Analyst

The process seemed quick as they were looking to higher someone. The team was closing a lot of deals and was looking to add an analyst. They're team was pretty lean with 1 VP, 3 associates, and 2 analysts. They wanted to pair a new analyst with the third associate.

The recruiter was one of the standard firms. I had just finished my MS in Finance from a very non target institution and had about 1.5 years of corporate finance (FP&a) experience under my belt. Several recruiters were contacting me because FP&A roles are plentiful.

I would tell them all that I was really looking for the IB opportunity, and it was a long shot because I hadnt came from an analyst program. I told one recruiter what I wanted and she said "Well, I dont have any IB opps, but I do have a PE shop looking for an analyst. It's a long shot, though"

She worked with me to get my resume right, and I was called in for the interview. I went there to meet w/ the VP first, and he called in the other 3 associates. I planned on being there for about 45 minutes but stayed for 3 hours.

I came back to take an excel test the next week. They DID NOT tell me at all was going to be on it, so I pretty much had to wing it. The excel test was basically valuate a company, create a proforma income statement, and tell us what you think.

I had no experience directly, so I just let intuition kick in, and backed up most of my claims with reasoning. It helped that it was really neat and professional looking. from there, I had to explain to the associate my model, and walk him through it.

After that, I met with the 2 MDs. Everyone was really young and the office seem like a tech culture more than a banking culture.

They came back 2 weeks later and offered me the gig.

I met with each person 1 on 1.