Investment Banking

Lazard Application Guide

Elite independent advisory firm and a top US restructuring house, known for the most complex M&A and Chapter 11 mandates. Every stage of the process, the questions Lazard actually asks, and the prep that gets candidates through, in one place.

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The firm

About Lazard

The business today

Lazard is the world's largest independent advisory firm and one of the premier restructuring houses on Wall Street. It is built on two businesses: Financial Advisory (M&A, Restructuring & Liability Management, Sovereign Advisory and Capital Solutions) and Lazard Asset Management. Because it does not lend or trade for its own book, it competes on advice and judgment, not balance sheet.

In the US, Lazard's restructuring practice is a flagship: it advises companies and creditors through the most complex Chapter 11 and out-of-court situations, and it runs a dedicated New York Restructuring summer analyst track alongside its generalist M&A program. Its Sovereign Advisory practice, advising governments on debt and economic strategy, is unique at scale. Through 2025 the Financial Advisory business reported record first-half revenue (on Lazard's adjusted basis), helped by a recovery in sponsor-led M&A and a heavy restructuring pipeline.

For an analyst based at Rockefeller Center in New York, that means lean deal teams, early client and MD exposure, and intellectually demanding work across M&A and distressed situations.

Why people apply to Lazard

Lazard is intense and technically demanding, with elite boutique hours (~80-90 per week on live deals) and a small, selective intake. You accept the hours and a high technical bar in exchange for early responsibility, complex work and outstanding exits. It is not a balance-first seat.

You want elite advisory and one of the best restructuring training grounds in the US. Lazard analysts learn capital-structure judgment, not just process.

You are drawn to complexity: Chapter 11, distressed M&A and sovereign work that few firms can offer. The restructuring practice is core to the firm, not a side desk.

You value exits. Lazard analysts place exceptionally well into private equity, hedge funds and especially distressed and credit funds, where the restructuring background is prized.

Divisions inside Lazard's Investment Banking

M&A Advisory

Day-to-day

Merger models, DCFs, board materials and pitch decks across sector and product teams. The largest part of the generalist analyst intake.

Interview style

Conversational but technical: walk me through a DCF, accretion/dilution, why a deal makes sense, and a deal you can discuss.

High difficulty

Restructuring & Liability Management

Day-to-day

Advising debtors or creditors through Chapter 11 and out-of-court restructurings: capital-structure and recovery analysis, debt-for-equity swaps, liquidity and negotiations. A US flagship with its own NY analyst track.

Interview style

The most distinctive: Chapter 11 vs out-of-court, fulcrum security, recovery analysis, impaired classes and post-reorg equity.

Extreme difficulty

Sovereign Advisory

Day-to-day

Advising governments and sovereign entities on debt restructuring, financing and economic strategy. A small, specialized team unique to Lazard at scale.

Interview style

Macro and analytical: sovereign debt dynamics, why governments need advisers, and genuine curiosity about geopolitics and economics.

Extreme difficulty

Lazard Asset Management

Day-to-day

Research and portfolio support across equities, fixed income and alternatives, on a longer horizon and with better hours than advisory.

Interview style

Markets-aware and fit-led: why asset management, a view on a stock or market, and a steady analytical temperament.

Moderate-high difficulty

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Score your Resume against Lazard's screen

Lazard talent acquisition screens thousands of Resumes per cycle. Most are read in under 30 seconds. The candidates who get to interview have Resumes that signal commercial relevance fast, in the format Lazard expects.

What Lazard looks for in a Resume

Quantified impact

Numbers in every bullet: deal size, team size, percentage uplift, revenue managed. "Led a team" is filler, "led a 6-person team that delivered £400k of revenue" is a signal.

Named firms and deals

Lazard recruiters skim for brand names they recognise. Name your prior internships, the deals you observed, the clients you worked on. Specifics beat generic descriptions.

Industry-relevant language

Use the vocabulary of the investment banking world: DCF, comps, LBO, league tables, deal flow. Generic "analysed data" reads as not-yet-in-the-industry; the right terms read as ready.

Tight, structured layout

One page max. Reverse-chronological. Three to five bullets per role. No long paragraphs, no dense blocks. The skim test decides the read.

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The application

How Lazard hires

5 stages, real interview questions, the criteria that decide it, and the moves that separate offers from rejections.

The process, stage by stage

  1. 1

    Application

    On-cycle: opens around March-April of sophomore year for the following summer; rolling.

