Lazard · Investment banking analyst · Summer Analyst / Analyst
First-round technicals
Fundamentals with a markets bias: DCF mechanics, multiples and cost of capital
What they actually ask
The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.
- “What's the difference between cash and GAAP EPS?”
- “How does Net Working Capital impact cash flow?”
- “What happens to a DCF valuation if the tax rate increases?”
- “Is the cost of equity always greater than the cost of debt? Explain your reasoning.”
- “What are the primary strategic reasons a company would choose to acquire another company?”
What this round is judged on
- Accounting · the three statements and how a change flows through them
- DCF · unlevered cash flow, WACC, terminal value and what moves each
- Valuation · comps, precedents and DCF, and when each applies
- Markets · cost of capital tied to what rates are actually doing
How Larpy grades this
We score these the way an analyst would. Per topic, what a strong answer lands and the confidently-wrong answers Larpy catches.
- ACCThree-statement flow of a depreciation change
- Strong
- nets the tax effect correctly (net income down 7.5, not 10); adds the full non-cash charge back on the cash flow statement; closes the balance sheet and states that it balances.
- We flag
- claims extra depreciation raises net income or cash (it lowers net income; cash rises only by the tax shield); forgets the tax rate and moves the full 10 through pre-tax to net income; leaves the balance sheet unbalanced.
- VALWalk me through a DCF
- Strong
- uses UNLEVERED free cash flow discounted at WACC (not levered FCF or cost of equity); includes a terminal value and discounts it back; sums to enterprise value, then bridges to equity.
- We flag
- discounts unlevered cash flow at the cost of equity; omits terminal value (it is usually the majority of the value); forgets to subtract the change in working capital or capex.
Larpy builds a fresh question per topic from your resume and grades the full answer live. Start the mock for the worked model answer.
Where this round sits
Lazard’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.
- 01Application
- 02Recruiter screen
- 03First-round interviewsthis round
- 04Final round
- 05Offer and training (not simulated here)
What happens in each stage›
- Application
- 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.
- Recruiter screen
- A short screen with recruiting before you meet bankers, in some cycles a recorded video instead of a live call. Lazard does not publish its interview stages, so the form of this round is candidate-reported. The content is motivation and a resume walk.
- First-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.
- Final round
- Back-to-back sessions with senior bankers, often including an MD. The technical bar rises into sector-specific valuation, capital structure and merger math, and the fit half tests the qualities Lazard names on its own careers page: intellectual curiosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom.
- Offer 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.
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.