TPG Global

Private Equity

Est Annual Revenue:
$1bn+
AUM:
$50bn-$75bn
Website
Industry: Private Equity

TPG Global Interview Questions

13 total interview insight submissions

Interview Experience (80%)

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 (97%)

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.

3.3
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (85%)

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.

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

Interviews at TPG Global

YearPositionLocationGroup/DivisionExperienceDifficulty
2019AssociateSan FranciscoInvestment BankingNeutralAverage
2019AnalystCentralInvestment ManagementPositiveAverage
2018Private equityBeijingInvestmentsNeutralAverage
2018AssociateSan FranciscoN/APositiveDifficult
2015AnalstSan FranciscoGeneralistNeutralDifficult
2014Private Equity AssociateBeijingGeneralistNeutralDifficult
2014Analyst in TPG CreditNew YorkPrivate EquityPositiveVery Easy
2014AssociateLos AngelesGeneralistNeutralEasy
2014AssociateNew YorkInvestment BankingPositiveVery Difficult
2009AssociateHong KongPrivate EquityPositiveAverage

Associate Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Employee Referral

Length of Process

1-2 months
Interviewed: October 2019 Date Submitted: Nov 05, 2020

Application

Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview

Interview

Initial call with a VP to go over background and the responsibilities of the role. Also included some general questions on how I view certain industries and the criteria I would use to analyze a potential investment, then asked to give a qualitative pitch for a potential investment. Had another call with a another VP that more or less followed the same structure a few days later.

Interview Questions

Describe the factors you would use to analyze a private investment?

How will the election results influence the PE sector?

What makes you tick?
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Investment Management

Anonymous interview candidate in Central

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

2-3 months
Interviewed: May 2019 Date Submitted: Oct 18, 2020

Application

Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Personality Test
Background Check

Interview

I had one-on-one interview with everyone on the team (~10 professionals in the investment team). Focus was on prior corporate finance-related experience, investing experience (I'd worked on the public markets prior), selected stocks I liked, and fit

Interview Questions

Walk me through a transaction experience - this would have been easy for peers coming from IBD, but I had public markets experience so had to guide the interviewer towards how I thought like an investor, and what made a stock tick
Sample Answer

Private equity Interview - Investments

Anonymous interview candidate in Beijing

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

1-2 months
Interviewed: September 2018 Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2018

Application

Phone Interview

Interview

TPG 2 telephone interviews. Each contains tech and behavior questions.
Basic financial statement knowledge.

Interview Questions

TPG 2 telephone interviews. Each contains tech and behavior questions.
Basic financial statement knowledge.
Deal-based questions.
One asked me how to deal with the deferred tax assets/liabilities.
The other asked me to go through the LBO Model for the TMT industry.
We talked about the deal I worked on before, a fresh online retail company with the excellent O2O supply chain in it.
As for the behavior, he asked me about the motivation and insights towards this job.
And addition question to ask him.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco

Outcome

Declined Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

1-2 months
Interviewed: February 2018 Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2018

Application

Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test

Interview

Headhunters reached out directly regarding specific groups within the fund that were hiring. They asked about the ideal start date. The process included several first round phone calls and Skype interviews. The final round included an all day interview at their HQ, including building an LBO from scratch and other technical questions.

Interview Questions

The interviewers provided about 2 hours to build an LBO from scratch and then to discuss the investment thesis with an associate. The discussion centered around why certain assumptions were chosen, why mistakes were made, and overall risks and benefits of the investment.
There were other questions revolving around ranking businesses in a supply chain from best investments to the worst. This involved conceptual understanding of drivers of value, and a willingness to be wrong and adapt given new information.
Sample Answer

Analst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in San Francisco

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Employee Referral

Length of Process

Less than 1 month
Interviewed: August 2015 Date Submitted: Aug 28, 2015

Application

Phone Interview
Skills Test

Interview

Analyst known through networking / college / current job or internship will reach out. Consists of phone inteviews with analyst followed by skype and superday with senior management. Highly technical, not your usual case study. Paper lbo required. Great people and great firm but highly competitive.

