Relationship Management interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about the most impressive client or credit decision you've owned.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why commercial banking — and why now?
5. Which segment or industry vertical would you want to cover, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's commercial banking franchise and edge in your own words?
8. How does a commercial bank actually make money — and how is that changing?

Technical concepts to master

• Credit underwriting + the 5 Cs

  Character · Capacity (cash flow) · Capital · Collateral · Conditions

• Loan structure + facility types

  Revolving credit facility · Term loan A vs term loan B · ABL (asset-based lending) · Delayed-draw + accordion

• Treasury + cash management + ancillary revenue

  Operating account + deposit float · Cash management suite · FX + interest-rate hedging · Capital markets + trade finance + cards

• Covenant package + early-warning signs

  Financial covenants · Negative covenants · Early-warning signs · Amendment + waiver + MAC clause

• Share-of-wallet + RAROC + the relationship return

  RAROC (Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital) · Share of wallet · Primary bank vs secondary bank · Pricing for risk + ancillary

Practical drills

• A mid-market industrial distributor has $150m revenue, $15m EBITDA, $10m of existing senior debt, $30m of eligible AR, $20m of eligible inventory, and asks for a new $40m credit facility to refinance + fund growth working capital. (a) Check leverage + interest coverage. (b) Pick a sensible facility mix. (c) Size the borrowing base. (d) Suggest a covenant package.
• Your $40m middle-market borrower just reported Q3 EBITDA down 30% YoY due to a key-customer loss; the leverage covenant of <=3.5x will be tripped at year-end. Walk me through how you'd handle it from now through the cure window.
• You've inherited a $200m-revenue manufacturing client with a $20m revolver from the bank but no treasury, FX, or other ancillary. They export ~40% of revenue to Europe + Asia and have manufacturing in 3 US states + Mexico. Walk me through your first 90 days to grow ancillary.

Smart-question anchors

• Segment + vertical depth - the bank's target segment, vertical edges, and where coverage is leaning
• Credit appetite + risk culture - hold sizes, syndicated vs bilateral, leveraged-lending posture, watch-list discipline
• Treasury + ancillary platform - in-house treasury, FX, capital markets, and how product partners team with the RM
• Cross-sell + share-of-wallet - the bank's framing of primary-bank status, ancillary targets, and how RMs are measured
• Year-1 RM trajectory - portfolio handoff, ramp targets (net new ancillary, net new relationships), and what 'good' looks like at 12 months

Sourced from

Risk Management Association (RMA) — Commercial Lending + Credit Risk frameworks · OCC Comptroller's Handbook — Commercial Loans + Loan Portfolio Management · InterviewPrep — Commercial Banker / Relationship Manager Interview Questions · Wall Street Oasis — Commercial Banking interview canon · S&P Global / Moody's Commercial Credit Analysis training materials