Houlihan Lokey Interview Process: Rounds, Timeline & Compensation
Michael King, PE Investment Manager ·
Houlihan Lokey runs 2 rounds: a first-round virtual interview (30-45 minutes, one or two interviewers, technical questions lighter than at Evercore or Centerview), then an in-person Superday with 4-6 back-to-back interviews including senior bankers. No HireVue stage. UK graduate hiring typically runs through a Spring Insight Week (an additional short-answer application on top of the CV), which can fast-track candidates straight to the assessment centre for the summer programme.. End-to-end process (first round to offer) runs roughly 2-3 weeks in the US off-cycle process, with decisions often landing within a week of the Superday and exploding offer windows of 3-7 days. UK recruiting centres on the Spring Insight Week (mid-April) feeding into summer internship assessment centres, run separately from the accelerated US on-cycle timeline. In London, analyst base pay runs roughly £70k-£90k and associate base around £110k-£115k (Glassdoor UK, Feb 2026), with total comp likely landing near £90k-£110k all-in for first-year analysts once bonus is included. That's consistent with the usual 20-30% discount to the US benchmark, where first-year analyst total comp runs roughly $178k-$208k and first-year associate total comp roughly $300k-$345k in the 2025-26 cycle.
Interview rounds
2 rounds: a first-round virtual interview (30-45 minutes, one or two interviewers, technical questions lighter than at Evercore or Centerview), then an in-person Superday with 4-6 back-to-back interviews including senior bankers. No HireVue stage. UK graduate hiring typically runs through a Spring Insight Week (an additional short-answer application on top of the CV), which can fast-track candidates straight to the assessment centre for the summer programme.
Typical timeline
End-to-end process (first round to offer) runs roughly 2-3 weeks in the US off-cycle process, with decisions often landing within a week of the Superday and exploding offer windows of 3-7 days. UK recruiting centres on the Spring Insight Week (mid-April) feeding into summer internship assessment centres, run separately from the accelerated US on-cycle timeline.
Compensation range
In London, analyst base pay runs roughly £70k-£90k and associate base around £110k-£115k (Glassdoor UK, Feb 2026), with total comp likely landing near £90k-£110k all-in for first-year analysts once bonus is included. That's consistent with the usual 20-30% discount to the US benchmark, where first-year analyst total comp runs roughly $178k-$208k and first-year associate total comp roughly $300k-$345k in the 2025-26 cycle.
Notes
Houlihan Lokey's brand is restructuring and distressed M&A, not vanilla sell-side coverage — expect capital structure and recovery-analysis questions layered on top of standard DCF/LBO/three-statement basics, and expect the cultural-fit bar to be as heavily weighted as the technical one given a smaller, close-knit analyst class.
Frequently asked questions
How many interview rounds does Houlihan Lokey run?
2 rounds: a first-round virtual interview (30-45 minutes, one or two interviewers, technical questions lighter than at Evercore or Centerview), then an in-person Superday with 4-6 back-to-back interviews including senior bankers. No HireVue stage. UK graduate hiring typically runs through a Spring Insight Week (an additional short-answer application on top of the CV), which can fast-track candidates straight to the assessment centre for the summer programme.
How long does the Houlihan Lokey interview process take?
End-to-end process (first round to offer) runs roughly 2-3 weeks in the US off-cycle process, with decisions often landing within a week of the Superday and exploding offer windows of 3-7 days. UK recruiting centres on the Spring Insight Week (mid-April) feeding into summer internship assessment centres, run separately from the accelerated US on-cycle timeline.
What does Houlihan Lokey pay first-year hires?
In London, analyst base pay runs roughly £70k-£90k and associate base around £110k-£115k (Glassdoor UK, Feb 2026), with total comp likely landing near £90k-£110k all-in for first-year analysts once bonus is included. That's consistent with the usual 20-30% discount to the US benchmark, where first-year analyst total comp runs roughly $178k-$208k and first-year associate total comp roughly $300k-$345k in the 2025-26 cycle.