Hi Fellow Monkeys, I've been involved in interviewing / hiring on-cycle candidates for several years now, and wanted to share an under-shared perspective: you might be better off waiting until next year. Here's why --
1) It's such a breath of fresh air to interview someone who actually knows what private equity is, who understands how a deal works, and has some basic industry experience. You may be able to land a better fund with just a little more experience.
2) IB analysts fresh on the desk can't imagine why they would ever want to do three years of banking instead of two. I'll suggest that (a) the third year IB analyst experience [or 1st year associate if you a2a] is substantially more fun and meaningful than your first year and (b) lots of firms will hold spots for second/third years for more immediate starts.
3) Not for everyone, but maybe you might actually like investment banking.. You may realize that PE is closer to "investment banking 2.0", but without underlings to straighten logos for you, and with huge switching costs. When I signed my PE offer after 5 weeks on the desk, I then had two years to think about all of the other opportunities that could have been more interesting to me. Never mind committing to PE firms ahead of time with no assurance they'll continue to perform well.
Somehow this forum thinks that first-year on-cycle is the only way to be a success in life. If you're at least semi-ready and have solid reasons why you want xyz fund, go for it! But also realize that you have many other options and time tables that -- for you -- might make more sense.
Good luck out there!
