2023 Lazard London Recruitment Process: FAQs

Lazard’s Financial Advisory business offers clients a number of leading advisory services: M&A and strategic advisory, Restructuring, Capital Structure Advisory (e.g. Debt Advisory and Equity Capital Markets), Private Capital Advisory and Venture Growth Banking. In other banks, this division is often called the Investment Banking Division. However, as an independent advisory firm, Lazard only offers advice and does not offer lending services.

You will be based in the London office, which is located on Stratton Street in Mayfair, very close to Green Park Station. This is Lazard’s only office in the United Kingdom.

As you may be aware, the working hours in investment banking tend to be longer than in some other professions and Lazard is no different. However, we have a commitment to monitoring working hours and ensuring that workload is distributed as evenly as possible amongst our Analysts.

We have introduced a number of initiatives to help and support our employees’ physical and emotional wellbeing. Through the broad range of benefits, practices and other initiatives on offer, we aim to build and maintain a healthier and flexible work/life balance across our organisation.

Lazard Asset Management (LAM) operates a separate recruitment process. To find out more about any available opportunities at LAM, please go to .

For enquiries about recruitment at Lazard London Asset Management, please contact LAMUKRecruiting@lazard.com.

At Lazard, you have the opportunity to be involved in meaningful work right from the start of your career at Lazard. We offer comprehensive training and development for our Analysts, Interns and Industrial Placements, and our structure means that you have the opportunity to learn from highly experienced leaders within the teams. A successful financial advisor is an analyst, a strategist, a relationship-builder and an innovator.

Day to day responsibilities of an Analyst include research and analysis, creating marketing materials, building financial models, attending client meetings and calls, and working on projects alongside senior members of the team. It’s a role that requires you to have a strong focus and drive and attention to detail. You will strengthen your ability to synthesise large amounts of information in an accurate and efficient manner. You also need to be able to think creatively and clearly express your ideas in both verbal and written formats.

Working in a small team means you can think bigger – fewer voices means that your ideas are heard. The early and vast opportunity Lazard gives its people means you can think bigger about you career opportunities too – exposure to international clients will give you a truly global outlook.

Check out our employee discussion platform to ask direct questions and learn more from individuals currently working for Lazard Financial Advisory in London.

For Analysts, Interns and Industrial Placement we offer a competitive base salary. For Analysts we also offer a benefits package that includes a pension scheme, private medical scheme, life insurance and a sports subsidy. There is a discretionary bonus scheme which is primarily linked to your annual performance.

Typically you spend three years as an Analyst and then three to four years as an Associate before progressing to Vice President (VP) and beyond. You will experience working in different industry teams throughout your Analyst years and be given the opportunity to specialise in a particular sector when you reach Associate level.

The ATP starts in late July each year and lasts until the end of August/early September when you will start work within your designated team. This programme is attended by Analysts from across many of our global offices, which allows you to build working relationships with your international colleagues. Regardless of your background, the training programme has been designed to give all Analysts a solid technical foundation of skills before they start with their designated team. London Analysts also undertake revision sessions and compulsory Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulatory exams as part of the ATP.

Incoming Analysts have the chance to meet members of the teams during the ATP and learn about the work they are involved in that is specific to their product/sector team. Analysts are then asked to nominate their team preferences, and these are considered when assigning teams alongside business requirements and current staffing within each team. We aim to assign Analysts to their top preferred teams wherever possible.

You have the opportunity to rotate across various teams over the three years you spend as an Analyst at Lazard. This will not only give you more well-rounded skills and knowledge through working in different sectors and industries and with different people across our offices, but it also allows you to discover which industries you find most interesting. We recommend that Analysts are open to a range of teams as often people are surprised at where their preferences lie after a number of rotations.

Secondments are offered to those at Associate level (or above) with a sustained level of strong performance in their current role. Lazard also runs an Intra-European Swap Programme for high-performing Analysts and Junior Associates interested in spending 6-12 months in another European office.

