Firm Perception - Among young grads

Hey guys, I just wanted to get an idea of firm perception among young grads. So, assuming you had an offer from all of the following firms, rank the firms in order of where you would accept. Here's the list: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Lazard, Greenhill, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Houlihan Lokey, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Blackstone.

Assume the offer is for M&A if the company has that division and entry level consultant for the MBB. If possible, add a justification for any controversial or what you think may be, out-of-the-norm rankings.

I think this will turn out to be quite interesting...

 
Best Response

It depends on your long-term objectives. Clearly, McKinsey, Goldman and Blackstone lead the pack. Followed by Morgan Stanley, Bain, BCG, Lazard and Merrill Lynch. I would place Greenhill and Houlihan Lokey above the other firms because of how difficult it is to get hired at these boutiques. All the analysts they hired could probably get hired at almost every BB and I am sure that most 2nd and 3rd tier BB analysts could not get hired at Greenhill or Houlian Lokey because most don not have the technical skills. Boutiques can not hire dead weight as they need man power to work on transactions, where BBs higher a ton of analyst so they can pump out pitch books to get business. Honestly, if you don't land Goldman or Morgan Stanley in banking you are better of trying to land the firm that will give you the most transaction experience. Most of these kids do not realize that after your analyst program no one gives a shit where you worked, it is about what you know. Which is why analyst from Greenhill and Houlihan often become career bankers and not 2-years and done bankers like most BB analysts. Exception being Goldman and Morgan, just can not beat the brand and the connections. Outside of wall street, if you land any of the top management consulting firms you can not go wrong. Moral of the story, all great opportunities go where you feel you can get the best experience.

 

As I evaluate it, Houlihan competes in a niche space. They dominate restructuring on the creditor side. #1 in Middle Market M&A. #1 in Fairness opinions (I would stay away from this however)

They are #1 in all of their businesses

I would put Houlihan a notch below Greehhill.

 

Not looking to start a fight here, but from the analyst / associate perspective, Houlihan is in no way, shape or form a prestigious place to work.

Agree with Bankmaster that they might have a very profitable business; that being said, its still just another mediocre middle-market IB among many others (e.g., Baird, Harris Williams, Goldsmith, Lincoln International, Edgeview, etc.).

 

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