Practice the right questions, at the right time.
OctoFin’s training space: quizzes, open questions and flashcards. Every day, a session built from what you retain and the interviews ahead of you.
- 3 practice formats
- 20 questions a day
- Built around your interviews
- 1To startDiagnostic10 questions, about 5 min
- 2Today’s session20 questions built for you
- 3You answerWrongAlmostRight
- 4Memory updatedActive Memory Engine™
- 5Next sessionIt takes that into account
Step 1 · Diagnostic
Ten questions to get started.
On a new account, Practice offers you a ten-question diagnostic, about five minutes. It gives the engine a first measure of your memory; without it, every chapter starts from a neutral estimate.
When Practice offers it, click “Start.” It’s optional.
What it sets
- Today’s session
- Your calendar
- Your readiness score
A missed question comes back soon; a question you got right gets spaced out.
Step 2 · Today’s session
Five signals, one session.
The moment you start it, the engine reads where your preparation stands, then decides which questions, in which format and in which order.
Your memory
How much you retain of each question you’ve seen, and how much will be left on interview day.
Your success by chapter
For a question you’ve never seen: how you do on the first try in its chapter.
Your interviews
Up to five interviews, which weigh more as they get closer.
What comes up at the bank
The topics that keep coming up at the bank you’re targeting, from the 500+ interview reports.
Your choices
Your target team, and how you respond to suggested chapters.
- To repair
- To maintain
- New
Add your next interview (bank, team, date) from your dashboard or your calendar. Practice then targets your sessions on what really comes up at that bank, instead of balancing the whole curriculum.
Step 2 · Today’s session
The closer interview day, the less it explores.
A session mixes three goals. Far from the interview, discovery has its place; as the date approaches, the session narrows down to what can still be consolidated.
- 7To repairseen before, under an 80% chance of remembering them today
- 5To maintainknown today, to review before they fade
- 8Newnever seen
Starting recipe for 20 questions. If one goal runs short of questions, the others fill in: the session is never cut short.
Step 3 · You answer
Three formats. Try them.
In a session, the engine also picks the format of each question. Here is one sample question per format: answer it as you would on OctoFin.
One sample question per format
Sample question
To compare companies with different levels of debt, which multiple should you favor?
The shape of a 20-question session
- 1Warm-up · what you know best 3 questions
- 2The core · the most demanding ones, while your focus is at its peak 13 questions
- 3The exit · a middle level, so you finish on a success 4 questions
- Quiz
- Open question
- Flashcard
The engine also avoids more than two questions in a row from the same chapter or in the same format.
Then a summary
Your score, the session’s level, and a button to go back over your mistakes.
To choose yourself, open “New session”: Smart review mode, from 10 to 100 questions, chapters and difficulty as you like.
Active Memory Engine™
Step 4 · Memory updated
The engine behind Practice thinks about interview day.
For every question you’ve worked on, the Active Memory Engine™ estimates your chances of remembering it today and on the day of your interview. Every answer you give in a session updates it.
One question, up to interview day
- Without review · 63% on interview day
- With a successful review today · 92% on interview day
Computed with the engine’s model, for a sample question and an interview in 12 days.
A sentence under every question
Scheduled reviewPrivate Equity & LBO You remember it at 84% today; it will be 63% on interview day without review.
In a session, it tells you why the question is there.
Not every success proves as much
Putting an answer into words proves more than recognizing it out of four. A mistake counts the same everywhere.
Weak or never seen: it tells them apart
- Never covered
- Needs more data
- Weak spot
- Solid
A chapter is only judged after five questions seen; a solid chapter is never suggested to you.
Step 5 · Next session
Three suggested chapters, each with its reason.
In “New session,” the engine suggests the three chapters you need most, numbers included. Respond to it: every choice weighs on your next sessions. Try it below.
How these chapters are chosen
Each chapter is ranked by its weight at Lazard M&A multiplied by what you will be missing on interview day if you don’t review. The three biggest gaps are suggested to you.
What comes up at Lazard M&A
- DCF28%
- Accounting21%
- Motivation17%
- LBO & private equity14%
- Background & resume12%
In gray: a topic with no practice questions. It counts in the interview, not in the session.
Example: your interview at Lazard M&A is in 9 days.
- DCFFor your interviewDCF makes up 28% of what comes up at Lazard M&A; your level will drop from 71% to 58% by the interview without review.
- AccountingFor your interviewAccounting makes up 21% of what comes up at Lazard M&A; your level will drop from 66% to 59% by the interview without review.
- Private Equity & LBOFor your interviewPrivate Equity & LBO makes up 14% of what comes up at Lazard M&A; your projected level on interview day: 49%.
Good practices
Getting the most out of Practice.
Four habits that keep the loop running true, and the traps that throw it off.
Do: In Q&A, actually write your answer before looking at the model answer: it’s the closest exercise to the real interview.
Avoid: Rating yourself “I got it right” out of leniency: the engine thinks you know the question and brings it back too late.
Do: One session a day beats three hours on Sunday: memory is built through spaced recall.
Avoid: Waiting until you’ve “finished the lessons” to start practicing: the engine knows how to pace discovery.
Do: Keep your interviews up to date: a moved date changes how every session is built.
Avoid: Always turning down a chapter that matters for your interview: it moves down without disappearing, and it will come up anyway.
Do: If you don’t know, say so: an admitted mistake comes back quickly, and that’s how it gets repaired.
Avoid: Skipping a question you don’t know to protect your numbers: the engine learns nothing.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us most often about this feature.
What is Smart Training?
It’s the smart review of the Practice module: OctoFin’s practice mode that picks the questions for you. It relies on your memory of each question, on your upcoming interviews and on what comes up at the bank you’re targeting, then builds a session: which questions, in which format and in which order.
What is the Active Memory Engine?
It’s OctoFin’s memory engine. For every question you’ve worked on, it estimates your chances of remembering it today and on the day of your interview, factoring in forgetting and the format of your answers. Smart Training, Smart Calendar, your readiness score and Octo all rely on these estimates.
Does an AI grade my written answers?
No. In Q&A, you compare your answer to the model answer and rate yourself (I got it wrong, Almost, I got it right). Quizzes are graded automatically. To understand a mistake, you can ask Octo, the assistant, for an explanation.
Is a correct Quiz answer worth as much as in Q&A?
No. Recognizing the right option out of four is easier than putting the answer into words, and luck can help. A success in Q&A therefore moves your memory further than a success in Flashcard, and much further than one in a Quiz. A mistake, on the other hand, counts the same in every format.
Do I need an interview scheduled to use it?
No. Without a saved interview, the engine balances your level across the whole curriculum. As soon as you add an interview, it targets what comes up at that bank and paces the session according to the time left.
Can I choose my chapters?
Yes. When you create a session, you can select chapters and a difficulty. In Smart review mode it’s optional: with no selection, the engine covers the whole curriculum and picks each question.
How many questions are in a session?
Today’s session has 20. A session you create yourself runs from 10 to 100 questions, or whatever number you set.
Your next session is already built.
All it needs is you: open Practice, today’s session is waiting.