Lazard Investment Banking Interview Questions

Lazard investment banking interview questions sit inside a four-stage London graduate process the firm publishes itself: an online application form, an online assessment combining a timed aptitude test with a recorded video assessment, a virtual assessment centre, and two final-round interviews with senior bankers. The firm publishes the stages, formats, and timings but not the prompts or scoring, so the questions below are original practice, not leaked prompts. Prepare motivation and presence for the early stages, then the technical core plus restructuring fluency for the final rounds.

TL;DR

• Lazard publishes a four-stage London process: application form, online assessment, virtual assessment centre, then final-round interviews.
• The online assessment bundles a 15-minute timed aptitude test with no calculator allowed, an untimed behavioural trait assessment, and a recorded video assessment on motivation and fit, roughly 35 to 40 minutes in one sitting.
• Final rounds are two in-person interviews of about 30 minutes each with senior bankers, typically within a week of the assessment centre, covering Lazard, markets, world affairs, and technical questions.
• Any degree discipline is welcomed with a minimum 2.1 classification or equivalent; no prior finance experience is required.
• Six try-first questions below cover behavioral, mental math, accounting, DCF, restructuring, and M&A.

What does Lazard publish about its process?

The firm's careers programme page gives a stage-by-stage guide for the London Analyst and Intern programmes, and the 2026 recruitment FAQ fills in eligibility and timing. The published sequence:

Timing is confirmed on the same pages. Lazard recruits on a rolling basis and warns it may close applications early once roles fill. For the 2026 cycle the FAQ lists Analyst applications opening 29 September 2025 and closing 24 October, internship applications 22 September to 17 October, industrial placement mid-October to mid-November, and spring insight early to late November. The programmes page shows a later 7 November close for the Analyst programme, so treat your live application portal as authoritative and apply early either way.

Two more official details shape the logistics. You may apply to overseas offices alongside your single London application, using the same email address so the firm can track you across offices. And if you took the aptitude or behavioural trait assessments within the last 12 months, you do not retake them; the video assessment is always required because its questions differ.

One detail matters if you are targeting the internship route: the ten-week summer programme ends with a ten-minute presentation to a panel of senior bankers, and that presentation plus your internship performance determines whether a full-time Analyst offer is extended.

For the US, Lazard does not publish an equivalent stage guide. Candidate reports describe a recruiter or recorded-video screen, first-round interviews, and a final superday-style round of several back-to-back interviews including senior bankers (reported, not official). Open the official instructions before anything else, then build around the skills the firm names. The Lazard firm guide has the broader profile, and the technical interview questions bank covers the finance base.

Which Lazard business lines should you understand?

Lazard's own FAQ defines Financial Advisory as M&A and strategic advisory, restructuring, capital structure advisory (debt advisory and equity capital markets advice), private capital advisory, and venture growth banking. It is explicit that as an independent advisory firm Lazard only advises and does not lend, a structural point worth naming in a motivation answer.

The restructuring franchise deserves special attention. Lazard's Restructuring and Liability Management page describes one of the world's largest dedicated restructuring teams, with more than 100 professionals globally, advising debtors and creditors on liability management, Chapter 11 debtor advisory, creditor advisory, capital raising in stressed situations, and accelerated divestitures. Interviewers can probe that vocabulary directly. The restructuring in investment banking guide covers the landscape, and exchange offers, amend-and-extend, and 363 sales covers the liability-management toolkit Lazard names on its own page.

What Lazard-style questions should you practice?

These are original IB Offer exercises, not reported Lazard prompts. Write your attempt in each card; the model answer and AI grading unlock with a free account.

Motivation and the video assessment

The recorded video assessment focuses on motivation, cultural fit, and interest in the organization and industry, per the official stage guide. Treat it like a HireVue: tight structure, concrete evidence, two minutes or less.

The video interview guide covers recorded-format mechanics: lighting, pacing, and answer structure under a countdown.

Mental math under a timer

The aptitude test is 15 minutes, timed, with no calculator permitted. Speed and clean estimation matter more than elegance.

Drill speed with the mental math practice test.

Accounting and the three statements

Advisory interviews test whether you can trace deal mechanics through the statements, and purchase accounting is a Lazard-style staple.

Refresh the mechanics in the three financial statements linked guide, then run a graded rep on the accounting practice page.

