Moelis & Company · Investment banking analyst · Summer Analyst / Analyst
First-round fit interview
The behavioral half of the published first round, with bankers rather than HR
What they actually ask
The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.
- “Walk me through your resume, and tell me what you personally did.”
- “Why Moelis over a larger bank, and why this office?”
- “Tell me about a time you worked on a team where someone was not pulling their weight.”
- “Tell me about the hardest problem you have worked on and how you got into it.”
- “Tell me about a time you were under real pressure and something slipped.”
- “What questions do you have for me?”
What this round is judged on
- Motivation · a specific 'why Moelis' that survives a banker's follow-up
- Collaboration · One Firm One Team, credit shared honestly
- Resilience · a story where the pressure was real and you kept quality up
- Intellectual curiosity · genuine interest in how the deal or business works
Where this round sits
Moelis & Company’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.
- 01Application
- 02Suited Assessment (not simulated here)
- 03Recruiter screen
- 04First-round interviewsthis round
- 05Onsite final round
- 06Offer
What happens in each stage›
- Application
- A one-page resume through the Moelis student application site. Cover letters are not required. Candidates may submit up to two applications, and US summer analyst applications typically open in December of sophomore year, roughly eighteen months before the ten-week internship.
- Suited Assessment (not simulated here)
- US and UK candidates complete the Suited Assessment, which Moelis describes as measuring over 50 traits and characteristics predictive of success in investment banking. It is scored outside the interview and is not a conversation, so it is not simulated here.
- Recruiter screen
- A short conversation with recruiting between the assessment and the banker interviews. Moelis publishes the application, the Suited Assessment, the first round and the onsite final but not this step, so its presence and form are candidate-reported and vary by office. The content is a resume walk and motivation.
- First-round interviews
- Moelis publishes this plainly: one to two first-round interviews with investment bankers, consisting of technical and behavioral assessments. It is not a soft screen. Expect accounting and valuation questions in the same half hour as why banking and why Moelis.
- Onsite final round
- Second-round candidates attend an onsite final round meeting multiple senior bankers. Sessions run back to back and the technical bar rises: multi-step three-statement chains, capital-structure math and sector valuation, alongside a hard re-test of motivation.
- Offer
- No prior experience is required for the campus programs, since Moelis provides technical training, and the summer class is the main feeder into full-time analyst seats.
Sources
Built from what Moelis & Company publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
The published process end to end: a resume submitted through the student application site with no cover letter required, the Suited Assessment for US and UK candidates measuring over 50 traits predictive of success in investment banking, one to two first-round interviews with investment bankers consisting of technical and behavioral assessments, an onsite final round meeting multiple senior bankers, a limit of two applications per candidate, a ten-week US summer internship, and US applications opening in December of sophomore year.
The qualities Moelis says it hires for: client relationship skills, collaboration, drive to succeed, resilience, intellectual curiosity and analytical thinking, plus the firm values including One Firm One Team.
Investment banking compensation and level context. No interview-process content.
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.
Other Moelis & Company rounds
- Recruiter screen
The short screen before the bankers: resume, motivation and a read on drive
- First-round technicals
The technical half Moelis publishes: accounting, multiples and why they work
- Onsite final round technicals
The onsite final with senior bankers: NOLs, consolidation, LBO returns, odd assets