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Culture at Houlihan Lokey vs Lazard & other boutiques?
 

mccommander's picture
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 8:28am
Lazard-Middle-Market_4c.png
hl_logo.png

I have read and heard a lot about Houlihan Lokey's culture and that they have the best culture on the street+everyone there seems very excited about working at this growing firm+cool people working there. However, I have also heard that some people are snobbish and that culture is like Lazard's-very competitive and antisocial. So was wondering what is really true and if they are really happy to work there because of the culture and people or because of their salary, which apparently is one of the highest at HL ;). And because of that they tend to get praise for their "culture"?
Has anyone met people from Houlihan or can provide more information about the firm and mainly about its people/culture ?

ProspectiveMonkey's picture

Having interviewed at two of

(Orangutan, 327
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 10:54am

Having interviewed at two of their offices I can say that everyone I met there was awesome. People seemed to really enjoy coming into work and being surrounded by their groups. I guess you kind of have to because they are supposedly one of those banks that has consistent 100+ hour weeks.

I've posted about this before, they are just a very cool group of people. Told me how they enjoy going out after work (when they get the chance) to grab beers & call each other up on weekends. The midwest office seemed much more big ten oriented but I kind of liked that.

bulldogs12's picture

From a professional culture

(Monkey, 55
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 12:54pm

From a professional culture point-of-view, I have heard on the M&A side that they are focused on providing fairness opinions and less on pre-deal advice (could just be hearsay), but obviously one of the top restructuring practices out there

South Sea Tulip's picture

mccommander wrote: I have

PE
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 3:21pm
mccommander:

I have read and heard a lot about Houlihan Lokey's culture and that they have the best culture on the street+everyone there seems very excited about working at this growing firm+cool people working there. However, I have also heard that some people are snobbish and that culture is like Lazard's-very competitive and antisocial. So was wondering what is really true and if they are really happy to work there because of the culture and people or because of their salary, which apparently is one of the highest at HL ;). And because of that they tend to get praise for their "culture"?
Has anyone met people from Houlihan or can provide more information about the firm and mainly about its people/culture ?

Is this an excerpt from the Vault guide?

cgruene20's picture

I interviewed with them as

(Chimp, 7
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 4:56pm

I interviewed with them as well and the people were really cool, but also appeared to be very driven (most people I met where from UPenn, Harvard, Cornell and other top schools or had some kind of leadership position in the past). Like prospectivemonkey said, they tend to hang out outside of work if they have the time. That's why I do not think their culture is like Lazard's. But to be accurate, I think it also depends on the team and office you are at HL. From a friend who worked there I was told that their working hours were usually quite long which is not surprising if you want to really work in M&A or restructuring. And yes, in regards to his colleagues at other investment banks, he was one of the best paid at HL. However, it should be mentioned that Lazard also pays very well, I have heard.

mccommander's picture

What is the Vault guide? I

 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 5:23pm

What is the Vault guide? I generally prefer to network and talk to people from the industry, instead of going to career centers or reading guides. Thanks for the feedback so far. HL seems like a great place. Has anyone actually worked there or is currently working there and could provude some feedback?

In reply to ProspectiveMonkey
mccommander's picture

ProspectiveMonkey

 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 5:24pm
ProspectiveMonkey:

Having interviewed at two of their offices I can say that everyone I met there was awesome. People seemed to really enjoy coming into work and being surrounded by their groups. I guess you kind of have to because they are supposedly one of those banks that has consistent 100+ hour weeks.

I've posted about this before, they are just a very cool group of people. Told me how they enjoy going out after work (when they get the chance) to grab beers & call each other up on weekends. The midwest office seemed much more big ten oriented but I kind of liked that.

Big ten oriented= BB oriented?

SECfinance's picture

Big Ten = athletic

IB
(King Kong, 1,432
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 6:47pm

Big Ten = athletic conference, refers to a less cutthroat, collegial atmosphere.

mikebrady's picture

everyone in banking is

 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 7:03pm

everyone in banking is antisocial at first

Emics19's picture

Interviewed at HL. Met

IB
(Baboon, 105
 
Points)
 on 2/4/12 at 9:17pm

Interviewed at HL. Met multiple people and alums of the office. I can say that they all were extremely relaxed and friendly. The office I interviewed at has a weekly happy hour at a neighborhood bar and they consistently try to go out together. I generally got a great feeling about the team.

One thing the director told me is that employees tend to like HL a lot because they don't really care about the face-time nonsense you see at other banks. Where at a lot of firms analysts/associates stay in the office longer than they need to just to show they are there, HL doesn't care if you leave, as long as your work is quality and you get it done.

Overall they generally seemed like really down to earth people.

metessomerg's picture

Would be interested to find

(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 3/4/12 at 7:39am

Would be interested to find out more about Lazard's culture. Is it just me, cause on campus I haven't heard the best things about their culture. My roommate also interviewed with HL and she said people were friendly. @ mikebrady, why do you say that everyone is anti-social at first?

Oreos's picture

HL guys at a lower level do

ST
(Neanderthal, 2,560
 
Points)
 on 3/8/12 at 6:34am

HL guys at a lower level do seem to be awesome but I've heard at a senior level the MDs can keep to themselves and offer little in feedback or direction. From what i've been told this leads to a more monkey style role as you have less visibility of the deal as a whole and it's progress until you get told to re-do some numbers.

In contrast to this, LAZ's structure is top heavy and so you tend to get more exposure to seniors, which you'd assume would result in a better learning experience.

In reply to Emics19
DoctorAndre's picture

Emics19: Interviewed at HL.

IB
(Baboon, 147
 
Points)
 on 4/14/13 at 12:58pm
Emics19:

Interviewed at HL. Met multiple people and alums of the office. I can say that they all were extremely relaxed and friendly. The office I interviewed at has a weekly happy hour at a neighborhood bar and they consistently try to go out together. I generally got a great feeling about the team.

One thing the director told me is that employees tend to like HL a lot because they don't really care about the face-time nonsense you see at other banks. Where at a lot of firms analysts/associates stay in the office longer than they need to just to show they are there, HL doesn't care if you leave, as long as your work is quality and you get it done.

Overall they generally seemed like really down to earth people.

The culture you mentioned- is it for the Chicago office?

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