Vault’s Verdict

Solomon Partners is ideally looking for sharp, gritty, organized, detail-oriented, persistent, hungry go-getters with strong analytical and interpersonal skills. The firm runs a very rewarding internship program for students, offering interns access to great training and valuable mentors, and significant hands-on experience and exposure to live deals. Solomon Partners also invests heavily in the career development of its full-time junior bankers, offering many opportunities to rise within the firm, formal and informal mentorship opportunities, high levels of exposure to senior leadership (including the CEO), and tons of transaction experience and client interaction opportunities.

The firm’s culture is extremely collegial and collaborative, and Solomon Partner’s senior leaders genuinely care about creating a healthy work/life balance, placing an emphasis on physical and mental wellness, and respecting junior bankers’ time and personal lives. There is minimal weekend work and a flexible vacation policy (that bankers are encouraged to use). However, since deal teams are typically lean and thus team members usually take on significant responsibility and ownership of work, hours can be long, and there can be working weekends and holidays. Meanwhile, compensation and benefits are generally in line with the Street average, with some insiders noting that bonuses last year were somewhat disappointing but should pick up this year.

In recent years, Solomon Partners has been placing an emphasis on increasing its diversity hiring practices, in particular to improve the representation of women and minorities. However, despite prioritizing these efforts, the firm could still improve when it comes to DE&I. As for the firm’s business outlook, Solomon is in growth mode. It has been adding top talent from other banks, expanding its industry coverage, and growing its deal pipeline. As a result, team members are very confident that the firm will continue to thrive.

SURVEY SAYS

Hiring Process

“Well organized recruiting effort. Multiple full-time individuals dedicated to screening and hiring. Looking for proactive and independently motivated individuals to join a small and growing practice.”

“The firm is communicative and timely in all interview and callbacks. The ideal candidate is both a cultural fit and capable to do the job. We hire respectful people who are enjoyable to work with and possess great analytical and interpersonal skills.”

“I was treated with respect throughout the process. Ideal candidate seems to be somebody who is sharp, detail-oriented, and willing to take ownership over what they do.”

“Call with HR, first-round interview, two-hour Superday. Looking for someone who embodies the culture and is willing to work hard. Looking for analytical, organized, persistent, hungry go-getters with grit.”

Interview Questions

“Please describe for me the balance sheet of a bank. What are the typical assets and liabilities? How does equity work for a financial institution?”

“How does a $10 increase in depreciation affect the financial statements? How would you present a company to potential investors in four slides?”

“What is free cash flow? Name three examples of how the financial statements link.”

“Typical finance and accounting interview protocol. Comprehensive yet fair.”

Intern Experience

“Best aspect is the mentorship. As an intern, you have close relationships with the analysts at the firm and are able to collaborate with them on important work. I had a great hands-on experience as an intern.”

“Great training program with projects designed to help us learn. Great formal mentorship program. Always easy access to talk to those above you. Great rotational program. Allowed us to get a feel for different groups.”

“The best aspects of my internship experience was having the opportunity to work on live deals under a mentor and having my work being recognized and appreciated. On the downside, there was not a lot of feedback on my work and my overall time at Solomon.”

Best aspects were the access to high-level members of the firm early on, the training, and the exposure to multiple deals and deal types in various stages of the process. The worst aspect was not being able to see the end of the deals worked on during the summer.”

Career Development

“The culture at Solomon Partners is great. The environment is a great place to work and learn. People are willing to give young members of the team responsibility and willing to teach them when necessary. The firm puts a lot of emphasis on being a good person and good teammate, which speaks to the good culture at the firm. The firm invests heavily in the employees with various career development trainings. Career development opportunities to rise within the firm are plentiful. Exit opportunity placements have been great in the last few years.”

“Formal training has been a point of emphasis across the platform for the last several years, with more frequent hour-long training sessions focused on the development of soft skills (presenting, negotiating, personal brand, etc.) for more experienced hires. Analysts go through a formal six-week training session similar to other large banks.”

“Analysts have great visibility into how every group works, offering transparency across groups and opportunity to find the group that aligns best with interests. Both formal and informal mentorship opportunities at every level offer guidance to analysts no matter what career path they choose.”

