PE Recruiting for First Year Analyst

Does anyone have info on moving to first year analyst programs at PE funds that offer it (after interning at a top IB group)?

When they start looking, doing first rounds, interview format (more analogous to SA or associate level), etc. I presume they do a bit of recruiting (or maybe all given how accelerated things have been lately) over the summer. Also any info on how many first year positions are generally reserved for laterals, as opposed to just SAs in the program, at places with defined analyst programs like like BX would be appreciated.

I'm interested in making the move over, but obviously don't want to come across too eager contacting people before even beginning my summer analyst program. Unfortunately, not a lot of info on WSO about this so any help is appreciated.

 

Good idea re not wanting to be overeager. I always lol'd when summer analysts would try to sneakily ask about PE casually like they were just kinda curious and not planning on being the next Schwazman. So casual.

Dont contact people and focus on your internship. They will either contact you if interested. If you don't already have older friends who have been through the process and can steer you through it (direct analyst recruiting), you won't get it. Not trying to crush dreams, that's just the reality.

 

I assume that you went back to school in between FT and SA, so they should be separate entries. If you have worked on deals and can talk about them in a meaningful way, then put them on the CV. If not, then don't.

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

I know this is kind of late but, if you were looking at the lateral position with the elite healthcare boutique, ask them if they would still enroll you in their training program once you start or when the new group of analysts come in.

If you already made your decision, how'd it go? what did you end up doing?

 

There is still some recruiting going on, but the vast majority has already taken place. I would guess that recruiting for summer 2008 will be nearly wrapped up by the end of August.

Analysts can be fired for any reason, or for no reason at all - that's the beauty of at-will employment. However, I seriously doubt that GS would fire an analyst for interviewing (let alone fire someone for interviewing specifically in PE, since that's retarded), as this would reflect very poorly on them.

 

Firstly, I believe you mean "getting over to the buy side" - that said, you're in a good situation at what seems like a decent bank. Take this time to learn as much as you can, if you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, educate yourself and make yourself valuable somehow; can be studying for a CFA, getting the necessary licenses you may need if you do in fact stay on the sell side, but also you should be reaching out to recruiters while headhunter's might find you. You shouldn't rely on them, however, and so you should be contacting recruiters at shops and getting your name and resume in their hands in the meantime.

Recruiting as you know will be harder and more competitive than ever for the foreseeable next two year time frame, at least. Just do your best to make sure you're waking up every weekday and heading to the office for now (have a job). Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the response. Could expand on how I should be reaching out to recruiters, though. Should I start looking at firms I want to apply to and sending their HR contacts my resume and cover letter? Is this the normal course of action? Also, when is the appropriate time to start doing this? Now? 3 months from now? Summer?

 

Sure, there are plenty of recruiting websites and outsourcing groups that are paid to recruit people and post on several sites such as efinancialcareers, etc. However, the best approach for me has been utilizing alumni from my college. If you have a career services at your undergrad school, you should do your best to gain alumni contacts working in the industry and reach out to them - they're usually the first to get back to you and will generally put you in touch with their HR offices (there's no way I would have had interviews and worked at JPMorgan this summer without the contact I had) - That said, as I'm sure you are aware, most recruiting is frozen so it will be hard. You can also do independent research and look up the top 100 companies as ranked by vault or performance and look for careers sections and send your cv and letter out that way. Good luck!

 

While your school alumni may be one path, I wouldn't rely heavy on it. If you want to go from banking to PE/HF/VC, just go through the bigger headhunters. Most reputable shops retain headhunters to do their search, anyways, so if you were to get in contact with an alumnus of your school he'd probably just send your resume to CPI/Oxbridge/SG or whoever was handling their process. I get resumes all the time from 1st and 2nd year analysts at banks and I don't have the time to sift through them all. I'll usually just take a quick glance and if it seems ok I'll throw it to our recruiters.

 

Don't rely on recruiters. Turn to your senior professionals, they are the ticket. Ask them if they have any relationships at whichever PE firms you're interested in. Their placing a phone call is pretty much a guaranteed interview, then it is up to you. I can't tell you how much it helped me in my job search to have the senior guys place calls on my behalf.

For me, headhunters were often a dead-end. While my bank is very reputable in the middle market and the PE world, it doesn't read Goldman Sachs on the top of it and I didn't go to a top undergrad school. As a result, headhunters almost never picked my resume for opportunities I was aware of nor did they call me with new opportunities. The only time I received interviews through headhunters was when I cold-emailed an alumni of my college as well as cold-emailed alumni of my bank and they passed my resume onto their recruiter.

As to your question regarding timing. If you're looking to join a mega fund, you'll need to start making contact prior to the end of your first year (around May timeframe). The middle market firms generally kick off a month or two later, with some straggling behind into August / September. Can't tell you how this year will differ other than it will be extremely selective and things may kick off later as PE firms try to get greater visibility as to their junior resource needs.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
Best Response

I left banking for PE right after my first year so I have an idea where you're coming from. As far as contacting alums, it depends on what school you go to. If you tend to have a very strong alumni network, it doesn't hurt to contact them and establish dialogue. It's good you are starting to think about it your first year. Cultivate a good relationship with the alums first before you start asking for a job.

I worked with headhunters (SG Partners, Oxbridge, Glocap, etc.) but I found the most success with people from my alma mater. Why? A lot of the alums I contacted were at the principal/MD/Partner level and they have much more pull in making things happen, assuming the firm is hiring. I remember going into an interview at my current firm and the principal who got me the interview pulled me aside and told me if I had a 'bad' meeting with any of the interviewers, he'd smooth it over and it's not the end of the world.

 

Actually, I digress. HS and Compbanker make good points. In this market, with selectivity going through the roof, it probably wouldn't hurt to explore every avenue you can. Some headhunters are pretty receptive to people with different backgrounds, not just the typical Ivy/2yearsBB/PE route (I was from a non-target), but SG Partners is the worst when it comes to that stuff (even though I was coming from a BB with a megafund LBO on my resume, they still brushed me off). So I kind of understand Compbanker's frustration when it came to that.

Senior guys are the way to go, but its a touchy situation with some of the smaller banks, especially if they view you as a good associate candidate, so just be careful who you reach out to within your group.

 

Thanks for all the responses, a few more things to ask though...

Is it commonplace for 1st year analysts who haven't even completed their first 9 months to come up to senior bankers and ask them about PE/VC interviews? In my firm, and my coverage group particularly, they like to keep analysts around for 3 years, so I'm affraid this may be a thorny issue to begin with. Also, given that deal activity has been absolutely dead, if I am applying to PE shops in the spring, what would I talk about on my resume? Thanks for all the advice...

 

As the two posters above said - check out the thread I recently posted. As far as references go, PE firms should realize that you're interviewing early and it's not appropriate to call your current employer as a reference.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

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