Moelis & Company · Live Interview
Moelis & Company's first-round live interview is where strong written applications become offer pipelines or go nowhere. Below: the real questions Moelis & Company asks, what they're testing for, and how to practise live until it feels routine.
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The format
The live first round / phone screen sits after the resume screen and digital assessments and is the primary technical and behavioral filter before the superday.
A live Zoom or Microsoft Teams call, with traditional phone screens still common and occasional in-person rounds at regional hubs. Mixes resume, motivation, behavioral, commercial awareness and meticulous technicals.
Almost always a single interviewer: a second- or third-year Associate or a VP, occasionally a senior Analyst. VPs tilt toward commercial judgment and deal logic.
Interviewers probe weak answers. The candidates who get through handle follow-ups confidently, not just the headline question.
Duration. 30-45 minutes, tightly structured (intro, ~5-7 min resume and motivation, ~15-20 min technicals, ~5-10 min behavioral, candidate questions).
Rounds at this stage. Typically one high-stakes round; a second screen with a different group may be added for borderline technicals or cross-staffing.
Format breakdown
Phone, video, and in-person each have distinct mechanics. The interviewer scoring rubric is the same, but the operational preparation is different.
Without visual feedback, evaluation shifts to vocal delivery and structure. Use clear signposting (first, second, third); interviewers can hear rustling paper or scripted cadence and will disrupt your flow to verify real understanding.
Join two minutes early on a stable connection, camera on and framed mid-chest up, front lighting, neutral background. Look at the lens, not the on-screen face; repeated glancing away reads as reading from notes and risks an automatic rejection.
Most often at 399 Park Avenue in New York or a regional office. Arrive 10-15 minutes early with 3-5 clean resume copies on heavy bond paper in a leather padfolio; firm handshake, open posture and steady eye contact.
Question categories
Question types cycled through the interview. For each, a real example, what the firm is screening for, plus weak and strong answer signals.
“Why investment banking rather than private equity or corporate strategy straight out of undergrad?”
What they test. Longevity and a realistic view of the analyst lifestyle
Weak answer. I love fast-paced environments and learning opportunities, and the compensation and prestige are great.
Strong answer. Frames the intense reps as a conscious investment in technical training, exposure to complex transactions and accelerated judgment, acknowledging the grueling hours.
“Why Moelis specifically, over a bulge bracket or another elite boutique like Evercore or Centerview?”
What they test. Specific firm research and alignment with the model
Weak answer. A copy-paste answer about the people and the culture, or homepage facts with no personal tie-in.
Strong answer. References the pure independent advisory model, the generalist M&A and RX cross-staffing, the entrepreneurial founder-led culture, and a specific recent US mandate.
“Why our generalist platform rather than a dedicated industry vertical?”
What they test. Adaptability and structural awareness
“Tell me about a time you managed multiple competing deadlines with limited guidance. How did you prioritize?”
What they test. Time management and autonomy under pressure
Weak answer. A chaotic situation where they simply stayed up all night to finish everything.
Strong answer. A STAR answer with a quantified conflict, triage by material impact, proactive stakeholder management and successful delivery.
“Describe a situation where you found an error in your team's work at the last minute. What did you do?”
What they test. Attention to detail, accountability and diplomacy
“Give an example of a time you failed. What did you learn?”
What they test. Humility, self-awareness and resilience
“Walk me through your resume.”
What they test. Communication clarity and a thesis-driven narrative
Weak answer. A dry recitation of every bullet exceeding three minutes with no narrative.
Strong answer. A 90-120 second chronological story driven by why each step led logically to investment banking at Moelis, heavy on quantitative impact.
“Walk me through the most technically challenging project from your last internship.”
What they test. Depth and honesty about prior work
“If you had $100 million to invest in any US sector right now, where would you put it and why?”
What they test. Macro perspective, thesis formulation and risk assessment
Weak answer. A generic sector like technology or AI because it is popular, with no numbers-driven thesis.
Strong answer. A specific sector with structural tailwinds, a deployment strategy, the operational metrics driving value and the primary macro risks.
“How do changes in the Federal Funds Rate ripple through to our advisory pipeline?”
