Approaching a lateral move from boutique M&A shop to BB?

Hi all, have to stay anonymous for clear reasons. I'm midway through my first year at a micro-boutique shop focusing on sell-side M&A in a regional market. While I've learned a lot in the last several months, I'm vying for more, even though I know I'll restart as a first year analyst.

I have a couple contacts in NY, and I'm starting to further network to exit to NY asap. For those with experience in this type of transition, what time period tends to be the most common for first year lateral moves? I figure around the summer time, since a lot of people will be leaving banks to pursue buyside gigs. However, not really sure about that, since the incoming classes will enter in that timeframe too.

Further, any idea what sorts of questions are common in lateral interviews? I figure it'll be transaction heavy + fit, but any insight would be great. Thanks all.