We recently caught up with Sunit about securing an Investment Banking Analyst role with Houlihan Lokey, top tips for the application process and how Bright Network helped in securing the role.
What stood out to you about Houlihan Lokey?
What stood out about Houlihan Lokey was their middle market coverage and their leading sector knowledge. I don’t think there are many other mid-market banks across Europe and the US which have the same level of depth of coverage of the financial sponsor space.
The second thing was how entrepreneurial the culture is. This is defined by how lean some of the deal teams are and how much exposure you can get from early on. You can really drive your career progression and what they preach is actually what they practise.
Another element of the culture which stands out to me is the level of responsibility that you’re given from pretty early on. You will quickly be hands-on with whatever you’re working on. Equally, you’re given a lot of guidance. You’re never left in the dark and you can reach out to someone senior on the team at any stage and they will be there with a helping hand.
Houlihan Lokey is very team-focused. Everything gets done efficiently, I would say, and there’s a lot of cross-team collaboration which is so important in the financial sector where you need to rely on different teams. It’s great! It makes the job a lot easier.
How did you make your application stand out?
One of the things I did was read about the company and the team. The Houlihan website is a great source of knowledge and you can very quickly learn about the recent deals which have closed and the initiatives going on in the firm and where the firm is headed. With social media sites like LinkedIn, there are lots of great ways to get involved in what’s going on.
If you’re interested in working for Houlihan, keep up to date with the deals which have closed and reach out to people when there are networking events and don’t be shy to ask questions. This is a great way to figure out if it’s a good fit for you and to learn more about the team and culture.
What part of the application process did you find the most challenging?
When I applied to Houlihan, I had a variety of interviews and an assessment centre. The assessment centre had a variety of different tasks that allowed you to interact with a variety of people across the bank. One of the hardest parts I found was a case study exercise within a particular area of expertise which I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with. I was given a task to read about a topic for 15 minutes and present information and data to three sector specialists. They then posed challenging questions. This tested my ability to analyse the data I had read and also make judgements about where I think trends are heading. Although I think the case study session is structured a bit differently now.
If you’re going through the assessment centre, it’s really important to take a pause and consider the information. It’s very easy to get bogged down with the numbers, but it’s more important to understand the bigger picture and effectively communicate this to the people assessing you. Structure your thoughts with the underlying data and make sure you approach your response in a structured way.
Need help with an assessment centre? Complete our How to succeed at Assessment Centre module.
Did you get any feedback in the past that helped you with your application?
I was fortunate enough to go to university in London, so I had the chance to go to a variety of networking events to hear industry speakers and attend panels. Going to these events really opened my mind to what employers are looking for. One piece of advice I received was to tailor my application to the strengths of the company and why I would be a good fit for the company. You can work out these cultural elements by going to events run by organisations and speaking to people who are working there.
How did Bright Network help you secure this role?
Bright Network is a great source of advice when you’re looking to join the career ladder. They have great resources which are curated by speaking to experts in the field. I used Bright Network to learn about industries and find out what I wanted to do.
What top three tips would you give Bright Network members looking to follow in your footsteps?
- Effectively network. Attend networking events and ask silly questions. It’s only at these events that you can get the genuine responses and understand what the company’s looking for.
- Stay topical. Make sure you’re reading different news sources and keeping up with industry updates. This could just be 5 or 10 minutes a day which will really help you build up your knowledge of the industry organically and help you come across as knowledgeable when you speak to an industry expert.
- Be proactive. This is in your applications, but also speaking to people. Reach out on LinkedIn and enhance your chances of securing a role.
Let us know where you've secured your work experience, internship or graduate role. We want to celebrate your success with a gift from us and exclusive invitations to evening networking drinks throughout the year.
