J.P. Morgan runs a HireVue video interview for its 2027 Commercial and Specialized Industries Summer Analyst Program, and it screens out a large share of applicants before a banker watches a clip. The people who get through have usually drilled the real questions. You get about 30 seconds to think and 2 minutes to answer, on camera. The first question is the most basic technical in all of finance, which is exactly why a shaky answer stands out.
Here is the question, word for word:
Outline the three (3) standard financial statements and describe how they relate to one another.
Naming the three is table stakes. The word that decides your score is relate. Anyone can list them. The candidates who pass show how a single dollar of net income moves through all three.
How you lose points
- You list the three and stop. Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, then silence. You answered the easy half and skipped the half being tested.
- You confuse profit with cash. Saying net income is the cash a company made is the classic error. Depreciation, working capital, and accruals all sit between the two.
- You forget the balance sheet must balance. If you cannot say assets equal liabilities plus equity, the interviewer stops trusting the rest.
- You leave net income stranded. A strong answer traces net income into retained earnings and into the top of the cash flow statement. Naming it without linking it is the giveaway.
- You never mention cash tying out. The end of the cash flow statement is the cash line on the balance sheet. Skip that and the loop is not closed.
How you pass
A strong answer names each statement with one line on what it does. The income statement shows revenue and expenses over a period and ends in net income. The balance sheet is a snapshot at one date where assets equal liabilities plus equity. The cash flow statement bridges the two by adjusting net income for non cash items and changes in working capital, split into operating, investing, and financing.
Then it links them, ideally with a number. Take one dollar of net income. It flows to the top of the cash flow statement, and it adds to retained earnings inside equity on the balance sheet. Add back a non cash charge like depreciation and the cash generated may be higher than net income. The bottom line of the cash flow statement is the change in cash, and that carries to the cash line on the balance sheet, which is what keeps it balanced. That single walk through is the answer.
It closes on the key insight: the three statements are one connected model, not three lists, and cash flow is where profit and reality meet. Around ninety seconds, calm, in a clear order.
Get the ones for your role
This is one of four questions, and the rest of the technicals build on this exact logic. Candidates who have seen the real prompts practice the walk through out loud instead of freezing at 30 seconds. The full JPMorganChase Commercial and Specialized Industries question pack is on OpenInterview if you want to rehearse the real technicals before you record.
