PE Recruiting 2020 Information Thread

Picking up the pieces from some various threads it is evident that HH's have begun to reach out to some via LinkedIn, and analyst programs are beginning shortly for many banks. This can be a place to update if HH's have reached out to you, virtual coffee chats / happy hours, and other various recruiting tidbits, rumors, and so forth.

When you provide an update, please provide a brief profile (presuming that you post anonymously). Bank (BB, EB, MM) <- ideally including top, mid, bottom, etc), school (target, semi-target, non-target), and group (coverage, m&a).

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Current associate at a megafund. I can confirm that no one is thinking about recruiting now. Considering we aren't even in the office yet recruiting is pretty low on our list of priorities. My guess it'll pick up again starting in September when we're back in the office and banking analysts are starting to finish training. Of course someone could kick it off but I doubt it.

To make sure you don't feel worried, if you are a coverage / M&A analyst at a BB or independent firm, you will likely get headhunter emails from all major HHs and a chance to impress in August or so depending on the potential timeline

 

EB target - HH’s have started collecting info. Smaller HH shops covering MMs have reached up for initial convos (but not first rounds, mostly just to pitch opportunities and give advice) but the larger ones are just collecting info. No one knows when on cycle will kick off

Will echo associate above from what I’ve been hearing. Some banks won’t be out of training until into Sept and Oct so unless PE shops want to recruit negative desk experience it might be later

 
Most Helpful

Same associate as above. Don't worry if headhunters haven't reached out to you. you will almost certainly get emails from HHs when you get your work email (if you don't have it). Reached out to our headhunter (CPI / Amity / HSP) and they apparently have not begun talking to incoming analysts. My guess is some time in July / August will be when the real email blasts are going out

 

Of course. I want to add that just because you're receiving emails now does not mean you're the strongest candidate and just because you're not getting emails does not mean you're a weak candidate. HHs are well aware they will miss a lot of people early on, and many strong candidates (especially now) will wait a year or go off-cycle (I also generally recommend that most people go off-cycle or wait a year. LA majors especially are generally stronger candidates once they have some real banking experience). It is also perfectly acceptable to email a headhunter if they missed you (assuming you're a BB coverage banker or independent M&A banker) since they want to meet basically every independent / BB analyst they can (its their incentive to place, and if they miss a potential hire from, say, a mid-tier coverage group at Citi that hurts their earnings). The only groups they won't miss anyone from are places like MS M&A or PJT / Moelis (Evercore is so big now that I'm sure they won't get everyone, and I would bet their placement numbers go down). Once the HH's start reaching out en masse (again, I expect it to be sometime in mid-August but could easily go earlier or later) you can feel free to reach out. Our HH said that they expect to talk to first years late August / early Sep atm

 

Thoughts on recruiting to PE (any level) as a corporate banking analyst at upper tier BB? Understanding is that it is very difficult, might be better suited pursuing private credit roles if the debt interest is there or moving into IB first. General advice on career path welcome

 

In short, extremely difficult. Better off transitioning to IB first.

 

has anyone gotten past modeling materials handed down by older analysts yet? especially interested in the top EBs who knock it out of the park with recruiting, like Moelis / PJT. anyone interested in doing a swap?

 

Confirming the target outreach to gather contact info, which was only 1 HH for my school at least. Haven’t heard from them or anyone else yet (BB).

 

It was through a club, just 1 place who did a casual info session. I think it was just an event the club happened to put together, and I’m really not reading into it. Seemed like it was a convenient way to get contact info at once honestly, doubt it’ll remotely be a difference. I’d listen to the associate above who knows what he’s talking about :)

 

Ivy target (not H/W) at an EB (PJT/MOE/EVR)...nothing directly from HHs but they have reached out to 2nd years to gather the emails of our entire class

 

Same associate, again. I actually asked our HH straight up if they were doing any resume gathering or anything (it is absolutely ridiculous how early it is) and they said they were not as of now. Top headhunter that represents our MF and numerous other targeted firms. HH's will normally find your email from existing analysts who signed through that headhunter, from alumni from your school, and from just finding out what your name is and guessing your email. Again they have every incentive to talk to as many analysts as possible (whether from GS TMT or Jefferies, not to knock on them but to highlight there are a range of firms they want to talk to) since it is not like HH's represent only MFs or UMMs but also a lot of MMs. Additionally, if they find a great candidate from DB who is a great fit for a top firm like Carlyle they will happily put them in the interview. Feel free to reach out to HHs in Sep or so (reaching out too early is detrimental)

 

Hey man, awesome info, thank you! Would you say now is a good time to create a profile and submit your resume in HH websites? Or would you wait till you hit the desk to polish/update your resume? Also, when HH initially reach out to you, do they ask for an updated resume?

Also, why is reaching out to HH too early detrimental?

 

You folks don't actually believe this guy is real right? He's likely just another incoming analyst trying to get a leg up on recruiting. On-cycle interviews started in August last year....

