City National Bank Business Analyst interview typically runs 4 rounds: HR screen, hiring manager interview, VP behavioral interview, final technical interview. The process took about 3 weeks and ended with a longer-than-scheduled final round.
$94K
Avg. Base Comp
$105K
Avg. Total Comp
4
Typical Rounds
2-4 weeks
Process Length
Our candidates report that City National Bank is looking for a Business Analyst who can speak fluently about the business and the numbers behind it. The early conversations tend to be straightforward and relationship-driven, but the real signal comes when interviewers start probing whether your background actually maps to finance work. We’ve seen repeated emphasis on why you want the role and why you want City National Bank, which suggests they’re screening for candidates who can connect their experience to the bank’s environment rather than just recite a resume.
A recurring theme is how sharply the process can pivot from conversational to technical. One candidate described the final conversation as entirely focused on DCF, financial metrics, Excel, the three financial statements, and accounting fundamentals, with no behavioral questions at all. That tells us the team is not treating “Business Analyst” as a light business-facing role; they want someone who can handle deep financial analysis without hesitation. In our experience, that kind of interview often rewards candidates who can move cleanly from concept to calculation and explain the logic behind their answers.
We also see a subtle but important pattern in the feedback: the people were professional, but the process felt less polished at the end. That means candidates should be prepared for a strong technical bar even if the experience feels informal or inconsistent. The safest read is that City National Bank values finance credibility above all else here, and the people who do best are the ones who can demonstrate a solid accounting foundation while staying crisp about how their past work translates to the role.
Synthetized from 1 candidates reports by our editorial team.
Had an interview recently?
Share your experience. Unlock the full guide.
Real interview reports from people who went through the City National Bank process.
I was first contacted by HR and had a phone screening, and then about 2 or 3 days later I was invited to a 30-minute online interview with the hiring manager. That first conversation was pretty straightforward and focused on my past experience, why I wanted the role, why City National Bank, and why I was looking to make a change. He seemed to like my background and told me at the end that I’d move forward, which was encouraging.
The second round was with a VP and was more behavioral. She asked a few questions, and the conversation was easy to have because she was very pleasant and professional. The final round was the one that stood out the most: it was supposed to be 30 minutes, but it ran for over an hour and was completely technical. There were no behavioral questions at all. The VP dug into DCF, financial metrics, Excel, the three financial statements, and accounting questions, so it felt much more like a deep technical screen than a typical final interview. It was challenging, but fair if you had a solid finance foundation.
After that final interview, I was told HR would follow up soon, but I never heard back. I waited about 3 weeks and followed up twice, and eventually got an automated rejection email through the portal. Overall, the people I spoke with were professional and the interviews themselves were engaging, but the process felt disorganized at the end. If you’re interviewing for this role, I’d be ready to explain your background clearly and then go much deeper on DCF, financial statements, accounting basics, and Excel than you might expect for a business analyst title.
Share your own interview experience to unlock all reports, or subscribe for full access.
Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at City National Bank
Select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Cumulative Distribution | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| 500 Cards | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Paired Products | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Slacking Employees Salaries | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Size of Joins | |
| Over 100 Dollars | |
| Minimum Change | |
| Compute Deviation | |
| Total Spent on Products | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Sort Strings | |
| Last Transaction | |
| Department Expenses | |
| Session Difference | |
| Same Side Probability | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Cyclic Detection | |
| Assumptions of Linear Regression |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
The process starts with an HR phone screening to review your background and basic fit for the Business Analyst role. This stage appears to be an initial filter before moving on to interviews with the hiring team.
A 30-minute online interview with the hiring manager follows a few days later. The conversation is straightforward and focuses on your past experience, why you want the role, why City National Bank, and why you are looking to make a change.
The second round is with a VP and is primarily behavioral. The interviewer asks a handful of questions in a professional, conversational format to assess fit and motivation.
The final round is a deep technical interview that ran well beyond the scheduled 30 minutes. It focuses heavily on DCF, financial metrics, Excel, the three financial statements, and accounting fundamentals, with no behavioral questions.
After the final interview, HR is expected to follow up with next steps. In this experience, communication lagged and the candidate ultimately received an automated rejection email through the portal after waiting and following up.