Interview with a Mid Level PE Firm for an Analyst Position
What's up everyone,
I have two interviews coming up this week... One tomorrow in the afternoon, and the other on Saturday morning over breakfast...
They're with the General Counsels of the fund I'll be *crosses fingers* working in.
I've already interview with the VP, the associates, and took my excel test...
They said this is the final round.
Any advice? I've never had breakfast with someone as an "interview" so I'm kinda concerned...
Also, how confident should I be that I have the gig?
I've never had an interview over breakfast before (or on the weekends), but treat it as you would any other interview. It'll probably be close to what you might experience at a lunch/dinner on an interview day - lots of small talk, chatting about your interests/their's, just seeing who you are as a person.
"Also, how confident should I be that I have the gig?"
0%. It seems you're pretty far along in their interview process, but getting dinged in the first round is the same as getting dinged in your final interview: no offer. There are very few sure things in life, so keep your head in the game. Good luck!
As @"CHItizen" stated, this is most likely completely a fit interview. I doubt you're very well versed in law yet if you're coming in as an analyst so counsel isn't isn't going to grill you about indemnity clauses and the best legal structure to limit liability from an acquisition.
My recommendations for any important breakfast meeting (I have a lot of them, ranging from casual with guys I've known well for years and can show up banged up from the night before to pretty important): don't drink the night before (obvious), wake up far earlier than you need to and work out (wake yourself up), eat something after working out and before you go (basically, don't be starving), don't drink too much coffee and show up shaky, and unless the guy's obese and orders a full stack of pancakes and an omelet order something simple to eat and healthy (yogurt and granola/fruit).
excellent stuff, fellas... SB'd yall for the sound advice.
From research, I think fit is basically the flow of conversation, correct? Since you're going to be in the office w/ these guys for 10 to 16 hours per day, I'd imagine they'd want a guy that doesnt talk too much, too little, or boring in nature.
I think I'm pretty good at having conversation flow, and knowing when to shut the hell up. Haha.
What exactly is the role of the general counsel in a PE firm, and what would be my relationship with him? I want to be able to study up on some things so I can seem somewhat knowledgeable during the interview.
I've been looking at the past successful exits the firm has had, and I've made sure to read up on the industry as a whole. But anything else I can bring to the conversation would be helpful.
Most middle market firms, at least based on my experience, don't have in house counsel unless they're special situations/bk/restructuring specialists (those types of deals are so legally involved that it's worth having in house legal or having multiple guys with legal backgrounds at senior levels, not necessarily acting as atty's, but who have legal backgrounds) so unless your prospective fund is one of those, I'd imagine it's on the larger side of MM. Since you can charge external legal fees to deals, it's usually wiser to not have to pay a lawyer to be in house and have them paid out of your fees. And most more senior PE and IB guys are half lawyer anyway so you don't need an in house guy to interact with outside atty's because as the PE/IB guy you're not illiterate to legal. If it is a larger MM fund and they have in house legal there's probably just enough fund/GP/management co level legal work and compliance stuff that they're in charge of that. In that case, you probably wouldn't have much interactions with them on a regular/deal basis.
So the following is kind of a guess because I've never had in house counsel but if they do work at the deal level I'd imagine as an analyst you'd be coordinating due diligence and document review with them and as you gain experience you may have more input on docs. At more senior levels I'd imagine it would be legal structures and all the good stuff that you interact with lawyers for such as negotiating documents, playing CYA and not leaving any liabilities bare, and stuff like that. You normally require outside lawyers per fund docs anyway so maybe they coordinate with outside lawyers. In my world, and in my preference, I wouldn't really want an extra layer between me/my deals and our outside attorneys because I'm pretty detail oriented in legal (I'm probably more like 75% lawyer) and since legal docs almost always go from one party's law firm to the other party's law firm (not directly from principal to principal), I wouldn't want an extra person on my side who could change something without me knowing and approving (because outside counsel doesn't do that).
Probably a long winded answer, but have these types of things in mind and ask what they do. Assume deal work because you don't want to come out and say "Hey, you're a back office legal/compliance guy" if he's actually a deal guy. He won't like you if you do that. For fit stuff in general, yes, know your shit and what the firm's done (I'm sure if you've gotten this far you've already done that) and just be a likeable person. Think about what the other people you've met with are like. That's most likely the type of person that fits in the firm. So if they were all fraternity types, be a frat guy. If they were all geeks, pretend you went to MIT.
Good luck.
Good stuff.
I did some research and found that one of the guys that I'm talking to is a VP (there's three of them in the group, and I've already talked to the one that's hiring)
The other guy... I'm still not sure, but I'm almost certain that he said general Counsel. He may have said senior partner though, based on what you said. (they sorta sound alike. haha)
I looked at an article on Mergers and Inquisitions, and they spoke to how most PE and IB guys want three things.
The first two are out since i'm coming from a huge corporation.. But I've improved a few process and made things more streamlined, allowing people to focus less on data consolidation, and more on the analytic portion so that better decisions can be made.
I'll try to speak to that some... But also mix in some sports and whatnot. haha.
Just to be sure, but @"handullz", are you sure you're refering to General Counsel in the sense of legal counsel? Or is it more of a senior advisor / managing partner role?
