PE recruiting - keep it hushed?

Depends where your work and what your group is like... if you work at Goldman don't ever mention it...

Don't mention it. Dentist appointments, doctor, etc. -- keep a straight face, stay on top of your work, and maintain a good attitude. To borrow a good quote for new application, "Employers are like mushrooms -- keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em shit."

Status quo, don't bring it up. However, not all banks / groups get all butt hurt like GS. Some of my banks m&a group associates and VP's actively help analysts out in PE / HF recruiting if they so choose. Even help cover for them if they have to travel. Pretty nice.

You'll figure out your group's culture before recruiting starts. Can always just ask a 2nd year about your specific group's attitude.

It definitely depends on your group.

For instance, BX is very open about PE recruiting and they intentionally give first years the best deals so they can have stuff to talk about during interviews. In the spring MD's will make calls on your behalf, you'll have a lighter workload, people will help you prep, etc.

On the other hand, I've heard of other firms where analysts were threatened to be fired if they were found recruiting.

Either way, definitely check with 2nd years you trust.

Thanks for the advice - I'll talk to someone from the group about it.

Geez, I'm not that good at coming up with excuses, I have can't even imagine taking hours off of work to interview and making up fake excuses.

Feel it out with your fellow analysts and any more senior members of your group that you have a strong personal relationship with (staffer maybe?). Most of the better interviews I got were sourced through a couple of the MDs in my group, plus there was less competition as the jobs they referred were less broadly shopped. These were much stronger opportunities than what I saw through the headhunters, and the interview/offer rate was much higher.

Maybe times have changed as recruiting has gotten much earlier than it used to be. When I was an analyst most PE funds started recruiting in Sept/Oct for July/Aug start dates the following summer. I was looking to leave NYC so I had to be pretty open with my group about needing to take days off to go to on-site interviews. Maybe I had an exceptionally cool group, but they were all super supportive and helpful.

As others have said already, it's going to depend on your bank and group.

Even if your group is open about PE recruiting, I'd still try to keep it low-key though. A lot of the associates and VPs are tired of banking just like analysts are, but don't have the opportunity to exit into PE. So if you're continuously gone for interviews and flaunting your job offers around the office it could rub some people the wrong way.

How do you go about handling recruiting in other cities? I know a lot of people do banking in NYC only to do the buyside in Boston or San Fran - I'd imagine this involves travel and "really really long dentist appointments" probably won't cover you for two days.

You can schedule the travel for Monday, fly where you need to be on Sunday, and then call in sick before flying home Monday night. You probably get two shots before people start paying attention. Really, you shouldn't be interviewing in person until you have 2-3 phone calls anyway. It's important to be well regarded on your team, because if you are, people are more likely to let that kind of stuff slide.

Something I've experienced is that recruiters and potential buy-side shops are actually not very accommodating.

Scheduling interviews for 5:30 is not "after hours". In fact I'd much prefer to have it mid-day and class it as a long lunch.

Definitely depends on your group. Mine basically expects you to go PE after 2 years and is fairly accommodating (will allow me to step out if I stay until 2am) if I need to do some quick networking or have an interview.

^That partner is an asshole.

Can't speak to how difficult it would be to interview for places outside NYC, but it really boils down to the group. Generally, across IBD, EVERYONE knows where you're going when you've got a "dentist" appointment, so it really SUCKED when i actually did have to get a fucking root canal done in the middle of my stint lol. No one believed me, not even when I sounded like a retard back at the office coz I was ODed on anesthetics.

Try getting out during lunch time, that's a little bit of a lull period. Or even very early in the morning (I always did that). Most people in banking didn't get in till around 10.30 am (that was the case in my group at least), whereas people in PE are normally in much earlier around 8.30am.. If you're not interviewing at superintense megafunds, people will be willing to accomodate you if they believe you're a strong candidate.

Also, I'd advise against confiding all the time in VP / associate level "bros" because although unintentional on their part, they may gossip and word spreads quickly in groups. In this climate, you don't want to be sending across the message that you don't care about your current job.

Keep your interactions friendly but professional. When recruiting season arrives, let junior level folk who're working on your deals know, and offer to cover for them to your best possible ability if they're recruiting somewhere too. This worked like magic in my group, where 95% of the team (right from analyst all the way up to MD) was recruiting ALL the time.

On a related note - any color as to when this year's process will kick off?

On another related note - for groups where its NOT ok, who are you supposed to use as references?

Bernanke - c/o '11 started in May, c/o '12 started in March/April. Would expect around the same timeframe

ihop - would recommend you use people you are very close to, trust, and understand that you are looking to the buyside. Highly recommend sitting down and talking to them one on one about your situation and ask them if they can be a reference

to the OP - just tell your staffer you have to return some videotapes