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Lazard Interview Questions
These are real technical questions asked in recent Lazard interviews, sourced directly from candidates who went through the process — not a generic guide. Below: what to expect, worked answers to the most representative questions, and common mistakes that trip candidates up.
What Lazard's interview process actually looks like
Lazard's dual strength in TMT coverage and restructuring shows up directly in interviews — tech-specific SaaS metrics like Net Dollar Retention alongside core DCF mechanics like the mid-year convention and the treatment of stock-based compensation.
Real questions asked in recent Lazard interviews
Question: Lazard's tech coverage interviewers are known for pushing past headline ARR growth. How would you evaluate whether a SaaS company's revenue growth is high quality, and what does Net Dollar Retention above 120% actually tell you?
How to answer it: NDR above 120% means existing customers are spending meaningfully more this year than last, net of any churn, signaling the product is expanding within its installed base rather than the company relying purely on new-logo growth. Combine that with the Rule of 40 (growth rate plus margin should sum to at least 40) to judge whether growth is efficient or being bought with unsustainable spend. Also check gross retention separately from net retention, since a company can post strong NDR while gross retention is weak if a small number of accounts are expanding aggressively and masking broad churn elsewhere. Finally, check whether ARR growth is coming from price increases on existing seats versus genuine net-new usage, since the former is less durable.
Common mistake: Treating NDR as a standalone health signal without also checking gross retention for underlying churn
Question: What is the mid-year convention in a DCF and why would you use it?
How to answer it: Standard discounting assumes cash arrives at year-end, but a company actually generates cash roughly evenly throughout the year, so discounting a full year's cash flow back only to year-end understates its present value. The mid-year convention instead discounts each year's cash flow back to the midpoint of that year (using exponents of 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, etc. instead of 1, 2, 3), which better approximates when cash is actually received. This typically increases the DCF's implied valuation slightly relative to the year-end convention, since cash is effectively pulled forward in time. It's an easy adjustment to forget, and interviewers will flag it if the terminal value discount period doesn't match the convention used for the explicit forecast.
Common mistake: Applying mid-year convention to the explicit forecast period but forgetting to adjust the terminal value discount period to match
Also reported from recent interviews at this firm:
- Is stock-based compensation a real expense, and how should it be treated in a DCF?
- If a company has a revolver, a term loan B, and senior unsecured notes, and it defaults, walk through the order in which each creditor gets paid.
Full explanations and common mistakes for these — plus the rest of our Firm Specific bank — are in the app.
How to prepare specifically for Lazard
Generic IB prep guides cover the fundamentals every bank tests, but firm-specific patterns like the ones above only show up when you're practicing against real, recently-reported questions rather than a static 400-question PDF everyone else is also using. ApexIB's Firm Specific question bank is built directly from questions candidates report after their actual interviews — including Lazard — with AI grading and full explanations, not just a list.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lazard ask TMT-specific or restructuring-specific questions?
Depends on the group, but both show up in generalist rounds — Lazard's reputation spans both tech/media coverage and restructuring, and technical questions reflect that dual focus.
Where do these questions come from?
Directly from candidates who interviewed at Lazard and reported their questions afterward, not from a generic template applied to every firm.
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