How ready do you feel for 2023 On-Cycle?

With headhunters reaching out and all the rumors of on-cycle happening in the coming week(s), thought it would be a good idea for those going through it share our thoughts and potential worries. 
 

I’ve known that the process has been coming at some point and we’ve had more time than other years, but also feel that it’ll come to an end as quickly as it started. I’m definitely worried that I’m not as prepared, and feel that others might feel the same. I’m sure classes before us have felt the same way, so how ready are you all for the process?

 

not ready at all, I would get killed in an interview lol. Assuming it's probably not the move to start talking to the headhunters so I don't embarrass myself?

 

There’s a lot of advice on here about the wise and idealistic approach to preparation. It’s certainly not wrong by any means, but realistically a decent majority of people I know in PE (or going to PE) were in your shoes.

In my experience I’ve seen an equal amount of success from people who have good interpersonal skills, strong resumes, and (to put it bluntly) raw intelligence vs. those who’ve gone in extremely prepared having started modeling tests months ago. I definitely wouldn’t recommend having neither though…

 
Most Helpful

Perspective from a 2nd year who went through on cycle back in September and signed (just my thoughts!). You're never going to feel "fully ready". That being said, if you haven't had time to prep at all + don't really have a sense of what you want to get out of on cycle, it's probably best to either do off cycle or wait until the next on cycle process (yes, first years can skip this upcoming on cycle process and just do the next one as 2nd years. Has been done countless times). Reason I say it is probably best to wait if you feel like you haven't prepped at all (emphasis on the "at all") is that you really only get 1 shot at these firms. If you do on cycle and get dinged from the firms, very unlikely they will interview you again (idk, maybe there have been cases where they have interviewed again… i haven't heard of those, but I have certainly heard of candidates not being interviewed again because they got dinged the first time through). In terms of speaking with the headhunters, if you know you are going to do off cycle or wait, I still think it's beneficial to speak to the headhunters and let them know this + establish a dialogue, as off cycle technically begins right after on cycle (which is no more than 24-48 hours lol). Happy to answer any q's. Again, just my thoughts!

Wishing all of you best of luck.

 

Think the delayed process + ambiguous timing has left people less prepared than previous years when it was 3 months into the job, which means if you were planning on participating you had to study hard that summer and fall. WFH also means less in-office interaction with 2nd years who have gone through the process and can help you prep.

 

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