Sources checked
Lazard
The oldest independent advisory house, and it hires for stated qualities rather than a stated process: intellectual curiosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom. The reported analyst loop is a screen, banker interviews and a senior final round, with a markets and sector bias in the technicals.
The Lazard process
3 of 5 stages you can practise here
- 01Application
Through the Lazard student careers portal, into a specific programme and office. The London ladder runs from a three-day Spring Insight Programme through a twelve-month industrial placement and a ten-week summer internship starting in late June, and penultimate-year students are the target for the internship.
- 02
The short screen: a clean resume walk, a specific why Lazard, and a market view
motivationcommunicationmarkets awareness - 03First-round interviews
Interviews with analysts, associates and VPs, mixing fit with fundamentals. Lazard is a markets-forward house with heavy cross-border and sovereign advisory work, and the reported first round reflects it: expect to be asked what you are reading and what you make of it, next to accounting and valuation.
2 rounds you can practise
Fit with bankers: curiosity, a considered market view and a real why Lazard
motivationintellectual curiosityteamworkFundamentals with a markets bias: DCF mechanics, multiples and cost of capital
accountingdcfvaluation - 04
Senior bankers, sector valuation and the questions with no clean formula
accountingvaluationsector - 05Offer and training (not simulated here)
The programme opens with a formal training programme; in Europe the incoming analyst class gathers in London for a six-week training programme before joining teams.
Common questions
- Is there a coding round in the Lazard investment banking interview?
- No. The Lazard investment banking analyst loop is entirely spoken: a screen, first-round interviews with bankers that mix fit and fundamentals, and a final round with senior bankers. There is no coding round and no modeling exam.
- How technical is the Lazard interview?
- Technical from the first round, with a bias toward discount rates and market context rather than accounting minutiae. Expect DCF mechanics, cost of equity against cost of debt, the risk-free rate, terminal value method choice, and in the final round sector valuation for banks, energy, technology and asset managers.
- What does Lazard say it looks for in candidates?
- Lazard states on its careers pages that it values intellectual curiosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom. In practice that shows up as questions about what you have pursued on your own and what you think happens next in a situation, rather than what already happened.
- What early careers programmes does Lazard run in London?
- Four: a three-day Spring Insight Programme of banker-led sessions based on Lazard transactions plus skills workshops, a twelve-month industrial placement, a ten-week summer internship starting in late June for penultimate-year students, and the Analyst Programme itself.
- What training do Lazard analysts get?
- The programme opens with a formal training programme and continues with ongoing professional development. In Europe, the incoming analyst class gathers in London for a six-week training programme before joining teams.
Sources
Built from what Lazard publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
What Lazard says it hires for: intellectual curiosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom, and the two businesses candidates apply into (Financial Advisory and Asset Management).
The student track and its training model: a formal training program on joining, continued professional development, and a six-week European Analyst Training Programme in London for the incoming European analyst class. Applications route through the Lazard student careers portal.
The London early-careers ladder in detail: the Analyst Programme, a ten-week summer internship starting in late June for penultimate-year undergraduate or postgraduate students, a twelve-month industrial placement, and a three-day Spring Insight Programme built on banker-led sessions based on Lazard transactions plus skills workshops.
Investment banking compensation and level context. No interview-process content.
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.