Applied online and then was contacted by an associate in the office after about a week. Interviewed with 1-2 individuals at the firm every week (increased in seniority each week) for about a month and then traveled to the office to meet everyone in person and interview with Directors that I didn't speak with on the phone. Everyone was very pleasant and helpful throughout the process. I was an experienced candidate (2 1/2 years in a finance focused role) and the interview questions were mostly about fit - followed up with an excel test while I was visiting in person. The excel test wasn't terribly difficult and as long as you have intermediate financial modeling experience you will do fine. There were a few CRE valuation/performance related questions.

I applied through a direct hire placement agency. The recruiter conducted a phone screen and I was notified a day later that HR at HFF wanted to set up a phone interview with an Associate Director. The phone interview went really well. We spoke about my experience and why I wanted to get into the commercial real estate capital markets intermediary industry. He said the position would require long hours which I was fine with. I sent a thank you email after and got a response from the Associate Director that I should be hearing from two analyst the following week. I followed back up with him after I did not hear anything the previous week and was told that HFF decided to "go in another direction" for their analyst position. I really have no idea what changed so quickly after a week when I didn't get the opportunity to speak with the two analyst. After researching HFF on LinkedIn and seeing all the employees pop up, I am glad that I didn't get the chance to work there as I saw nothing but white male/female analysts which was strange since they stressed nothing but cultural fit. It does not seem like this company values diversity at all. It is 2017 and the company seems behind in that aspect. I would look elsewhere at companies that are bigger and include more diversity in their workforce in this industry.