Vault’s Verdict

Greenhill is looking for technically proficient, hardworking, personable, motivated team players who can take on a lot of responsibility and are enthusiastic about banking. Interns with the firm are treated like full-time analysts and expected to take on real client work with real deadlines. Interns also get access to managing directors and the firm’s senior leadership, including the CEO and COO. In addition, interns have access to a strong informal mentorship culture and a formal mentorship program.

Greenhill’s full-time junior bankers are able to take control of and responsibility for their careers at an early stage of their employment. Lean deal teams allow juniors to take on projects and tasks early in their careers, resulting in quick learning and development. In addition, senior bankers have an open-door policy, and take an active role in mentoring and teaching junior bankers.

The firm’s culture receives rave reviews. No face time is required, and senior bankers respect juniors’ time. This means there’s no expectation to be online late at night or on the weekend unless required for a given project. Greenhill also allows juniors to use all their vacation time and doesn’t require working on holidays unless absolutely necessary.

Greenhill's compensation package is competitive with the Street average, and the cash compensation at the analyst level is extremely competitive. However, the lack of 401(k) matching is a negative. Although there are few formal wellness initiatives, the firm does a good job of ensuring that its team members are not overworked.

With respect to diversity, there are initiatives in place, such as MBA Fellowships and an early insight day for undergraduate women. However, the firm still has a way to go to have a truly diverse staff. As for Greenhill’s business outlook, the firm is well positioned to weather economic downturns, and is protective of its relative small size, does not grow irresponsibly, and has never executed mass layoffs.

Hiring Process

“We give a lot of responsibility early on, so we look for people who are self-driven, able to own a process, and take on responsibility. We also provide opportunities to be involved in client interactions early on, so candidates need to be good communicators. Like other firms, we look for people who are analytically strong but even more so at Greenhill, since much of the work involves buy-side and complex transactions.”

“Ideal candidate is technically proficient, willing to work hard, and pleasant to work with. Because our teams tend to be small, we also need junior bankers who are willing to take on process-management and client-facing responsibilities fairly early on in their careers. It's quite a good place to work if you are willing to work hard and be a bit entrepreneurial in terms of the responsibilities you are willing to take on.”

“The firm follows a standard process of a few preliminary phone screens, some more formal Zoom meetings, and then an extensive in-person Super Day. The most important quality in a candidate is cultural fit—their attitude towards the job, their enthusiasm for this type of work, and how supportive they can be in a team environment.”

“First round: Screen for good fundamental technical skills. Second and third round and Super Day: Behavorials, cultural fit, independent thinking abilities, and general M&A knowledge. Key candidates: Genuine interest in finance and M&A, wants to take on lots of responsibilities, willingness to learn.”

Interview Questions

“Fairly complicated merger math and purchase price accounting questions during interviews. As we are a small firm, we need to ensure that the people we hire are able to contribute once they hit the desk, and as such we typically hit candidates with fairly complex technical questions.”

“Tell me about yourself. Why Greenhill, typical technical questions and potential M&A case studies.”

“Highly technical first-round interview typically consists of accounting, DCF, LBO and merger math questions. Mostly qualitative Super Days evaluate fit amongst the technically-qualified candidates.”

“Accretive vs. dilutive deal based on P/E ratios. Why would two companies in the same business/industry trade at a different multiple? Why is debt cheaper than equity? What are the three largest drivers in a DCF?”

Intern Experience

“Tremendous access to MDs. The CEO, COO, and Head of M&A all took time to engage with us, taking us out to lunch and talking to us about firm direction. Strong informal mentorship culture and formal mentorship program. No face time culture. More ‘flexibility’ than anywhere else on the Street (for example, work-from-home Fridays are standard). Strong deal flow. High amount of responsibility given to interns, which allowed significant progression over the course of the internship. Strong sense of camaraderie around the office and a very apparent ‘no jerk’ culture. Short formal training, but for those that prefer to ‘learn by doing,’ this could be seen as a positive.”

“You are treated as a full member of the team and expected to work on real client work with real deadlines. This allows for as realistic a view on what life in investment banking is like and allows you to work directly with managing directors and other members of the team. The training is slightly shorter than some other banks, at only one week, but is accompanied with pre-training work to do independently prior to starting your summer.”

“The overall internship experience is great. You're immediately folded into project teams and given a good amount of responsibility right off the bat. Given the program is also generalist, you have the chance to see/work on lots of different things over the 10-week program and start to get a feel for what you do/don't have interest in. The summer concludes with a hypothetical M&A pitch, and you have to create the entire deck (including valuation work) on your own before ultimately presenting to MDs. That serves as a great ‘crash course’ of a fairly standard analyst task, and also works as a catch all for any experience that could be lacking from actual project work during the course of the internship itself.”

“Greenhill's associate internship was excellent. We did not have to complete a final project, and instead spent all of our time working with full-time bankers on real projects, both live deals and marketing/pitch work. We were fully integrated on teams and spent time in an actual associate role or shadowing a full-time associate. It was a great experience and did a really nice job demonstrating what the full-time role would be like.”

