HarbourVest Interview Questions

13 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (99%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

4.3
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (84%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.8
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (90%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

63%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at HarbourVest

Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
1st Year Associate
Year 2016
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Investments
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Private Equity
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2008
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Secondaries
Location Boston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - HarbourVest Examples

Secondaries Analyst Interview - Secondaries

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: August 2025
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Recruiter reaches out to you asking you for times that work best for an interview. From there, you're scheduled for a 1:1 interview (mainly technical) and if you get past you're brought in for an in person superday. Prepare for this as you would for an investment banking interview, but make sure to touch on credit technicals.
Interview Questions
What multiples would you care about when valuating a high growth tech company, and a real estate firm?
Walk me through the specifics within a DCF, LBO, Comps, precedent trans
How does $10 depreciation affect the statements?
What is secondaries?
Other questions included accounting technicals and valuation technicals that are basic from the IB400.

Analyst Interview - Investor Relations

Anonymous interview candidate in Seoul
Interviewed: January 2026
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Had first round with an analyst and an associate. Both interviewers were very professional and genuinely nice. Questions were basic walk me through CV/ why this role/ why the company. Nothing too difficult.
Interview Questions
There were not any difficult or unexpected questions asked.

Summer Analyst Interview - Secondaries

Anonymous employee in Boston
Interviewed: January 2025
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Interview
First round (mix of technical and behavioral questions) with analyst and associate into virtual SD with multiple VPs and Associates (5 rounds total). Very friendly people - be yourself and know the industry.
Interview Questions
How would you describe secondaries to a 1st grader

Intern Interview

Anonymous employee in Boston
Interviewed: February 2025
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Had a single phone interview with a recruiter (5-10 mins), she said she was going to push me through to other rounds. Had 3 rounds of interviews after that and received the offer 2 weeks after the last round.
Interview Questions
Please describe your experience with Tableu, Power BI

Investor Relations Intern Interview - Secondaries

Anonymous employee in Seoul
Interviewed: July 2025
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
In-person
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Background Check
Interview
Off Cycle IR Intern with one phone HR screen and 2 group interview rounds. First round consistent of behavioral questions and resume screening, second round consisted of secondaries market and firm related questions as well as a 30 minute translation test.
Interview Questions
Impact of recent macroeconomic tailwinds on secondaries market deal flow and execution.

Investment Analyst Intern Interview - Secondaries

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: February 2024
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Other
Interview
First Round was behaviorals & Light Technicals. Then, there was an HR round - purely informational. Then, there was a 6 round final round interview timeline. 2nd round within it was a case. 3rd round within it was a modeling test. The other rounds were behavioral with sprinkles of technicals.

Some examples of questions: (TMAY, WHY HV / What is secondaries / How do you evaluate a business / What makes a good investment / Walk me through a dcf / levers to pull in lbo /
Pitch me a business, what makes it stand out, what is its differentiator, would you still invest in given x, y, z, how would you value it (what are key valuation methods?) / Difference between DCF & LBO and when you would use each / What are the ways to value a business / Given numbers to calculate IRR and MOIC from LBO


Interview Questions
Tell me about a time you were in an ethical dilemma. You use $100 to acquire 25% of a firm's equity, 60% of its market cap is debt, 50 UFCF, 25 CapEx, 25 D&A, 25 change in NWC, tax rate = 25%. What is the implied purchase EBITDA multiple? What is greater for PE investors: gross returns or net profit?

Operations Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous employee in Boston
Interviewed: October 2022
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Background Check
Interview
Started with an HR screening phone call. The actual process was three 30-minute 1-on-1s with managers from the department. The questions were all behavioral and focused on what skills I learned at my prior jobs. There were a few questions about systems previously utilized and general knowledge, but overall very laidback.
Interview Questions
Why do you want this role?

Intern Interview - Operations

Anonymous employee in Boston
Interviewed: September 2022
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Background Check
Interview
Focused on resume and behavioral questions. Two interviews back to back with current employees. Very open to questions
Interview Questions
Questions were behavioral based

Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: April 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Group Interview
Interview
First round was a 2-on-1 interview with some Associates on the team, and second round was another 2-on-1 with VPs on the team. Both started out behavioral and then became technical.
Interview Questions
Beyond the usual technicals, there were some more theoretical PE questions that actually had fairly easy answers, but made you overthink them. For example, would you rather invest in a portfolio of 5 companies or 15 companies?

Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: April 2021
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
3-4 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Interview
HR phone screen, followed by several one on one phone interviews with VPs, principals, and partners. Finally a case study
Interview Questions
No unexpected questions. Focused on experience and deals
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