Lazard · Investment banking analyst · Summer Analyst / Analyst

First-round fit interview

Fit with bankers: curiosity, a considered market view and a real why Lazard

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.

“Walk me through your resume, and tell me what you personally did.”
“Why Lazard, and why not a bank that can lend?”
“Tell me about something you went and learned because you were curious, not because you had to.”
“Tell me about a deal or a sector you have been following, and what you think happens next.”
“Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone more senior than you.”
“What questions do you have for me?”

What this round is judged on

Motivation · a specific 'why Lazard' and 'why independent advisory'
Intellectual curiosity · something you learned because you wanted to
Commercial awareness · a considered view with a forward opinion in it
Teamwork · disagreement handled without either caving or digging in

Where this round sits

Lazard’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.

01
Application
02
Recruiter screen
03
First-round interviewsthis round
04
Final round
05
Offer 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.

companyLazard, Careerslazard.com
What Lazard says it hires for: intellectual curiosity, thoughtfulness and wisdom, and the two businesses candidates apply into (Financial Advisory and Asset Management).
companyLazard, Careers for Studentslazard.com
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.
companyLazard, Careers in the United Kingdomlazard.com
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.
datalevels.fyi, Lazardlevels.fyi
Investment banking compensation and level context. No interview-process content.

Sources last checked August 12, 2026. Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.

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