Relationship Management interview prep.

A commercial RM is the steward of a corporate client's whole banking relationship: structure the credit facility against the business, layer in treasury + capital markets + FX + trade, hold the line on covenants when the borrower's results soften, and grow share-of-wallet over years.

What interviewers look for

  • Can the candidate read a borrower's financials and size a credit facility, leverage + coverage + advance rate + collateral, not generic 'they look healthy'?
  • Do they understand the bank earns more from ancillary (treasury + FX + capital markets + cards) than from the credit, so the relationship is the product?
  • Do they hold the line on covenants when results soften, early-warning discipline, remediation, and amendment / waiver judgement?
  • Can they grow share-of-wallet, discovery, cross-sell, COIs, win-back from competitor banks, with a structured plan, not 'I'll network'?
  • Do they price for risk. RAROC, ROE on capital, and the trade-off between credit price and ancillary revenue?
  • Are they credit-disciplined and cycle-aware, willing to decline a deal that doesn't clear the bank's risk return, not chase volume?

Behavioural questions to expect

  1. Walk me through your CV.

    What it tests: Story coherence + genuine fit for credit-led, relationship-led commercial banking work. Tests whether the candidate can land on commercial RM as the deliberate next step (not banking advisory, not wealth, not the buy-side) and whether they have credit-adjacent or relationship-adjacent reps.

  2. Tell me about the most impressive client or credit decision you've owned.

    What it tests: Substance over polish. The interviewer wants quantitative detail (facility size, leverage, EBITDA, ancillary revenue won) and ownership signals. Tests whether the candidate has actually moved a credit or a relationship, not just supported one.

  3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.

    What it tests: Self-awareness + credit discipline + ability to take a real critique. Fake weaknesses (perfectionist / work-too-hard) downgrade immediately. Commercial banking mistakes can sit on the balance sheet for years, so honesty about a judgement error and the process fix matters.

  4. Why commercial banking, and why now?

    What it tests: Authentic fit for credit-led, long-horizon corporate-client work, vs investment banking advisory (transaction-led), vs the buy-side (security-picking), vs wealth (individual-led). Tests whether the candidate genuinely wants the relationship + credit role rather than defaulting to it.

  5. Which segment or industry vertical would you want to cover, and why?

    What it tests: Genuine fit + grasp of how the credit + relationship problem changes across segment and vertical. Tests whether the candidate has a reasoned preference (middle market / large corporate / a specific industry) rather than a random one.

  6. Why this firm?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate has done the homework. Bar: firm-specific evidence from the segment, the product set, the credit culture, and the people, not generic 'great brand'.

  7. How would you describe this firm's commercial banking franchise and edge in your own words?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate has internalized HOW the bank wins commercial relationships, segment, product set, vertical depth, and balance-sheet capacity, not just 'they lend to companies'. Tests whether they understand what they'd be selling and against whom.

  8. How does a commercial bank actually make money, and how is that changing?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate understands commercial banking economics: net interest income on the credit + deposits, plus fee income from treasury + capital markets + FX + trade, and that the relationship's profitability is driven much more by ancillary than by spread on the loan.

Technical concepts to master

Credit underwriting + the 5 Cs

Character
Management quality + track record + willingness to honour obligations, the qualitative read on the borrower's leadership and integrity.
Capacity (cash flow)
The borrower's ability to service debt from operating cash flow through the cycle, measured by EBITDA, free cash flow, leverage, and coverage.
Capital
Equity in the business + the borrower's skin-in-the-game; the loss-absorbing cushion before the bank's debt is hit.
Collateral
Assets pledged to secure the loan; the recovery source if the credit defaults. Drives advance rates in an ABL or asset-secured deal.

Loan structure + facility types

Revolving credit facility
An evergreen committed line for working capital + general corporate purposes; the borrower draws + repays as cash needs fluctuate. Typical 3-5 year tenor.
Term loan A vs term loan B
Term loan A = bank-syndicated, amortising, tighter covenants, shorter tenor (5-7 yrs). Term loan B = institutional, mostly bullet, covenant-lite, longer tenor (7 yrs), priced wider for the institutional bid.
ABL (asset-based lending)
A revolver sized to a borrowing base of eligible AR + inventory at fixed advance rates; the credit follows the assets, not the cash flow.
Delayed-draw + accordion
Delayed-draw = a committed term loan the borrower can draw later for a known purpose (acquisition, capex). Accordion = the right to upsize the facility later subject to lender consent.

Treasury + cash management + ancillary revenue

Operating account + deposit float
The borrower's primary disbursement + collection account at the bank; the resulting operating deposits earn the bank a funding-side benefit (the float).
Cash management suite
Lockbox, ACH / wire, payables / receivables automation, sweeps, liquidity management, the operational plumbing for the borrower's working-capital cycle.
FX + interest-rate hedging
Spot + forward + swap + option products that hedge the borrower's currency + rate exposure; priced as a spread on the trade.
Capital markets + trade finance + cards
DCM (bond + private placement), letters of credit + supply-chain finance for trade, commercial cards for procurement; the higher-fee ancillaries layered onto larger relationships.

Covenant package + early-warning signs

Financial covenants
Maintenance tests on the borrower's financials, typically leverage (Debt / EBITDA), interest coverage, and fixed-charge coverage; tested quarterly.
Negative covenants
Prohibitions on borrower actions that would harm the bank's position: additional indebtedness, liens, dividends, asset sales, M&A above a basket, affiliate transactions.
Early-warning signs
Observable signals that a credit is deteriorating before a covenant trip: margin compression, working-capital build, late reporting, sponsor capital injection, auditor changes, key-customer loss.
Amendment + waiver + MAC clause
Amendment = renegotiate the covenant in advance. Waiver = excuse a specific trip. MAC = a material-adverse-change clause that lets the bank step in on a structural deterioration.

Share-of-wallet + RAROC + the relationship return

RAROC (Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital)
(Revenue - Expected Loss - Operating Cost) / Allocated Economic Capital. The bank's return per dollar of capital used by the relationship, after expected loss.
Share of wallet
The share of the client's total financial-services spend captured by the bank, credit, deposits, treasury, FX, capital markets, advisory.
Primary bank vs secondary bank
Primary = the operating account + lead credit + main treasury; secondary = a single product (a participation in a syndicated loan, an FX flow, a trade product) without the deposits.
Pricing for risk + ancillary
The RM has discretion (within bands) to price the credit competitively if the ancillary justifies it, but must show the bank still clears RAROC on the relationship.

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

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