Houlihan Lokey Corporate Finance - Technology Group

I have an upcoming interview with HL for their technology group out in San Francisco and was wondering if I should be doing any industry (i.e. tech) specific preparation or if this will be like any other first round banking interview...?

56 Comments
 

It wasn't bad, but not great either. Plenty of work - exceptional deal flow considering it was summer. Not very modeling intensive if that's what you're looking for (a lot of pitchbooks...). Comps were pretty much pulled from CapIQ (not scrubbed). Great people he/she said, but not returning for FT. Tech is a good place to be atm, but who knows for how much longer.

 

I had an interview at the end of last week that went pretty well imo. I was told that they'd be in touch soon, but I haven't heard back yet. I'm guessing they're just falling a little behind right now.

 

Congrats on the interview. This questions gets asked a lot, so searching the forums might help. Most Excel tests are valuation driven, so understanding how to do a comprehensive DCF will be the best way to prepare. Open up a new Excel workbook, make up your own assumptions, and build detailed cash flows and a DCF/IRR analysis from scratch. Set a time goal, too. They will probably test your Excel skills to see if you can use data tables and different formulas (sumifs, vlookup, ifs/ands, etc..). Check getrefm and kahrrealestate for some helpful resources.

breaking into wall street (BIWS) has a RE course for about 200-250 I believe. I haven't purchased that exact one but have purchased other courses from them and have been satisfied.

"They are all former investment bankers that were laid off in the economic collapse that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have no marketable skills, but by God they work hard."
 

all you have to do is sign up to be on the distribution list of some brokers such as ARA...you will generally receive offering memos. Once you get them you underwrite the property and practice on live deals, and train yourself to develop an analytical mindset regarding the properties you're valuing. Does it make sense to buy at this cap rate, am i going to be able to grow my rents 3% per year in this market, how much equity do i need (you can assume 30% on stabilized multifamily), how's the job market in this area, who are the top employers, can i fix up the property and generate a 20% IRR on the improvements, at what level did similar deals close in this area?

If you have questions, you can always ask them on this forum, there are a lot of people that can help you understand the deals you're looking at.

 

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