What incentive does this guy have to ask his firm's "HH straight up" for a bunch of random hardos on WSO? You guys are smarter than this, come on.

 

Believe me or not, makes no difference to me. However, recruiting last year actually doesn't mean that much. We're in a world-wide pandemic and recruiting will 100% be delayed because of it. Firms like Blackstone have opted out of on-cycle recruiting (at least that is what they said publicly) and many strong firms have delayed their start dates so analysts may not even be on the desk until September or later. Most PE firms aren't even back in the office yet, and believe me, recruiting isn't going to be top of the list of priorities when we do go back in en masse. Who knows If someone will kick it off even earlier / same time as last year but I doubt it. If I were in your shoes I would prepare for mid-Sep kick off anyway to be safe.

I reached out on behalf of recent graduates from my undergrad entering into consulting and banking who reached out and are looking to learn more about my firm and the process. Since I was on here anyway thought I'd add.

 

Your student resume is fine for now, as long as you've added your bank and group right under Education.  As soon as you do gain some traction after training, start to add some bullets.  Even if you're initially focused on pitches, it will give the head hunters some guidance & direction for initial conversation with you. 

 

Had an introductory call in the last two weeks with a recruiter and they told me that recruiting for summer 2022 starts won't happen until early 2021? Can anyone confirm they heard anything similar? I was expecting the process to be delayed a bit but 6+ months surprised me a lot...

 

Dang that’s crazy, can someone confirm?

@Helpful PE Associate from above

 

No one knows when recruiting will kick off. Anyone who says they do or even has a real idea is probably lying or at best guessing. Every year there are rumors: "I heard it will be before Thanksgiving / Halloween this year," or "I heard firm X is planning on flying to NYC to hire kids" etc. Most of these rumors are generally exaggerated or false but people also tend to dismiss each year's cycle as "no way that's going to happen." I remember when it kicked off on Halloween, no one thought it could be before Thanksgiving, but that's what happened.

That being said, I really think this year it will end up getting pushed, for a number of reasons. Right now, most firms are not in the office (at least a couple have offices open but no one is forced to come in) and it is really difficult to imagine firms hiring people based on nothing but a Zoom call, resume, and modeling test. PE is a human interaction business and the face-to-face component is crucial to all aspects of PE, including meeting candidates. So I can't see it kicking off unless many firms are back in office, which could be in 2021 (depending on the second wave etc), which could explain what the HH said. However, who knows. Maybe certain firms are ok with hiring without meeting face to face. That will hurt kids from non-targets, analysts who start later than others, and analysts who are not in BB / EB banks, and kids who have strong interpersonal skills. I can't see hiring without meeting someone face to face happening, but every year we've been wrong about when it will kick off, so maybe we'll be wrong this time.

 

Yeah can confirm but from what I can gather this doesn't mean much. Seems like SG just wants to start collecting info and meeting candidates since it will be more difficult virtually. I don't think this implies much regarding when the on-cycle process will kick off. Most US PE firms aren't back in the office yet and with the way things are going, many's post-Labor Day plans are up in the air. Seems like recruiting will still be pushed back considerably compared to last year. Although, as usual, who tf knows

 

SG JUST SENT AN EMAIL saying their “recruiters will not be interviewing candidates this summer”. Anyone know how to interpret that??

 

got this as well. at a top EB (EVR/MOE/PJT) and had a different, well-known HH reach out last month saying recruiting was likely to be virtual. Have no idea what to think now

 

Yeah SG sent an email last night pulling back on their email from earlier this week. It said, "As a clarification, our recruiters will not be interviewing candidates this summer. We look forward to speaking with you down the road!"

It looks the industry had really wanted to push back recruiting this year and so when SG tried to jump the gun, they got a lot of blowback from PE firms and/or other HHs so they had to pull back. Makes it seem like recruiting will definitely be pushed back somewhat imo

 

I got the initial email but didn’t get this follow up. Did you enter your info in the link? Haven’t done that yet so may be why I missed their second email

 

Dude holy shit who cares if your friend from PJT RSSG got an email already? Just wait for the HH's to email you. If you're at a reputable firm they'll come to you as soon as you get a work email.

 

I've heard from HSP - it was an introductory conversation, we went through my background, deal experience, what I'm looking for. No concrete timeline for on-cycle recruiting yet beyond things being delayed this year.

 

Even if they wait until 2021, it's not like everyone is gonna be vaccinated in January, so I personally couldn't see firms letting dozens of 20-something-year-olds from all over the country into their offices with senior people for full days of interviews. But I also couldn't imagine the process getting pushed until next summer. This is just my opinion but I feel like firms will wait until at least their employees are back in the office (so they can better coordinate) and they have a virtual recruiting infrastructure/plan set up, and then will recruit virtually. But this will be interesting. Would love other people's perspectives (esp. if better-informed)

 

Agree on this. I don't think they're willing to wait a whole year. Definitely think recruiting will be virtual for most rounds and possibly even early superday rounds, and then for final cuts of only a few people they'll probably bring them in-office one at a time to decide via in-person meetings.

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