What they test. Systemic link between monetary policy and transaction volumes
Strong answer. Traces rising rates raising the cost of debt, compressing multiples, widening the bid-ask spread and slowing sponsor LBOs, while accelerating default risk and driving restructuring and liability-management mandates.
“A company buys a $100 machine with 100% debt (10-year straight-line life, 0% salvage, 10% interest). Walk me through the three statements at the end of Year 1 at a 40% tax rate.”
What they test. Three-statement integration under combined operating and financing effects
Strong answer. Pre-tax income falls $20 ($10 depreciation plus $10 interest), so net income falls $12; cash from operations falls $2 after adding back the $10 non-cash depreciation; on the balance sheet cash is down $2 and net PP&E down $10 (assets down $12), with retained earnings down $12 against unchanged debt, so it balances.
“Walk me through a DCF from revenue to unlevered free cash flow, and how you calculate terminal value.”
What they test. Core intrinsic valuation fluency
Strong answer. EBIT times one minus the tax rate gives NOPAT; add D&A, subtract CapEx and the change in net working capital for unlevered free cash flow; terminal value via the growth-perpetuity method (final-year cash flow grown one period, divided by WACC minus g) or an exit multiple, all discounted at WACC.
“Explain the LBO mechanics and the primary levers that drive a sponsor IRR.”
What they test. Sponsor finance and value creation
Strong answer. A sponsor buys with 60-80% debt and a minority of equity, uses the target cash flows to service and pay down debt over a 3-7 year hold, then exits; the levers are entry vs exit multiple, leverage, revenue growth, margin expansion and free-cash-flow conversion.
A Moelis signature even for generalists, because the firm does not split M&A and RX at the junior level.
“Walk me through the capital structure priority waterfall, from super-senior bank debt down to common equity.”
What they test. Absolute priority and recovery mechanics
Strong answer. DIP financing, then administrative claims, first-lien secured, second-lien / junior secured, senior unsecured, subordinated / mezzanine, preferred equity and common equity, with the fulcrum security sitting where value breaks.
“What is the fulcrum security, and why is it valued by distressed investors?”
What they test. Recovery analysis and debt-for-equity mechanics
Strong answer. The senior-most tranche not fully covered by enterprise value, which absorbs the value break and tends to convert into the controlling equity in a reorganization.
“Name three out-of-court restructuring tools to address an upcoming maturity when credit markets are locked.”
What they test. Liability management mechanics
Strong answer. An exchange offer (swap maturing notes for a new, possibly PIK or senior secured, security), an amend-and-extend (push the maturity out 2-3 years for a fee, higher margin or tighter covenants), and a targeted asset disposition whose proceeds repurchase the maturing bonds at a discount.
Technical depth
The technical bar goes well beyond guide recall; expect advanced follow-ups and a fast pivot between M&A and distressed logic.
Advanced multi-statement interactions (asset write-ups, deferred tax assets), mid-year conventions, circular interest references, NOL valuation under Section 382, plus PIK debt and dividend recapitalization mechanics.
Distressed and liquidation valuation (Chapter 7 recovery rates: cash 100%, receivables 60-80%, inventory 40-60%, PP&E 10-30%), the full capital-structure waterfall and fulcrum security, and liability management exercises like up-tier exchanges and asset drop-downs.
Financing alternatives (secured floating-rate term loans with maintenance covenants vs unsecured fixed-rate high-yield bonds with incurrence covenants and call protection), accelerated bookbuilds and rights issues.
GP-led secondaries and continuation funds, and LP portfolio sales of fund interests to secondary buyers.
The rubric
The interviewer is checking against a scorecard. Knowing the categories is half the battle.
Aggregation. Each competency is scored 1-5 and submitted with written feedback into the central recruiting system.
Pass threshold. A Superday recommendation needs an average of at least 4.0 with no competency below 3; a 1 or 2 in Technical Precision or Integrity/Fit is an automatic disqualifier.
Weighting vs other rounds. Indicative weighting: the HireVue and digital assessment count for about 10% (a preliminary filter), the live first round about 50% (the primary gatekeeper), and the superday about 40% (final validation and MD consensus).
How to practise
Conversational mocks that read your Resume, ask Moelis & Company-specific questions, push back when answers are weak, and produce a scored report.
