Start here
One day full immersion
A 4-hour taste of all four skills. Find your weakest one before your next interview.
- Every Sunday, 2–6 pm, from November 8
- 6 short live drills
- Your personal Gap Map
For finance master's students in the US
Finance interviews take more than the right answers
Your strengths · Clearly expressed
In-person interview training for investment banking and fund candidates. Learn to tell your story in English, show technical judgment and respond clearly under pressure.
Free, 15 minutes, no obligation
- The Role 角色
- The Script 台词
- The Ensemble 群戏
- The Improvisation 即兴
Strong technicals are where most candidates stop
Finance master's students arrive at interviews knowing their models, their valuation methods and their markets. Then the interviewer asks them to walk through their resume, and the answer comes out flat, too long or too modest.
Interviewers at banks and funds are judging story, delivery, presence and adaptability at the same time as technical substance. PresentForward Lab trains those four skills the way actors rehearse a role: with structure, repetition and direct feedback.
Two ways to train
Start with one day, or go all the way
Both programs are in person and built on the same four skills: the Role, the Script, the Ensemble and the Improvisation.
The full program
Four-workshop series
Four 3-hour workshops that build each skill in depth, ending in a 15-minute panel capstone.
- Four Fridays, 3–6 pm, from November 27
- 12 full exercises and mock interviews
- 3 polished stories and a Personal Action Plan
- Plus: a 1-hour one-on-one with Rossano before a real interview
$1,500
See the four-workshop seriesWhat changes
The same experience, told two ways
An illustrative example from Workshop 2. The candidate's experience doesn't change. The structure, the specifics and the close do.
“Tell me about yourself.”
“So, I've been interested in finance since, I guess, high school, and I studied economics. I did an internship at a boutique and some corporate finance work. I've always liked numbers and deals, and I think I'd be a good fit for this role.” “I'm a second-year MS Finance student focused on M&A. Last summer I interned at a mid-market advisory boutique, where I built the operating model for a $300 million sell-side deal and owned the comps and the DCF. I'm applying to your healthcare group because it's the sector I've followed most closely, and I've modelled two of its recent deals.” - 01
Opens with identity and focus
Who you are and what you do, in the first sentence. No warm-up.
- 02
Names what you owned, with a number
“I built” and “$300 million” instead of “some work” and “I've always liked deals”.
- 03
Closes on why this team
Ends with what you bring to them, not what you hope to get.
Your instructor
Rossano Rossi
Rossano has spent more than 15 years in risk management at global banks in New York and London, working closely with the trading and banking teams that run these interviews. He knows what they listen for, and how quickly they decide.
He has taught graduate finance students at Columbia University since 2018 and teaches Market Risk in the Stevens Institute of Technology Master of Financial Engineering. He sees how often technically strong students undersell themselves, and these workshops are built to fix exactly that.
- Columbia University faculty since 2018
- 15+ years at global banks
Questions
Who is PresentForward Lab for?
Master's students in finance, financial engineering and MBA programs in the US who are recruiting for investment banking and fund roles, and who want their interviews to show what they already know.
What language are the workshops taught in?
English. Interviews at US banks and funds happen in English, so every drill and mock interview is in English too.
Where and when do the workshops run?
Both programs meet in person in a private WeWork meeting room in New York City, with a screen, whiteboard, high-speed Wi-Fi and coffee and tea. The exact address comes with your booking confirmation. The one-day workshop runs every Sunday from 2 to 6 pm, starting November 8. The next four-workshop series meets on four Fridays from 3 to 6 pm, November 27 to December 18. Each session needs a minimum of 2 participants; if a date doesn't reach that, we'll move you to the next one.
How much does it cost?
The four-workshop series is $1,500 for 12 hours of training, plus a one-hour one-on-one session with Rossano before a real interview. The one-day workshop is $400.
Do you guarantee an offer?
No. Nobody honest can. What the series gives you is structure, repetition and direct feedback on the skills interviewers are judging.
Which program should I choose?
If you want to try the method first, or you have an interview coming up soon, start with the one-day workshop. If you are preparing for a full recruiting season, the four-workshop series gives you the depth and repetition. The free intro call helps you decide.
What happens on the intro call?
A short conversation about where you are in recruiting and which interviews feel hardest. You will leave knowing whether the series or the one-day workshop is the right next step.
Rehearse before the curtain goes up
A free 15-minute call to find out which step fits you
Book a free 15-minute call