Apollo London internship interview

Apollo is one of the big 3 MegaFunds, so do expect the interview to be more demanding than a standard IB interview where questions are drawn from the 400 questions document.

I have previously interviewed for EQT and Blackstone for internship positions, so maybe it's not the exact same, but I can say that my interview experience with both firms have been similar in terms of difficulty. Therefore, the following might be useful.

Think that the people interviewing you generally don't have much experience in interviewing interns for PE roles. This applies from associate level to MD level. Associates' work is highly technical in nature, so you will get a lot of paper LBOs from them. Think questions like "what would happen to valuation if I exit at 10.0x vs greater multiple vs lower multiple" and such. In short - dominate the paper LBO because there is no way of bullshitting your way out of it. I don't know about your experience in interviewing with firms in the industry, I would describe the difficulty of these interviews right between regular IB M&A FT roles and EB FT RX roles. However, the more you know the better, obviously. It is useful to think that other candidates interviewing with them know more than you. It keeps you hungry for knowledge, which I think is the right approach. 

When your interviewer is more senior - the interviews aren't as technical as their work generally isn't as technical as the less senior people. They tend to start as behavioral/motivational and then work up to slightly technical. They love to hear that you know about the firm's deals and that you are thinking in how current market conditions will affect the firm's portfolio and investment approach going forward. If you know about a deal that the specific director has been in, the interview is pretty much over, as you can make them talk the whole time and they will value your level awareness. 

Good luck with your interview and let us know how it goes! Also, remember to always give back if you get it!