TA Associates Interview Questions

8 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (72%)

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.

3.5
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (89%)

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.

3
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult

Interviews at TA Associates

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
1st Year Associate
Year 2024
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Generalist
Location Boston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Associate
Year 2021
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2019
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Utilities
Location Greenwich
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2018
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)
Location Boston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2016
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Generalist
Location Boston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Year 2015
Job Title
Group/Division Private Equity
Location mumbai
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Analyst
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Private Equity
Location Boston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Associate
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Private Equity
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Easy

Interview Questions & Answers - TA Associates Examples

Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: January 2024
Date Submitted: Feb 27, 2024
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Background Check
Interview
It involved multiple rounds of fit/behavioral interviews talking about past experiences and making sure what I did was a good fit for the workstreams I would be responsible for on their team

It also involved a fairly length case component as well that focused a lot on driving accretive impact in PortCos.
Interview Questions
They went in a lot of depth on past experiences and stories - you had to know in depth about prior professional experiences and speak to them in a lot of granularity.

There was also a component of the case that tested number sense. It wasn't as unexpected per se, but I was surprised that it felt more similar to consulting cases than other experiences I had.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: September 2021
Date Submitted: Aug 13, 2022
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Staffing Agency
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Skills Test
Interview
The first round was with an associate on the specific group I was interviewing for. This mainly was around interest and fit where they asked me why growth equity, why TA, and asked me to walk through my resume. Following this, I had two rounds with VPs and then a round with the managing partner. The VP rounds consisted of consulting like cases and then a paper LBO as well as testing my deal thesis. They also wanted to know comfort with sourcing.
Interview Questions
What do you think are the drivers of multiple expansion for this business? How could we help the business realize that?
Sample Answer

Summer Analyst Interview - Utilities

Anonymous interview candidate in Greenwich
Interviewed: October 2019
Date Submitted: Nov 17, 2019
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Required to fill out a Wonderlic test (covered mental math and reasoning) and hirevue. Overall not too bad
Interview Questions
Here is a list of a few that they focused on:
Why do you want to work in private equity? What are some parts of your background that caused you to think this way?
What is one of our portfolio companies that you would not invest in personally? What is your basic rationale for this decision? It was mostly behavioral questions in a similar vein to this one. One of the (few) technicals was a question about what levered a PE firm has to boost IRR. Another was more or less walking the interviewer through an LBO.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT)

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: January 2018
Date Submitted: Nov 08, 2018
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Hiring process was very quick. Took 3 weeks from start to finish. Consisted of 2 phone interview, a model test and then a super day.
Interview Questions
Heavy on my personality and what motivated me. They also care about your ability to sell considering its a heavy sourcing model and they value your ability to identify new businesses and establish relationships. They also want you to be able to very quickly evaluate a business as in whats important and whats not important. Think through market, financials, industry, competitors etc. Overall, i wouldnt say the interview process was overly difficult and I enjoyed everyone I met. The rest of the questions just consisted of your regular tell me about yourself and why PE and talking about your deals.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: 2016
Date Submitted: Mar 03, 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Two phone interviews followed by 4 1on1s - Associate, Associate, VP, Partner. Mostly fit based with some high-level technicals
Interview Questions
Why wouldn't you want to work for us?
Paper LBO
What are a few investments you suggest for our fund?
Deal experience - walked through each deal in granular detail
What value did you bring to these deals
What was one modeling exercise you were proud of? Did any of your assumptions have an impact on the ultimate value?
Tell me about a time when you faced adversity? In the work place or back in college
Why private equity? Why not stay as an associate in IB?
Why this sector?
What markets are you interested in?
Sample Answer

associate Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in mumbai
Interviewed: November 2015
Date Submitted: Jan 16, 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
This was the first round and one to one interaction where I met two seniors from the PE. While one of them asked more soft skills related questions, the other asked more technical questions
Interview Questions
1. They wanted me to mentally tell them that if the target IRR was 25% and revenue growth was 15% while EBITDA margin remained constant with no multiple expansion, what amount of debt will have to be taken to reach the targeted IRR. He mentioned that I could ask for additional data points to which I asked about capex and change in net working capital. They mentioned that i can assume both of them to be zero for the case. The investment horizon that they were looking at was 5 years (i.e. exit at the end of fifth year)
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: January 2013
Date Submitted: Mar 16, 2013
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Received an e-mail blast from the firm due to prior working relationship at IB firm. Directly replied to the e-mail via personal address. Simple.
Interview Questions
Most of the questions were extremely straight-forward and simple. Hardest question was probably name an instance where you disagreed with a senior colleague.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: March 2012
Date Submitted: Mar 08, 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Group Interview
Interview
I interviewed with TA associates today. The interview was set up through a headhunter. The day before the interview they hold a cocktail reception (but not all attendees have interviews). There were three 30-45 min interviews and all three were fit and background based. All interviewers asked me questions about my deals, with a specific focus on industry questions, whether a good/bad investment etc. A couple asked me what I thought would make good at sourcing companies, and why I would prefer this model over reactive PE models. I got the sense that they are looking for very outgoing individuals who are self-starters and entrepreneurial in nature. They also want to make sure a candidate knows what he/she is getting themselves into and know EXACTLY what the sourcing position entails and why you would be good at it. No technical questions besides the ones related to my deals. No case study.
Interview Questions
Why would you be good at sourcing? I replied saying that i believe sourcing entails much more than cold-calling. It is also learning about companies, going to trade shows, reading trade magazines, researching reports, talking to industry specialists, building relationships etc. and that IMO that is much more exciting than sitting and cranking in excel all day
Sample Answer