidate reports. Last checked Nov 4, 2026.
- 1Centerview Partners: Careers
- 2Centerview Partners: About Us
- 3Centerview Partners: Centerview Partners | Independent Investment Banking Advisory (home page, Our Values)
- 4Candidate reports on a public forum: Centerview Partners interview questions, latest 10 reviews (Nov 2026)
- 5Candidate report on a public forum: Investment Banking Summer Analyst interview, Generalist, New York (Jan 2025)
- 6Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Analyst interview, Generalist, New York (Feb 2025)
- 7Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Intern interview, Generalist, New York (Mar 2025)
- 8Candidate report on a public forum: Intern interview, Investment Banking, New York (Sep 2022)
- 9Candidate report on a public forum: Investment Banking Summer Analyst 2027 interview, New York (Feb 2026)
- 10Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Analyst interview, Generalist, New York (Jan 2026), Zoom first round
- 11Candidate report on a public forum: Investment Banking Summer Analyst interview, Menlo Park (Jan 2025)
- 12Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Analyst interview, Investment Banking, Menlo Park (Jan 2026)
- 13Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Analyst Internship interview, Generalist, New York (Jan 2026), phone screen
- 14Candidate report on a public forum: Intern interview, Investment Banking, New York (Feb 2026)
- 15Candidate discussion on a public forum: Centerview SA27 Open? (Jan 2026)
- 16Aced: Centerview Partners Investment Banking Summer Analyst Interview Guide · prep site
- 17Extern: Centerview Internship 2027-2028: How to Apply & Stand Out · prep site
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