Last minute tips for private credit interviews/1 hour modeling test??
Hi monkeys, I just hit the desk and somehow found myself part of the on-cycle process. While I’m in LevFin, I feel pretty unprepared for my private credit interviews/1 hour modeling test today and tomorrow.
Really did not expect to be part of this process, so trying to cram as efficiently as possible today. Thanks in advance!
Modeling: A one hour modeling test means it's going to be very high level and a weed-out exercise, so be sure you waste 0 time on overthinking assumptions or making it look prettier than it needs to be (you can always go back if you have time remaining). Just make sure your projections/assumptions make sense. The key thing that will make or break your test is if your BS balances. If I were reviewing, the first thing I'd check for is that and manipulate your inputs to stress test it. I recommend pulling any company 10k IS and BS, set a timer, consolidate the line items (making more complex as you get better and faster), build your projection, and build out a CF statement. I would repeat this until you're breezing through it. As for the standard questions associated with the test, you can't really cram for that. Either you have the general acumen or you don't.
Other than the model, you absolutely have to know all the details of the deals/projects you worked on (even if internship): both small details and high level theses. Being able to talk through deal work is the biggest gauge of competency IMO. If you really haven't had much deal experience, try to do you're own extra digging into material of deals you've been a part of to learn as much about them as possible. If you can talk about everything about a couple deals, you're chillin'.
Really appreciate the tips. So for private credit should I expect an LBO or just a simple debt paydown? Also, guess it's impossible to know in advance, but should I expect to build everything from scratch or will I be provided a template? I can work pretty well with the standard LBO that WallStreetPrep has on their site but that's about it.
If this thing is gonna be completely from scratch, I may just be screwed tbh. Passed all the other interviews btw, and yea being able to talk about my internship deal experience was huge. Thank god I skimmed through the deal folders before doing this
I'd be prepared for either. I've seen both. Good practice would be to expect the LBO because if you can do the LBO, you can do the simple debt paydown. I wouldn't rely on receiving a template though (i) because style varies across firms and you can't memorize a template and (ii) if you can build it yourself, the template will just be easier.
Thanks Windu, only got a couple of hours to cram for this thing. Still can't believe how quickly this whole process moves; I haven't even gotten my first staffing yet!
Unreal. Good luck! Just remember everyone else is in the same boat as you so only takes a little bit of extra work to stand out.
Welp here's an update if anyone is interested. They sent the test to my personal email, and my personal computer is my Macbook. Work computer blocks Gmail so couldn't use that. Instead, borrowed my friend's PC. Either the template was messed up, or my friend seriously needs a new computer cause anything I would write on one sheet would override the financials sheet in the template.
Long-story short: the template was getting shredded the more I worked on the model, had to re-do most of my work, and was only able to answer half the case with some IRR and MOIC numbers I scraped by last second (which were definitely wrong). Really sucks but at least it was a great learning experience, and now I know for future opportunities to either have them send the test to my work email or I'll need to get another PC for modeling tests.
Follow-up question: If you have technical difficulties during a modeling test, should you let the team know or do you just suck it up and move on?
Would just let them know. If you don’t, you’re fucked anyway. If you do, at least they may be lenient despite making you look unprepared.
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