I applied online. I interviewed at Houlihan Lokey (Chicago, IL) in Mar 2026
Interview
Round 1: Two back-to-back 30-minute interviews. The first is primarily behavioral and resume-focused, while the second is technical, covering valuation methodologies (comps, DCF, three statements, WACC, etc.) with some additional fit questions.
Round 2: Final 30-minute interview with a VP. Primarily behavioral and conversational, focused on culture fit, resume, interests, and team fit, though the emphasis may vary depending on the interviewer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Behavioral Questions
-Walk me through your resume.
-Tell me a little bit about yourself.
-Give me a brief overview of your background.
-Teamwork
-Tell me about a time you worked on a team where there were different personalities or opinions.
-How did you work through disagreements within a team?
-What was the outcome?
-Describe a time you disagreed with a supervisor or leader.
-How did you handle the disagreement?
-What did you learn?
-Tell me about a time you went above and beyond what was expected.
-Describe a time you took initiative without being asked.
-Tell me about something you're passionate about.
-What's something you've learned recently?
-How are you continuing to develop that interest?
-Why valuation?
-Why our group?
-What interests you most about financial valuation?
-Why Houlihan Lokey?
-Why CVAS?
-What are the most important qualities you would bring to the team?
-Why would you be a good fit for this role?
Technical Questions
-Walk me through the Comparable Companies Analysis.
-What factors would you consider when selecting comparable companies?
-How do you choose the right multiple?
-What would make you select a higher multiple?
-What would make you select a lower multiple?
-Why might a private company trade below public comps?
-How do size, growth, and profitability affect valuation multiples?
-Walk me through a DCF.
-How do you calculate Free Cash Flow?
-What are the two methods for calculating Terminal Value?
-How do you calculate WACC?
-How do you determine the appropriate discount rate?
-What's the difference between an unlevered and levered DCF?
-How do you calculate Cost of Equity?
-How do you calculate Cost of Debt?
-What are reasonable Cost of Equity and Cost of Debt assumptions?
-Walk me through how the three financial statements are connected.
-Give examples of line items that connect all three statements.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Houlihan Lokey (Los Angeles, CA) in Mar 2024
Interview
I got an email from a recruiter saying they wanted to do a Zoom interview with me for The Industrials Team at the LA Office, I had a Zoom interview with an analyst, the behavior portion went well but asked a very obscure technical and did not get the next round
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would restricted cash impact the cash flow statement?
One on one interview over the phone for the summer financial analyst position. First round interview was very straightforward and conversational. Questions: basic behavioral and a few very basic technical
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
basic behavioral (tell me about yourself, why HL) and basic technicals