Lazard · IB Analyst
Technical Interview · Resume-aware
Interviewer
I see from your Resume you completed Insight Program at Lazard. Walk me through a deal you observed during that placement.Interviewer
You mentioned trading comps. Walk me through how the peer set was selected, what criteria were used, and were there any borderline cases?Full report when you end
Why candidates fail
Specific failure patterns documented across past applicants. Most are avoidable with focused preparation.
Surface-level why-Moelis
Generic prestige, culture and great people answers that fail to engage the integrated generalist M&A/RX model or the independent advisory platform.
Unprepared for restructuring
Assuming a general IB application is exempt from credit mechanics; failing a basic debt-priority or distressed-valuation question is a dealbreaker.
Freezing on mental math or curveballs
Breaking down on a multi-step calculation or unconventional prompt; panic or giving up triggers rejection.
Over-scripted delivery
Reciting memorized guide answers that fall apart when the interviewer changes a single variable.
Poor eye-line discipline
Glancing at a second monitor or notes during technicals; suspected cheating ends the interview immediately.
What works
Concrete moves drilled by candidates who clear the cut, drawn from applicant accounts and recruiter feedback.
Integrate M&A and RX logic
Shift seamlessly between growth-equity upside and credit-risk analysis on the same business.
Verbalize the framework
State your structure first (income statement, then cash flow, then balance sheet), so the interviewer can steer you.
Know modern liability management
Speak intelligently about up-tier exchanges and asset drop-downs, not just textbook restructuring.
Client-ready presence
Communicate with structure, confidence and clarity, as if representing the firm to a client.
Substantive deal knowledge
Break down a recent Moelis transaction with real nuance: rationale, structure and market context.
From past applicants
Anonymised candidate accounts of how recent Moelis & Company applicants handled the live round. Each covers prep, the experience, and the outcome.
Target-school Summer Analyst, M&A/RX generalist (New York)
Prep. Researched a specific recent activist defense mandate in detail and drilled advanced accounting follow-ups.
Experience. A second-year Associate skipped the standard questions and went straight into an asset write-up and a PIK debt instrument across the three statements; a clean DCF immediately prompted a question on valuing NOLs under Section 382 and the EV impact. Every answer triggered a deeper follow-up.
Outcome. Matched the energy on the activist case and advanced.
Non-target lateral Associate (Los Angeles)
Prep. Prepared to defend valuation multiples and a working-capital dispute from a real sell-side transaction.
Experience. A VP dug into the resume deal, then turned it into a live distressed case: walk the capital-structure waterfall, identify the likely fulcrum security, and weigh an out-of-court exchange against Chapter 11. The VP challenged the conclusion aggressively, and composure plus credit-mechanics reasoning carried it.
Outcome. Held ground under the stress test and progressed.
What gets you through
FAQ
A 30-45 minute live Zoom, Teams or phone interview, almost always with a single interviewer (a second- or third-year Associate or a VP, sometimes a senior Analyst). It packs in a brief resume and motivation segment, around 15-20 minutes of meticulous technicals across accounting, valuation, LBO and restructuring, and behavioral and commercial-awareness questions. Because the firm runs a generalist model, restructuring questions are fair game even for general IB applicants. Know your resume deals cold and verbalize your reasoning on every technical.
Never guess or invent a concept. Take a breath, stay composed, and reason from first principles: say something like, I have not encountered that exact scenario, but walking through the core logic I would expect it to work like this. Show your structural thinking. Interviewers deliberately push to find your boundary, and bluffing is an immediate disqualifier, whereas admitting a limit and reasoning logically passes the stress test.
Indicatively, the digital assessment counts about 10%, this live round about 50% as the primary gatekeeper, and the superday about 40%. You need an average of at least 4.0 across the five competencies with nothing below 3, and a 1 or 2 in Technical Precision or Integrity/Fit auto-rejects. Decisions move fast: expect a superday decision within about 2-5 business days, sooner if you flag a competing exploding offer.
The other rounds
Live interview is one of four rounds. Practise each one free on Intervyo.
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Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Moelis & Company. Interview questions are sourced from past applicants and the firm's published guidance; verify on the firm's careers site. Sector: Investment Banking.
Moelis & Company
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