Rothschild Assessment Centre and Case Study Practice
Prepare for Rothschild & Co's graduate assessment centre with published process guidance, an original case exercise and practical interview preparation.
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Prepare for a Rothschild & Co assessment centre by practising a defensible recommendation, clear communication and collaborative decision-making. Know why the particular role interests you. The original exercises below build those skills without claiming to reproduce the firm's assessment materials.
TL;DR
- Check the programme and office instructions in your invitation.
- Prepare examples that show your own contribution and judgement.
- Explain a case recommendation with evidence and uncertainty.
- Help the group reach a decision, rather than compete for airtime.
- Research the work you applied for before building a firm-fit answer.
What process does Rothschild & Co publish?
The current global graduate page describes an initial interview, online or in person, followed for successful candidates by an assessment centre. It lists a senior-colleague interview, a collaborative group exercise and a case study. It highlights analysis, communication and teamwork. This is the published graduate overview; your office and programme invitation supplies the applicable details. Rothschild & Co graduate process.
The source does not provide a universal case duration or a list of technical questions. Do not assume an old candidate account establishes those details for your application.
| Part of preparation | What to practise | What a good self-check asks |
|---|---|---|
| Initial interview | Experience and motivation | Can I defend every example? |
| Case reasoning | Recommendation and trade-offs | Does the conclusion follow from the facts? |
| Group work | Listening and decision-making | Did my contribution improve the shared answer? |
| Senior interview | Clear judgement under challenge | Can I revise a view when evidence changes? |
| Firm fit | Connection to the actual role | Why does this work fit my interests? |
How should you prepare for the first interview?
Select experiences that reveal different skills. A project can show analysis; a team responsibility can show how you handled disagreement; a mistake can show how you improved a review process. Avoid using the same achievement to answer every question.
For each example, write the situation, your specific action and the outcome. Then identify the follow-up most likely to expose a weak point. If you say you led the analysis, be ready to explain which assumptions you selected and which decisions belonged to someone else.
The behavioural interview guide helps you organise a broader evidence bank. Keep your examples accurate even when a more impressive version would be easier to tell.
How do you approach a case study?
Begin with the decision. What is the client trying to achieve, which options are available and what constraints matter? Separate facts given in the case from assumptions you introduce. A calculation is useful only if it helps answer that decision.
Original practice case: A company wants to acquire a business within an enterprise-value budget of 120 million. It can consider the following fictional targets. Assume the EBITDA figures are comparable for this first pass; that assumption still needs diligence.
| Target | Enterprise value | EBITDA | Largest customer share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 100 million | 10 million | 15% |
| B | 108 million | 12 million | 45% |
| C | 130 million | 13 million | 10% |
A trades at 10.0x EBITDA, B at 9.0x and C at 10.0x. C exceeds the stated budget. B has the lower entry multiple, but its customer concentration raises a question that the multiple alone cannot answer.
A defensible first-pass recommendation could be to investigate B's largest customer contract before preferring B over A. If that relationship is unstable, the apparent price advantage may not compensate for the risk. Alternatively, you could favour A for lower concentration, while explaining what evidence would change your view.
Do not invent contract duration, churn, cash conversion or integration costs. Ask for them. This case has no unique final investment answer because those facts are absent. The point is to connect price, risk and further diligence rather than choose the smallest multiple mechanically.
The practice above is IB Offer preparation, separate from the employer's assessment and selection decision.
How should you present the recommendation?
Use a short sequence: recommendation, supporting evidence, main risk and next check. For the fictional case, distinguish “B is cheaper on this metric” from “B is the better acquisition.” The first follows from the table; the second needs more evidence.
If challenged, answer the actual objection. A question about customer concentration calls for a discussion of revenue durability, not another recital of the entry multiple. State where you are uncertain and show how you would resolve it.
The assessment-centre guide covers preparation across exercise types. Do not treat this short example as a full modelling test.
How do you contribute to the collaborative exercise?
Make the team's decision easier. Suggest criteria, compare options against them and identify the uncertainty that matters most. If someone else makes a strong point, build on it instead of repeating it in different words.
In the fictional case, one person might focus on price while another focuses on concentration. A useful contribution connects both: “B has the lower multiple, but we need to know whether its largest customer is secure before treating that as value.” This moves the discussion towards a testable issue.
Invite missing perspectives and keep enough time to agree the conclusion. The group-exercise guide provides a deeper original exercise. Solo preparation can improve your reasoning, but practising with others is necessary to observe your listening and turn-taking.
How should you prepare for the senior interview and firm fit?
Rothschild & Co's graduate guidance encourages research into its businesses and preparation of varied skill examples. It describes analyst work including financial models, valuation and transaction coordination. Use the specific vacancy to connect those activities to your interests rather than assuming every business offers the same role. Rothschild & Co graduate guidance.
Explain what attracted you to the work, what you have done to understand it and what you still want to learn. A public transaction can support that explanation if you verify the firm's role. It does not give you access to the private advice behind the transaction.
The firm-fit guide helps you turn research into an answer. Prepare to explain your own reasoning when a senior interviewer asks why a particular fact matters to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the case above a real Rothschild assessment?
No. It is an original IB Offer exercise with fictional businesses and deliberately incomplete information.
How long is the case study?
The cited graduate page does not publish a universal duration. Use the instructions for your office and programme.
Should I always choose the lowest valuation multiple?
No. Check comparability and the business risks behind the numbers. In the example, customer concentration may change the interpretation of the lower multiple.
What if another candidate disagrees with me?
Clarify the assumptions and decision criteria. Explain the evidence behind your view and change it if the new evidence is stronger. The task is to improve the recommendation.
Sources
- Rothschild & Co: graduates and application process (checked 5 September 2026).
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