Overview
Introduction
Greenhill is a leading M&A advisory firm that cares about giving its interns a strong learning experience. Interns work on live deals alongside clients and senior bankers. Full-time junior bankers work on lean deal teams, getting extraordinary responsibility and close interaction with senior bankers. At Greenhill, the people are polite, kind, helpful, and supportive.
Company Stats
Employer Type
Size
Featured Rankings
Major Office Locations
Employment Contact
Firsthand Findings
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 developmen...
About the Company
Greenhill calls itself “a unique investment banking firm,” and to be sure, it follows a model quite unlike the structure of its behemoth competitors. At Greenhill, independence is the guiding philosophy; because it’s not part of a larger financial institution, the firm avoids the conflicts of interest inherent in those firms. Greenhill’s second rule is focus. It has no research, trading, or lending divisions to distract from its advisory work, which includes mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, financings, capital raisings, and secondary fund investment sales.
The firm is a relatively young one by Wall Street standards: about 26 years old. In 1996, Robert F. Greenhill, former head of Smith Barney and former president of Morgan Stanley, struck out on his own and founded an eponymous boutique firm. He led ...
Employee Reviews
“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.”
Getting Hired Here
“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.”
