I applied through university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Lazard (Houston, TX) in Jan 2012
Interview
30 minute interview, 2 bankers present, conducted on-campus. More emphasis on "fit" than other banking interviews. I was asked 2 finance questions that were not complex. (1 accounting, 1 valuations) I happened to grow up in Houston and attended private school from preschool through high school. I mentioned this as an offhand comment, and one of the interviewers actually wrote it down. Do they really care where I went to preschool? Also, they had a good cop/bad cop attitude. Having done behavioral/fit interviews for other industries, I didn't think it was that bad, but it caught some others off-guard, who were expecting more of a focus on the financial questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
You just sold an asset worth $200M. Walk me through the three financial statements.
I applied online. I interviewed at Lazard in Mar 2026
Interview
I interviewed for a non-finance-related position, and the first round was a 30-min chat. The interviewer was friendly, and we discussed a lot of issues based on my interest/role. Questions range from technicals for the role, client expectations, quantitative skills, and regional expertise. There was some pushback on my answers, but it was very respectful and prompted me to think. Overall good experience.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
The client wants to understand xxx, how would you approach it?
The interview was fairly straightforward. There were no technicals, only 3 behavioural questions. Very typical Investment Banking first-round interview. No surprises, and should be simple for someone who has interviewed for an investment bank before.
It was a phone screen where I asked a variety of behavioral and technical questions related to the health care group. Overall more technical than I thought for a phone screen.