“Given the rapid growth of the firm, junior and mid-level bankers are given tons of opportunity for client interaction, helping prepare for the next level of our careers. They also are given high levels of exposure to senior leadership, up to and including the CEO. Formal mentorship programs pair everyone with a junior and senior mentor. Real-time feedback helps you improve (my prior employer would only deliver feedback at semiannual reviews).”

Quality of Life

“Senior Leadership is extremely understanding of work/life balance and are constantly checking in to ensure everyone is in good spirits. They do a phenomenal job of caring about employees.”

“The best aspect is simply the focus that senior bankers put on promoting a good quality of life. One of our first training sessions was focused on maintaining physical and mental health in the job while also setting a clear expectation for senior bankers to promote a strong quality of life. Senior bankers are always willing to put in the hours alongside junior bankers to ensure work gets done as efficiently and effectively as possible, helping to minimize long hours as much as possible.”

“Strong work/life balance with minimal weekend work and generally early end times, with limited exceptions. Flexible vacation policy that you can actually use. Seniors respect your time and personal life.”

“We work with an impressive list of clients relative to our size and work on high quality transactions. Deal teams tend to be lean, giving folks the opportunity to take on significant responsibility and ownership of work. That said, hours can be tough, working weekends and holidays.”

Salary and Benefits

“Salary is good. I heard bonuses were down last year, but they should pick back up this year. The benefits are good—medical, dental, vision, plus commuter benefits and gym reimbursement.”

“Compensation feels fair—lags some of the top boutiques but is comparable to bulge brackets and better than most middle market banks. That said, the quality of life here is far superior than at competitors who pay more. The firm has really embraced hybrid work, and the added flexibility has been well received.”

“We felt bonuses were slightly lower than expected this year. Base salary is competitive with the best banks on the Street.”

“Salary is on par with other companies, and bonuses seemed to come in lower. Perks seem to be in line, with the gym stipend being a big plus.”

Wellness Efforts

“The firm's senior leadership stresses a focus on wellness, both physical and mental, from day one. We receive a monthly gym reimbursement and have many healthy snacks in the office. The hybrid work schedule also helps to promote wellness.”

“The firm offers free healthy food options every day, pays a gym stipend each month, and offers programs like intramural sports leagues for all levels to participate in.”

“Not aware of formal efforts outside of gym reimbursement, but the culture is great and partners are approachable. There are enough folks at the firm who care about well-being of their teams that we haven't had issues.”

“Strong health insurance policy through United Healthcare and $110/month gym reimbursement.”

Diversity and ESG Initiatives

“Solomon is actively working to make the workplace a more inclusive environment for all historically underrepresented groups in finance. Through the Sophomore summit, the introduction of a women’s network, and the establishment of a D&I counsel, the company has made great strides towards hiring more diverse analyst classes and supporting those classes from their first day at the firm.”

“The firm has lately put an emphasis on more diverse hiring practices to improve the representation of women and minorities.”

“I have a disability and have never felt discriminated against. I do think the firm has some way to go with respect to racial diversity, but the incoming analyst and associate full-time and intern classes show greatly improved diversity, so I know this is a priority area for the firm.”

“We have made these efforts a key priority as part of our recruiting efforts and target these individuals before a broader pool of candidates. Although diversity is improving and a priority, it could be further improved.”

Business Outlook

“We continue to add top talent from other banks and expand coverage. Strong class of directors building out calling efforts. Partners tend to have narrow focus but deep expertise and are strong in execution, which can be productive in tougher environments. Marc Cooper [Solomon’s CEO] is a tremendous leader and is building coverage with top-tier talent while maintaining the special culture that has been calling card. Solomon is a great spot for mid-level bankers. Solid deal flow, growing quickly, investing in people, but still enough white space to carve out your own calling effort.”

“The firm is in growth mode, having gone from about 60 to 200 employees over the past five years. My own group was created just before Covid in 2020. Young but scrappy culture, with leadership in areas like consumer retail, energy, fintech, etc. Strong employee morale, encouraged by collegiality and good work/life balance.”

“We are growing at an incredible speed, adding many new bankers and new sectors in the last 12 months. The size of the analyst classes continues to grow, with high quality bankers.”

“The firm is steadily growing and diversifying across a variety of new industries. Our deal pipeline is strong, and I have a lot of confidence in the firm over the next few years.”