    Apply in the first week. Network beforehand and show specific interest in advisory and restructuring.

  2. 2

    Online Assessment + HireVue

    ~3 days to complete both

    A timed cognitive test (CCAT) plus a 5-question, fit-only HireVue. Practice timed reasoning; prepare tight why-Lazard answers.

  3. 3

    Phone Screen

    1-2 weeks after HireVue

    A ~30-minute call with an analyst, mixing behavioral and technical. Know your resume and a clean DCF.

  4. 4

    Superday

    Within 1-2 weeks of the phone screen

    4-6 back-to-back interviews (~30 min each) with analysts, VPs and MDs: resume, technicals, fit, and restructuring for RX teams.

  5. 5

    Offer

    ~1 week after superday

    Small intake, fast turnaround. Strong summer conversion to full-time.

What Lazard asks at each round

Phone Screen

  • Why Lazard and why advisory?
  • Walk me through your resume.
  • Walk me through a DCF.
  • What is the difference between Chapter 11 and an out-of-court restructuring?
  • Tell me about a deal in the news.

Superday

  • Walk me through an LBO.
  • How do you value a distressed company?
  • What is the fulcrum security and how do you find it?
  • Pitch me a recent deal or restructuring situation.
  • Tell me about a time you managed multiple complex tasks.
  • A company has $500M of debt trading at 60 cents and $50M of EBITDA. How would you advise the company versus the creditors?

Restructuring

  • Chapter 11 versus out-of-court: pros and cons.
  • How does a debt-for-equity swap work, and who gets the post-reorg equity?
  • What classes were impaired in a deal you followed, and how were they treated?
  • How do you run a recovery analysis?
  • What are the early signs a company is heading into distress?

What Lazard looks for

Intellectual horsepower

Lazard mandates are among the most complex on the Street. Interviewers probe the depth of your thinking, not rote technical recall.

Technical precision

DCF, LBO, merger models and restructuring mechanics (fulcrum security, recovery analysis) tested in detail, especially for RX.

Genuine advisory and RX interest

A pure advisory firm and a top restructuring house. They want people who find distressed and complex situations genuinely interesting.

Work ethic

Elite boutique hours, ~80-90 per week on live deals, on lean teams with early responsibility.

Communication

Advising boards and creditor committees demands clear, concise, persuasive communication.

Networking and initiative

US recruiting is networking-led and accelerated. Bankers remember the candidates who engaged early and specifically.

The edge: what separates offers from rejections

Specific moves most applicants skip. None of them need talent, only preparation.

  1. 01Network early and specifically; US recruiting rewards genuine, early engagement
  2. 02Know the restructuring basics cold (Chapter 11 vs out-of-court, fulcrum security, recovery analysis), even for M&A
  3. 03Have two situations ready: one M&A and one distressed, each with a view
  4. 04Reference Lazard's Sovereign Advisory or a specific US restructuring mandate
  5. 05Be conversational and show depth; Lazard interviewers probe how you think, not just what you memorized

Prep, stage by stage

Drill each Lazard round

Dedicated pages for the four rounds Lazard runs. The Pack covers all four end to end in one purchase.

Online Assessment

Real format, calibrated to Lazard.

HireVue

Real Lazard questions, identical timer, scored on six competencies.

Live Interview

Conversational mocks tuned to Lazard's style, with follow-ups.

Superday

Hours of back-to-back interviews. Full-day rehearsal.

Pay & culture

Working at Lazard

What they pay

Graduate

~$110,000-120,000 base (~$180,000-195,000 total comp)

Internship

~$120,000 annualized (~$9,000-10,000 for the summer)

Perks

Health, dental and vision insurance401(k) matchRelocation assistance (up to ~$2,500 for interns)Lean teams, early responsibilityNYC (Rockefeller Center) officeStrong summer-to-full-time conversion
CompanyCompHours / weekExit options
Evercore~$110K / ~$190K+ total80-90/weekVery strong (PE)
PJT Partners~$110K / ~$190K+ total80-90/weekVery strong (PE, special situations)
Moelis~$110K / ~$185K+ total80-90/weekStrong
Houlihan Lokey~$110K / ~$180K+ total70-80/weekStrong (special situations)

What working at Lazard is like

  • Pure advisory, M&A and a flagship US restructuring practice
  • ~80-90 hours/week on live deals, elite boutique intensity
  • Very lean teams, significant analyst responsibility early
  • Conversational, intellectually probing interview style
  • NYC, Rockefeller Center
  • Small, selective intake; strong, tight-knit analyst class
  • Direct exposure to MDs and clients from day one
  • Restructuring is core to the firm identity, not a side desk

Timeline

When Lazard programmes open and close

By programme. Use these dates to plan applications across the cycle and submit early on rolling lines.

