Future MM PE Associate - Ask Me Anything

I am in my third year at a boutique investment bank, and have accepted an offer to join a $1bn+ PE fund. Happy to answer any questions of how I got here, and my recent PE interviewing experience.

 

Gareth- I took a part-time year long internship beginning the summer after my freshman year in the back office of a prominent growth equity shop. I don't think that I had a lot of competition getting the role, as many people did not want to commit to the job through the school year. I was able to gain favor of my manager, and network with the associates on the investing side, and eventually was able to do an internship the following summer on the private equity side. Going into the following summer, I spoke with the same firm and they recommended me to a boutique bank for their internship program.

I spent the summer and was offered a full time position at the boutique, where I've been for the past two years. After missing the recruiting cycle in my first year, I got on the boat and recruited hard this past spring, which is when I landed my job for next summer.

The bank that I work at is very small (~10 guys), and industry specific. Very industry specific - in fact I believe that this industry focus set me apart from other candidates in PE recruiting. I was the sole analyst on 7-8 deals in my first two years, and got some great experience - which some MM PE shops really appreciate.

 
Best Response

I did not get the position via a headhunter. The bank that I worked for was not known at all (I was the only analyst to leave the bank that went the PE route so far), and so the top tier headhunters did not reach out to me. I actually cold-called/emailed about 10 well known firms, with lackluster results (meetings/calls with about half of them, maybe 1-2 lower MM PE shop leads from that).

I did get some inbound interest from less well known headhunters (probably searching linkedin for 'investment banking analyst') over time, maybe 5-10 over my first two years, but they never connected me with solid leads.

I secured my current position by getting an introduction from an MD - he connected me with numerous firms. One thing that I think is often overlooked in these forums is that perceived 'prestige' of firms is relatively non-existent in the real-world, especially at the senior level. My MD was friends with senior guys at many megafunds (from his early days at a BB), and through him I got interviews with Carlyle, Blackstone, KKR, etc, in addition to the middle market firms that I am better suited for.

 
AustinPowers37:

I did not get the position via a headhunter. The bank that I worked for was not known at all (I was the only analyst to leave the bank that went the PE route so far), and so the top tier headhunters did not reach out to me. I actually cold-called/emailed about 10 well known firms, with lackluster results (meetings/calls with about half of them, maybe 1-2 *lower* MM PE shop leads from that).

I did get some inbound interest from less well known headhunters (probably searching linkedin for 'investment banking analyst') over time, maybe 5-10 over my first two years, but they never connected me with solid leads.

I secured my current position by getting an introduction from an MD - he connected me with numerous firms. One thing that I think is often overlooked in these forums is that perceived 'prestige' of firms is relatively non-existent in the real-world, especially at the senior level. My MD was friends with senior guys at many megafunds (from his early days at a BB), and through him I got interviews with Carlyle, Blackstone, KKR, etc, in addition to the middle market firms that I am better suited for.

You hit the nail on the head w/ that last paragraph man. Right on. SB +1.

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 

Sounds a lot like a boutique I'm working for. I could be wrong but I'm sure with a small boutique like that you guys are less modeling focused. How were you able to demonstrate strong technical skills in your PE interviews without having extensive modeling/finance knowledge like those at BBs and more established/bigger/elite MMs and Boutiques?

Biggest Pros and Cons of firm you worked at for 3 years?

 
TheBlueCheese:

How were you able to demonstrate strong technical skills in your PE interviews without having extensive modeling/finance knowledge like those at BBs and more established/bigger/elite MMs and Boutiques?

Biggest Pros and Cons of firm you worked at for 3 years?

My modeling skills were pretty focused on my vertical - working on smaller companies I had only modeled income statements for the 7 or so deals that I worked on (due to the size of the companies we worked with, this was really all that was needed). I had no experience with 3 statement, M&A, LBO models, or even debt, but the firm I ultimately decided to join didn't need that (besides a relatively qualitative case study, no modeling). I did get killed during my final round with Blackstone though...

Prior to the interview process, I did learn how to model - similar, I expect, to the way ugrads learned prior to interviewing for full time positions - with a book.

Pros: exit opps (wouldn't expect this in a boutique!), relatively lax work environment Cons: Lower pay than market, small analyst pool (I missed the camaraderie I would expect at a BB)

 

do you think that it would be realistic to go from a no-name boutique --> a mf? I mean in the sense of, ya, you can network your way into an interview, but unless you're an absolute one-in-a-million stud, even if you get into the interview, is it a realistic transition? or would you be starting way behind your fellow interviewees/be majorly disadvantaged because of your background?

 

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