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Free Banker BlueprintPrivate Equity recruitment is the process that PE firms use to source, interview, and hire candidates.
Since Private Equity is a highly paid, prestigious, and competitive field, PE firms do not have to do much to “attract” candidates.
What’s more, there are relatively very few private equity roles, and PE firms tend to follow very narrow hiring criteria.
Traditionally, firms have hired investment banking analysts from bulge-bracket and elite-boutique banks for Associate-level positions in PE. Increasingly, some firms are hiring undergraduates for junior roles such as Private Equity Analysts; there’s also some cross-hiring between PE firms for experienced candidates.
If you are not in any of these categories, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to win traditional private equity roles (not impossible, as there are exceptions in certain regions and industries – just less likely than a candidate working in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York).
With that brutal honesty out of the way, let’s look at how to maximize your chances of winning the Private Equity recruitment game…
The pathways into Private Equity are narrow indeed, with few professionals entering the industry via other methods:
Banks hire undergraduates for junior-level roles, such as Private Equity Analysts (common in some markets, such as Brazil and Portugal, and increasingly common at mega-funds and upper-middle-market funds in developed markets).
Large PE firms target Investment Banking Analysts at bulge-bracket and elite-boutique banks, as well as a few In-Between-a-Banks. Smaller firms may hire IB Analysts at middle-market and boutique banks.
If you already work at a PE firm, then there is a chance you’ll be headhunted or can otherwise switch to another firm.
If you sit outside these 3 pathways, then it’s very unlikely you’ll be hired by a US or UK firm. In other markets such as Russia, India, Central & Eastern Europe, and Portugal, it’s more feasible for non-bankers to get in.
See our step-by-step guide on How To Get Into Private Equity for more detail.
First, note that there both on-cycle and off-cycle recruitment processes; they differ in timing, steps, interviews, and hiring criteria.
The on-cycle process is the one that begins for Analysts at bulge-bracket and elite-boutique banks in New York within a few months of their start date – or even before their start date! This on-cycle process is short and intense.
If you finish the on-cycle process and win a job offer, the position will start in 1.5 – 2.0+ years.
So, you may interview in December of 20X1, keep working in banking, and then begin the PE role in July or August of 20X3.
The timing has accelerated over time, so that many Analysts interview in June or July of 20X1 for rules that start in July of 20×3!
The off-cycle recruitment process applies to everyone else:
Off-cycle processes tend to take more time – months rather than weeks or days – and interviewers evaluate your “fit” and critical thinking abilities in more depth. For more information, take a look at this article about Off-Cycle Private Equity Recruiting: How to Win Middle-Market Private Equity Offers.
Once the decision is made, you’ll tend to start working within a few weeks of winning an offer, rather than waiting for 1.5 – 2 years.
Assuming you have the right background, there are a number of strategies and resources you can leverage to help secure a private equity job.
Just like any other professional role, your resume is your main “first impression” document. PE hiring managers are insanely busy and if they don’t see what they’re looking for within 30 seconds, your resume will be overlooked. The ideal PE resume should:
Refer to our full article on Private Equity Resumes (with Downloadable Templates and Examples) for more information.
In most cases, getting into the interview is actually harder than the interview itself. And the process will be somewhat different depending if it’s an on-cycle or off-cycle process.
That being said, almost all PE interviews have the following characteristics in common:
Interviews will naturally include common questions, such as Why Private Equity? and Can you walk me through your resume?. You can also expect questions about your strengths and weaknesses.
For a deeper coverage of this topic, see our article on Private Equity Interviews 101: How To Win Offers.
Up until relatively recently, Private Equity Analyst positions did not exist.
Banks hired the top students out of undergrad for Investment Banking Analyst roles, then the big PE firms swooped in to hire away trained bankers after a couple of years.
But then someone in private equity wondered why PE firms don’t just hire their own analysts and groom them themselves.
And just like that, Private Equity Analyst positions were born.
So, should you start as an Investment Banking Analyst and transition over to PE, or should you go straight into Private Equity? This article on Investment Banking vs Private Equity will help answer that question.
Private equity has become a highly competitive and sought-after field.
Private equity firms want people who are technically proficient and who demonstrate strong “fit” because firms and teams are far smaller than in investment banking.
Banks might have tens of thousands of employees to perform grunt work, but private equity firms have no such armies; they want to hire small teams of the top professionals who can add value from day one.
That’s why many aspiring private equity professionals invest in specialized courses and training to help them get noticed, get hired, and get promoted.
Some of the courses offered by Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street that apply to private equity include:
Completing these courses will help you win interviews and job offers for roles that pay $150K+ and position you for careers in private equity. Learn more about Breaking Into Wall Street here.
The BIWS Interview Guide gives you everything you need to ace your Investment Banking Interview, even if you only have a few days to prepare.
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