ProgrammeOpensClosesAssessmentOffersNotes
Summer Analyst (M&A / Restructuring Generalist, NY)~March (sophomore year)RollingSpring of sophomore yearRollingMain on-cycle window; dates accelerate yearly, so apply early.
Summer Analyst - New York Restructuring~March (sophomore year)Rolling--Dedicated RX track; especially competitive.
Early Insights (diversity)~January (sophomore year)~Jan 15 - Feb 15--Spring workshop for first-years/sophomores from diverse backgrounds; pipeline to summer.
SEO Career partnershipPer SEO cyclePer SEO cycle--Dedicated diversity recruiting track via SEO.

FAQ

Lazard application questions

How is Lazard different from a bulge bracket in the US?

Lazard is an independent advisory firm: it does not lend or trade for its own book, so it competes on advice and judgment rather than financing. That means leaner deal teams and earlier responsibility for analysts. In the US, its restructuring practice is a flagship, advising on the most complex Chapter 11 and out-of-court situations, and its Sovereign Advisory practice is unique at scale. The trade-off versus a bulge bracket is a narrower platform and intense hours, in exchange for advisory depth and outstanding exits, especially into special situations and credit.

How technical is the Lazard superday?

Very, and deliberately conversational. Across 4-6 back-to-back interviews you should expect a DCF walk-through, LBO and merger-model mechanics, and enterprise versus equity value. For restructuring teams, expect Chapter 11 versus out-of-court, the fulcrum security, recovery analysis, impaired classes and post-reorg equity. Lazard interviewers are known for probing the depth of your reasoning with open-ended follow-ups rather than rewarding memorized scripts, so practice explaining your logic out loud.

What is Lazard's online assessment and HireVue?

Once invited you get about three days to complete both. The online assessment is a timed cognitive aptitude test (most reports point to the CCAT, covering abstract, verbal, mathematical and logical questions under time pressure; some cycles use SHL-style numerical and verbal reasoning). The HireVue is five questions, all fit and motivation (why Lazard, why advisory or restructuring), with no technical content at that stage. Practice timed reasoning and rehearse tight, specific motivation answers to camera.

When does Lazard US recruiting open?

It is on-cycle and accelerated. The main sophomore-summer window typically opens around March-April of sophomore year for the following summer, and the most competitive spots can open even earlier. Diversity programs (Early Insights and the SEO partnership) run earlier still, with deadlines around mid-January to mid-February. Recruiting is rolling, so the single most important step is to apply in the first week and to have networked beforehand.

What are exit opportunities from Lazard in the US?

Excellent. Lazard analysts place strongly into private equity, hedge funds and corporate development, and the restructuring background is especially valued by distressed, special-situations and credit funds, a route the firm opens more readily than most. The combination of complex deal exposure, lean teams and early responsibility builds exactly the toolkit buy-side recruiters look for, and many analysts move on-cycle to the buy side within their first year or two.

How not to fail

Mistakes that cost candidates Lazard offers

Specific failure modes the firm screens out. None of these need talent to avoid, only awareness.

  1. 01No networking. US recruiting is networking-led. Applying cold without coffee chats or events is a major disadvantage.
  2. 02Underestimating the technical bar. The superday is rapid and probing; know the mechanics cold and be ready for restructuring follow-ups.
  3. 03No restructuring awareness. Even M&A candidates should know Chapter 11 vs out-of-court and the fulcrum security; RX is a Lazard signature.
  4. 04Applying late. On-cycle and rolling means late strong applicants miss out. Apply in the first week.

If you are rejected

What to do next

A Lazard rejection is not a verdict on your ability given the tiny intake. Build the technical base and target comparable US platforms.

Elite boutiques

Evercore, PJT, Moelis, Centerview and Perella Weinberg recruit similar profiles.

Restructuring specialists

Houlihan Lokey and PJT Park Hill for those drawn to distressed work.

Bulge-bracket M&A

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan for a broader platform.

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Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lazard. Process details are sourced from past applicants, the firm's published guidance and our own research; verify timings on the firm's official careers site before applying. Last updated July 18, 2026.

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