Career Development

“Greenhill is very open in terms of guiding you in the best direction for your career, whether that may be staying with the firm long term or deciding to join a buy-side firm after your two years as an analyst. Associates are very encouraging of helping to provide coverage for those that may decide to interview for buy-side firms, and senior members have an open-door policy to provide guidance on that difficult decision. Instead of competing against each other, analysts work together diligently to help each other with buy-side interview preparation. There are members that decide to stay on at Greenhill post-analyst years, and Greenhill is very encouraging of developing internal talent as well.”

“Greenhill allows you to take control and responsibility of your career at an early stage. The lean deal teams and structure allow junior employees to take on projects and tasks early in their careers that may be reserved for more senior juniors or VPs at other banks. This allows for quick learning and development, which I enjoy. On the other hand, there is much more variability in development due to the leaner nature.”

“Very open culture and flat hierarchy. Senior leaders know junior bankers and are keenly aware of their strengths and career aspirations. Partners' doors are always open to ask for specific types of assignments and voice interest in taking more responsibility. There are very few official growth programs (like mentorship and rotations).”

“Senior bankers at Greenhill will take an active role in mentoring/teaching you, but you have to be willing to ask/reach out to them to do this. I have found supportive senior bankers who have been able to really help me out and who have taken an active interest in my development as a banker. Greenhill's formal training/mentorship programs are a bit threadbare, but organically there is a lot of mentorship out there if you put yourself in a position to action it.”

Quality of Life

“While there are no specific boundaries on times and days, such as protected Saturdays, Greenhill does a good job of allowing juniors to still participate in things which are important to them and generally is flexible about working remotely. With a leaner team, there is less ability to greenlight long vacations or full protection of certain days.”

“Greenhill does not have a face time culture and seniors are generally respectful of your time. As a result, there is no expectation to be online late at night or on the weekend unless it is actually required for a given project. The firm is also amenable to analysts using their vacation time and not working unless absolutely necessary on holidays. A downside, which is applicable to all banks, would be the unpredictability of our hours, as they are highly dependent on the needs of whatever projects we are staffed on.”

“Greenhill's culture does not require face time. You are not expected to be at your desk until a certain time at night. Work/life balance is entirely dictated by workload, so during lulls in activity you can certainly have some time to yourself. I have found the job to be manageable, and my life seems much better from a work/life perspective than my friends at other firms. That said, it is still banking, and there are some very busy stretches, but it's all deal-driven, not culture-driven.”

“There are no official quality of life initiatives, like protected Saturdays or mandatory time off. However, everyone in the firm is extremely nice, reasonable, humane, and understands the needs of the junior employees. The culture is open, and the hierarchy is flat, so there is an understanding of reasonable expectations and who is too busy at any given time.”

Salary and Benefits

“Greenhill's compensation is strong relative to the Street, with a base salary at market and bonuses exceeding bulge brackets and in-line with boutique peers.”

“Working from home on Fridays is a nice perk. The best perk is that the firm is supportive of people taking vacation time. There is no 401(k) match, which would be a nice addition in the future.”

“Cash compensation at the analyst level is extremely competitive. No 401(k) matching is slightly unfortunate.”

“Generous bonuses. Pragmatic approach to comp negotiations. People are kind and respectful of vacation time and gym time. Incredibly flexible WFH option, which is a huge plus.”

Wellness Efforts

“Meditation/wellness room, extremely supportive of buy-side recruiting, and will advise on career opportunities; host informal office outings every week.

“There is nothing formal, but our team does an effective job at ensuring that team members are not too upset about their wellness. For example, a junior banker has never had to postpone or cancel a vacation in the four years that I have worked for the firm.”

“Senior bankers do care about your overall health and well-being, but there are limited formal programs to help with this. However, I would say the culture here is conducive to making the job sustainable (or, rather, as sustainable as banking can be).”

“Haven't seen many actual initiatives, but there’s a concerted effort to give time in between projects to seek out initiatives on one's own.”

Diversity and ESG Initiatives

“Lack of diversity, but initiatives are being taken, which is good.”

“Greenhill does a great job at including and treating all diverse employees and potential employees with respect and is inclusive in all aspects. However, the firm has a harder time filling some roles with more diverse candidates.”

“There have been some recent diverse senior hires, and we do a good job getting diverse classes of analysts, but I think the firm could do a better job on this.”

“We are focused on expanding diversity with respect to women and also various nationalities.”

Business Outlook

“The firm’s results are not volatile. We may not pop when there's a boom, but we actually do great during downturns, so that smooths earnings and bonuses. We are also protective of our size, do not grow irresponsibly, and have never executed layoffs.”

“I think Greenhill offers highly differentiated, conflict-free advice, which I think will always appeal to clients.”

“Morale is fine, but we could do more on the guaranteed compensation front (401(k)) to help.”

“Very stable and steady business model that has not really seen strong ups and downs, given the diversification of the platform into M&A and financing/restructuring.”