Restructuring in London?

I think that RX chooses you rather than you choosing RX, but jokes aside:

Shops in London:

• HL - volume shop, very established brand in London and does mostly creditor mandates - it also seems to have a real problem at ASS level as none of the current associates did the analyst years there -
• PJT - more recent brand in Europe, but it's nowadays very established, they tend to be more selective on the deals they choose and have a lower turnover at the junior level - nowadays I think they are doing more company side than creditor, but historically they have been 50/50
• PWP - established quite recently, but they have been growing a lot and now compete for the biggest mandates
• Moelis / Lazard / Evercore are established brands as well, but lately have not seen them as often as in the past on deals
• Gleacher Shacklock - I don't know much but looks like they are more active in the MM space

Comp: Apart from PJT which pays top of the street the others should be in the same ball park - HL probably to have the lower base among the 3 at AN level after the raises last year, but heard that bonus at AN2/3 tend to make up for that

Career in RX: I would advise against choosing a career in RX because nowadays it's mainstream if you are 1-2 years away from graduation the market will have probably cooled down by a certain degree. For recruiting, being prepared on technicals, including a broad understanding of different types of debt, and being updated on what are the biggest cases in the market and what's happening there should be sufficient. Any background with something credit-related is also likely more useful than M&A as you do not really care about valuation, if not to understand recoveries and debt sizing for reinstating debt, but you do need to understand reading a financing doc what you can and can't do.