We appreciate that many Analysts are keen to build their global experience. Analysts have the opportunity to travel for deal-related matters and for on-going learning and development courses. They also work on many cross-border deals with colleagues from around the globe, so the international exposure is notable.

We offer the opportunity to transfer to another Lazard office if there is a business need and subject to obtaining the necessary work permits. However, we would encourage you to apply directly to your preferred office for a position in the first instance, as transfers are not always available or guaranteed.

There are specialist investment banking recruitment websites that you may wish to visit. We encourage any student interested in Lazard to sign up to attend any of our upcoming events. You can find out about the current M&A and Restructuring market in the business press too, for example by regularly following news in publications like the Financial Times. Our website provides further details and we regularly post information on our Twitter and LinkedIn timelines. 

Check out our employee discussion platform to ask direct questions to individuals currently working for Lazard London to learn more.

Our 2024 Summer Internship and Full Time Analyst programme have been successfully filled through early talent programmes. Should places become available, information will be displayed on our website; if you are interested in these programmes, we would also encourage you to create a profile to receive alerts for any relevant opportunities.

Our 2024-2025 Industrial Placement Programme is open to undergraduate students undertaking a 4-year degree, with their 3^rd year in industry, graduating in 2026.

You may only apply for one London-based Financial Advisory role in any given year. You may apply for positions in our overseas offices at the same time as any position in the UK.

Please apply by submitting an online application form through www.lazard.com/careers/students. We will not accept applications in any other format.

Our application dates are:

• 2024-2025 Industrial Placement Programme opens 1^st October 2023, closes 17^th November 2023
• 2024 Spring Insight Programme opens 1^st October 2023, closes 6^th November 2023

Please note we recruit on a rolling basis and would highly recommend submitting your application as early as possible. If we fill our roles earlier than the application deadline, we may close the application deadline early.

Unfortunately, you are not able to apply after the application deadline has passed, so please make sure we receive your application in time. We will not consider or be able to process any applications past the deadline dates. 

No. You may only apply once for any given year. If you submit a second application, it will not be considered and the system will flag any duplicate applications. 

Yes, you will be able to apply again if you have been unsuccessful in previous years as long as you continue to meet our minimum eligibility criteria.

We receive thousands of applications for Analyst positions each year and a similar number for Internships. However, please don’t de-select yourself on this basis! Every single application is reviewed on its own merit and we will interview all candidates who pass the initial screening stages of our recruitment process. Please review our recruitment process stage-by-stage guide to find out more about our process.

We do not offer any programmes that are specifically designed for MBA or PhD students.

In some years, we may recruit off cycle interns, typically for a 6-month period. Please keep an eye on our website for these opportunities.

We run a Spring Insight Programme in March/April each year that is open to university students in their first year of a 3-year course, or the second year of a 4-year course. We do not offer any work experience opportunities for sixth form students; however we do run School Insight days for sixth form students.

The Internship programme runs from late June to end of August/early September every year and lasts for 10 weeks. This includes 1 week of training at the start of the programme.  

Our Interns are assigned to one team based on their team preferences and remain with that team throughout their summer internship. Incoming Interns will receive information on each of the product/sector teams and have the opportunity to contact members of the teams prior to joining to enable them to make an informed decision when selecting their team preferences.

We ensure that our Interns have a balanced workload and broad exposure to bankers within the team. Throughout the programme we host a number of information sessions which give you the opportunity to learn more about the various product and sector teams as well as getting to know bankers across the firm.

Candidates must be in their penultimate year of study i.e. graduating in 2025. If they are offered a permanent Analyst role at the end of the Internship, it will be to start in July of the year after the Internship (2024) ends i.e.2025. If you are in your final year of study but intend to undertake one year of further study straight after graduating you are also eligible to apply for an Internship, but you must state this intention clearly by including the details of your intended future studies under the University Education section of the application form.