I'd find it odd to interview with investment team members and then have the "final" round with one of the legal guys unless he's not there to interview you but hand you a golden ticket with legal strings attached (not very likely).
Whatever it is, it's breakfast, so just go in there, be likeable, don't take anything for granted based on the process so far and just show them again how much you would like to work with them.
I think it's the latter of your options.
I know he's in house because I met him during one of my trips to the office. I think either I worded it wrong, or he's a senior partner that's really a lawyer at his core and would rather be called that.
And I'll be sure to stress how much i want to get in...
This might be a foolish statement, and yall can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that once you're in, that's the hardest part.
Of course, you have to work hard, and produce results... But that's more based on your own aptitude. Getting in is really based on if someone likes you and wants to let you in.
I feel like if I can make it in, then I'm in the arena I want to play on, and now I can focus on actual work.Having that PE experience on my resume is very valuable...
I still have the MBA bullet in the chamber... so if things get stagnate, or I get laid off, I can go the MBA route.
If I'm wrong, lemme know.
Interview was really brief.. 15 minutes, tops (didnt have to take off work for it. The drive to the office took more time than what we spent talking). Dude basically was saying he wanted to interact and talk w/ me.
When I offered my resume, he said "Naaaah. I'm good. Just wanted to talk a bit". We really just talked about my past, his past, and how we would interact with each other if I'm brought on. Really casual conversation.
He came in and kicked his feet up on the chair next to him. Haha.
Here's the structure of the firm...
There are two MDs... He's the lawyery-guy. They write all the LOIs, do negotiations, and seem to be more on the litigation side.
He said the other MD was the one that was doing all the sourcing, and OK'ing of the deals to be signed off on. He's a Harvard MBA, and worked in PE for about 15 years.
We're having breakfast on Saturday.
The lawyer was super easy going, and he said that the Harvard MBA is more easy going, so I'm hoping for it to be a smooth conversation. We're both from Texas, so that works out.
He's also a CFA... former Goldman Sachs guy, etc, etc... All the accolades and accomplishments under the sun.
I'm hoping he doesnt grill me with technical questions. Lol.
Sounds like it went well, which is good. Generally, senior guys won't grill you on technicals - they're not in the weeds anymore and probably assume that one of their junior/mid level guys has already vetted you there. They do, however, tend to care about how you think/present yourself/analyze investments, so keep that in mind. Keep up to date on what's going on in the world and specifically toward stuff that's relevant to their firm.
I assume you already know how all the major Texas football teams (college and NFL) are doing.
Good luck!
Meeting on Saturday morning went well!
We talked for an hour and a half, and I'd say maybe 20 minutes was taken to talk about the actual job.
We talked about sports, his workout, my college athletic career, his kids, running...
It was really a free flowing conversation.
The time that we talked about the job, he spoke as if I already had it, saying words like "you will be" and "you will be required to travel ____ "
It was really a great conversation. I'm hoping that they make an offer this week. I'm looking to start at the beginning of the year.
Question... I have 2.5 years of FP&A, regular old corp fin experience...
would 1.5 years of PE be too short for me to go to grad school with and come out w/ a PE or IB offer? I know you can go into IB without the experience... But it doesnt hurt to have it...
Why don't you first wait and hope to get the offer? I say "you will do..." in interviews irrespective of the subsequent decision just because I want to put people into the right mindset.
I'd also recommend settling into the job and evaluating your options once you're there. Personally, I don't see why you'd want to go "back" to IB but that's a personal choice. It could also turn out that PE is not to your liking.
Whether that experience is sufficient for grad school is for more informed monkeys to judge, I'd say it is.
I'm jumping the gun.
My recruiting manager said things were positive and that they were just waiting for his (MDs) approval. So, yeah, I'm jumping the gun. Haha.
He may not have liked my face and said "nah, we're good"
I just was wondering... I know people primarily go into IB for the exit opps... I was just wondering.
Hopefully I'll hear something b/c they said they wanted the role to be solidified by the end of the year.
fingers crossed again!
got the job!
Nice Christmas present - congrats!
congrats
Congrats man!
thanks Everyone.
I havent seen much info in this thread about analysts at PE firms... only associates (seeing how as most come from BB analyst programs)
Here's my deal... I was planning on starting my MBA in fall 16. I'd have 4 years of work experience...
Would 1.5 years of PE as an analyst (not associate) be enough for Senior Associate positions out of and MBA...
Or better yet... if I were to go into an IB associate position... would the PE firms take a look at me?
I hear that it's pretty tough for someone in a post MBA associate position to get looks from a PE firm without PE experience...
Not impossible... but tough..
I guess I'm asking would PE analyst for 1.5 years qualify as enough experience...??
And before everyone says i'm jumping the gun... I'm merely planning out different avenues and options... that's all!
Haha.
Currently interning at a MM PE at the moment and it seems that most senior people do not have MBA.
Maybe that's the case at your firm, but most senior people in PE in general have MBA's.
This is just my two cents, but I'm guessing if you stay 1.5yrs it would have alot to do with how many deals and what kind of deals you worked on during that time.
the deal flow is really heavy because it's a growing segment. They're not putting in IB BB hours, but they're definitely more heavy than most other PE firms (at least from what I've heard on here)
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