DCF and valuation

Expect to defend assumptions, not just build. Beta mechanics are a common probe because they test whether you understand what a discount rate is actually pricing.

The walk me through a DCF guide covers the full build from unlevered free cash flow to terminal value.

Restructuring

Lazard's restructuring heritage makes recovery and priority questions the highest-value technical to master for this firm.

Go deeper with the fulcrum security and priority waterfall guide, then run the restructuring drill set below.

M&A and deal judgment

Merger-model math shows up in final rounds because it combines technical accuracy with judgment about what the numbers mean.

The accretion and dilution analysis guide builds the full framework, and the accretion practice page grades a rep.

The virtual assessment centre

Lazard's stage three is explicitly collaborative: the firm tells candidates they are not competing with each other and progresses everyone who meets the bar. That design rewards airtime discipline, inviting quieter teammates in, and keeping the group on a time-boxed decision rather than dominating. The assessment centre guide covers exercise formats and how markers score group work.

Drill sets: restructuring and M&A reps

One free rep each, matched to the domains above. Finish a rep and the prompt to keep practicing appears.

Practice inside this guide

Restructuring interview practice

Question 1 of 1

Explain the difference between Chapter 11 and Chapter 7, and why creditors usually prefer Chapter 11.

Your answer

Reveal model structure

Practice inside this guide

Accretion and dilution practice

Question 1 of 1

When is an all-stock acquisition accretive to the buyer's EPS, in one sentence?

Your answer

Reveal model structure

How do you answer "why Lazard"?

Use one structural reason, one verified proof point, and one personal connection. The strongest Lazard-specific reason is the independent advisory model itself: advice unconflicted by lending or underwriting, plus the restructuring franchise the firm describes on its own pages. Then prove the interest is tested, not assumed, and connect it to something in your background.

A practical worksheet has four lines:

• The Lazard business or work that interests me is...
• I verified that interest through...
• My relevant evidence is...
• The contribution I want to make is...

Swap Lazard for any other bank. If the answer still works, it is too generic. Avoid invented rankings, deal roles, or culture claims you cannot source. The full method is in how to answer why this bank.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Lazard publish its interview questions?

No. The careers pages publish the stages, formats, and timings of the London graduate process but not the prompts, question counts, or scoring.

What is in the Lazard online assessment?

Three parts completed in one sitting of about 35 to 40 minutes: a 15-minute timed aptitude test with no calculator allowed, an untimed behavioural trait assessment of about 10 minutes, and a recorded video assessment on motivation, cultural fit, and interest in the firm and industry. Aptitude and trait results may be reused if you took them within the last 12 months, but the video assessment must be retaken.

When do Lazard applications open and close?

For the 2026 London cycle, the published FAQ lists the Analyst programme opening 29 September 2025 and closing 24 October, and the internship opening 22 September and closing 17 October. Recruitment is rolling and the firm warns roles can close before the stated deadline, so apply as early as the window allows.

Does Lazard require a finance degree?

No. The official FAQ requires a minimum predicted or obtained 2.1 degree classification or equivalent, welcomes all academic backgrounds including arts, sciences, and humanities, and states that prior finance work experience is not required.

How many interviews are in the Lazard final round?

Two in-person interviews of about 30 minutes each with senior bankers, typically held within one week of the assessment centre, covering Lazard, financial markets, world affairs, and technical questions. This is the published London graduate format; US rounds are reported to differ.

Are these leaked Lazard questions?

No. The exercises in this guide are original IB Offer practice modeled on the skills the process tests. They do not claim insider access to Lazard's actual prompts.

Where can I practice more Lazard-style questions?

Our Lazard firm guide links into firm-tagged practice, and the drill sets above give restructuring and M&A reps matched to this process.

Sources

• Lazard: 2026 London Recruitment Process FAQs (official, Wayback capture checked September 2026; the live page blocks automated fetches)
• Lazard: Careers Programmes in the UK (official stage-by-stage guide, Wayback capture checked September 2026)
• Lazard: Restructuring and Liability Management (official, Wayback capture checked September 2026)
• techinterview.org: Lazard Interview Guide 2026 (candidate-account guide, reported not official, checked September 2026)
• Mergers & Inquisitions: Elite Boutique Investment Banks (checked September 2026)