No! You do not need to have completed an Internship at another bank or had any prior financial services experience to apply for an Intern or Analyst position. However, it is advisable to have done plenty of research about the industry, our company and the Analyst role before applying. Experience shows that this will help you to make a more informed decision about whether investment banking is the right career for you.

You must have a minimum predicted or obtained 2.1 university degree classification (or equivalent if you studied outside the UK). Your degree does not need to be in a specific subject. If you do not meet the criteria but there are extenuating circumstances pertaining to your results, we recommend that you submit an application and explain the situation on your form in the relevant section provided.

Please complete the application form with your grades, even if they are not standard UK grades.

Yes! We welcome applications from students/graduates of all academic backgrounds. You do not need a qualification in a certain subject or have completed work experience in a financial area in order to apply. We actively encourage applications from all degree disciplines including those studying for an Arts, Sciences or Humanities degree. We appreciate the strong transferrable skills that students and graduates from these disciplines can bring and we provide full support and training to set them up for successful careers at Lazard.

Lazard will sponsor eligible candidates for work visas. You are responsible for ensuring that you understand the eligibility criteria for the United Kingdom and complete any required application in a timely fashion. Receipt of any work visa is subject to approval by the appropriate authorities. Should you be offered an Analyst or Intern role with Lazard, we ask that you discuss any potential visa requirements you may have with a Lazard recruiter immediately so that the necessary steps can be taken. All Lazard offers will be contingent upon you obtaining the proper authority to work in the United Kingdom.

No, all applications for positions must be submitted through our online application system. You should include a CV as part of your application. There is no requirement to include a cover letter.

For tips on completing the application form please see our graduate recruitment process stage-by-stage guide.

Yes, you will receive an automated email confirming that your application has been received. You will be informed of your progress via your registered email after each completed stage of the process. We will endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible, but you may experience a delay due to the volume of applications we receive. Please check your junk / spam folders also.

You may receive responses or notifications after traditional ‘office hours’ as the recruitment team often work ad-hoc hours during the recruitment period in order to efficiently process all applications.

Please review our graduate recruitment process stage-by-stage guide for more information about the different stages to our recruitment process and tips for each stage.

Please see the tips in the relevant section of our graduate recruitment process stage-by-stage guide.

Lazard will reimburse reasonable economy travel costs associated with travelling to any in-person assessments. Please keep all receipts as these will be required for us to reimburse you. Overnight stays will only be reimbursed when prior approval has been obtained from the London Graduate Recruitment Team. We generally only offer a contribution towards hotel costs if you are not able to make a return trip to London within the same day.

Before you complete your Assessment Centre / Interview, ask a member of the London Graduate Recruitment Team what the next step is and when you should expect a response.

If you have an exam on an Interview or Assessment Centre date, please contact the Lazard Graduate Recruitment Team by emailing graduate.london@lazard.com.  We have limited flexibility to move interview dates as these are scheduled months in advance, however we will do our best to accommodate.

Please contact the Lazard London Graduate Recruitment team by emailing graduate.london@lazard.com

If you think you require assistance with the tests please ensure you email graduate.london@lazard.com before the Blended Assessment or SJT and Video Assessment with supporting documentation.

You will have 7 days to complete either the Blended Assessment or the Situational Judgement Test and Video Assessment (depending on the role you have applied for). If you are unable to sit the assessment(s) within the time limit given, please contact the Lazard London Graduate Recruitment team by emailing graduate.london@lazard.com as soon as possible. We will consider an extension request only in exceptional circumstances. If you fail to complete your test within the given time limit for any reason other than a technical problem and do not contact us within the time limit, you will not be able to take the test and your application will be rejected.

Should your query not be answered within these FAQs, you can email the Graduate Recruitment Team at graduate.london@lazard.com. 

Please note that this email address is for queries relating to London Financial Advisory Graduate Recruitment only. 

For enquiries about recruitment at Lazard London Asset Management, please contact LAMUKRecruiting@lazard.com.

For all other enquiries, please contact the local office switchboard.