Interview Questions

Paper LBO, walk me through an LBO, Exit strategy, good LBO candidates, why SF / Houston, why PE, explain a div recap
Sample Answer

Private Equity Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Beijing

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Staffing Agency

Length of Process

1-2 months
Interviewed: May 2014 Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2014

Application

Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test

Interview

First Round: two phone interviews, one with a VP and one with a MD/Partner, each last approximately 1 hour
Second Round: Modeling Test, 40min model, 40min write-up, 40min discussion
Final Round: Five 1 on 1 interviews, positions covered Parner/MD/Principal/VP/Senior Associate

Interview Questions

Most questions were focused on the deals I had done. However, in the final round with the partner, he asked to propose investment ideas and challenged me to justify my investment logic
Sample Answer

Analyst in TPG Credit Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Outcome

Declined Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

Less than 1 month
Interviewed: 2014 Date Submitted: Sep 10, 2014

Application

1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Presentation
Skills Test

Interview

Got interview through Dynamics Headhunting firm. First round was 3 1-on- interviews that lasted ~2 hours. Each interviewer asked a mix of fit and technical questions (background, school, deal experience, EBITDA to cash flow, unlevered FCF vs levered FCF, etc.). Second round was 6 1-on-1 interviews; 4 of them were fit, 2 were technical (1 was logic based, 1 was finance based). Third round was a case study; they gave me a debt offering memorandum, I had to build a model, investment memo on whether to invest or not, and present to a few people in the NY office and a few people from SF who were in attendance via video conference. "Fourth round" was then me talking to junior guys in the office to get a feel for culture, fit, etc.

Interview Questions

What was the high point of your college career? (interviewer was really into college football) Haha that's an easy one. I went to Ohio State so the high point was storming the field my senior year after Ohio State upset Wisconsin on the go-ahead touchdown with 2 seconds left in the game. Ohio State was unranked, as I'm sure you know, because of the tattoos for autographs scandal and we beat a highly ranked, heavy favorite, Wisconsin team. Interviewer asked then "That is awesome, I wish I went to a school with a good sports program so I could experience something like that. Okay so what was the low point of your college career?" I responded: I started off in engineering but decided to switch to finance; I had been trading stocks since I was 10 and decided to make finance more of a career path rather than just a hobby. I switched majors during my freshman year and began researching how to get internships. I quickly realized that going to a non-target was going to be a pretty tough hurdle to overcome and it was at that moment that I felt like I was at a trough and needed to work hard to overcome it. It made me prove to myself that I really wanted to work on Wall Street and was willing to put forth the work and dedication; This helped me to get opportunities intern at several banks including Merrill Lynch, Keybanc, and Goldman Sachs as well as ultimately land a buyside opportunity right out of undergrad.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

Less than 1 month
Interviewed: February 2014 Date Submitted: Mar 31, 2014

Application

Group Interview
Skills Test

Interview

Initial first round interview consisted of an on-premise case-study model test (template based) as well as investment thesis based on the completed model. Following the case-study, two associates went over the work product and asked additional questions about the investment thesis and potential risks based on the information presented.

Interview Questions

Defend assumptions used in filling out model template; teasing out additional, non-obvious risks of the transaction/target company industry
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Investment Banking

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

Less than 1 month
Interviewed: February 2014 Date Submitted: Feb 27, 2014

Application

1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Skills Test
Personality Test
Background Check

Interview

First round was a model and case study, followed by case study presentation to two associates. Second round was four technical and fit interviews with vice presidents / directors with heavy focus on past deal experience. Third round was a fit interview with a partner.

Interview Questions

If you have to lease an asset vs. buy an asset, what would you choose? Then had to walk through assumptions which were constantly altered by interviewer (eventual answer is that leasing is cheaper so would choose leasing).
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous employee in Hong Kong

Outcome

Accepted Offer

Interview Source

Employee Referral

Length of Process

2-3 months
Interviewed: July 2009 Date Submitted: Jan 04, 2014

Application

1 on 1 Interview
Background Check

Interview

The hiring process was fairly lengthy. Six rounds of in person, one on one interviews. Starting with VPs and ending with the final interview w/ MD. Each interviewer has his own style but generally speaking they like to ask about investment ideas, let you pitch, then challenge. What turned out to be really useful was to review some of my past deals (I was in M&A) and think carefully about investment thesis and key risks. If you are not strong in accounting/modelling, then do some prep beforehand as well. Really liked the culture. TPG has the smallest number of ppl among the top-rank PE firms. Great for those who like closer working relationships.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a deal that you worked on. Was that a good investment? Why or why not? (I was an M&A analyst) I basically shared the key investment thesis and risks (prepared beforehand). Told them it was a good investment idea. Got challenged on 2~3 points, defended calmly.
Do you plan to go to b school in the near future? I said no. One year later I changed my mind but everyone was cool about that. TPG is a pro-b school place so no need to worry too much about this.
Sample Answer