The main components of market risk are 

a) Liquidity risk     b) Interest rate risk       c) Currency risk

Banks provide their clients with advice, assistance in arranging financing, and other services, such as access to trading on the markets, investment management, and risk reduction. Their main source of revenue is the fees they charge their clients for these services. Some banks have departments which invest or trade the bank’s own money to generate returns, though the extent to which they can do so has become more limited in recent years.

In a market where the value of assets is falling, known as a bear market, traders might consider taking short positions, that is, borrowing assets they don’t own, selling them, and buying them back to return them at a later date when their price has fallen. Meanwhile, those working in asset management or M&A might consider, or advise clients to consider, snapping up undervalued assets.

Much of your answer to this question will depend on your role – so do some careful research into your chosen department. In M&A, you might spend much of your time on financial models related to the deals you’re working on, while in a trading role you might start out by assisting more senior members of the team before being given the chance to manage a trading book yourself. Beyond that, it’s important to show that you’ll be keen to take on responsibilities, but that you also recognise that your first year is about learning the ropes, usually means include following instructions from others and completing some mundane tasks.

As you’re interested in a career in banking, plenty of reasons should spring to mind, and if they don’t you should consider choosing another path! Often students are attracted to the intellectual challenges and high-profile nature of the dealings of the finance world, the fast pace of the work here, and the rewards on offer, all of which are very valid reasons for applying to a bank. But they’re also valid reasons for applying for jobs in other parts of the finance world, so make sure you explain why you want a job at a bank, and in your chosen area in particular. Perhaps you’re keen for the broad and deep financial training and prestigious experience that only a leading bank can offer?

Your interviewers may also ask if anything puts you off banking. If you have any real doubts, an interview is not the place to air them, but it’s a great idea to show that you’ve considered the difficulties the industry is currently going through before choosing to make an application. You might say that you’re attracted to the particular professional challenges and opportunities a period of flux in an industry can offer.

You might initially think that if you haven’t done a degree in finance or economics you haven’t got very much to offer an investment bank, but you’d be wrong. Any numerate discipline will have given you a mathematical toolkit that will come in useful in technical banking work, and any good degree proves that you’re intelligent, hardworking, and effective under pressure. Extra-curricular activities may have given you a wealth of other skills that are valuable at an investment bank, such as being able to juggle a number of commitments and work with others.