PE Recruiting Failure
Hey guys - I regretted posting this for a while but now that it is mid April, I figured the time has come. I am a first year Analyst at a Euro BB M&A group in NY and recently struck out at PE recruiting.
I got a decent amount of interviews given that my group places pretty well each year, but not as many as I would have imagined (5 total). I am a non-target and my SAT scores are pretty low - these are two hurdles I was not aware of going into recruiting after already being in banking but I digress... I got dinged from the first two first rounds I had but then after that I felt very prepared going forward. For the next three processes (two large upper MM shops and one mid sized MM) I made it all the way to the final round where you meet partners / senior people, etc.
I did very well in all of these interviews but got cut right at the end for each of them. Each fund noted that it had nothing to do with my fit responses or technical skills, rather they all said the process is subjective and is very random at that stage in the interview process and they do not have any negative feedback to give me. So the obvious translation for someone like me would mean they dont want a non-target guy like myself coming from a lower tier M&A team (almost all of the team at each of these shops were from better schools and banks). I cannot think of any other reason this would happen consistenly and in the same fashion. Nonetheless the point is I made it very far in these processes and got dinged each time and now I am left back at square one.
What sort of advice do you have for someone like myself? I would love to give recruiting another go at some point, but to be honest I am a bit burned out at the moment after going through all of those interviews just to get dinged at the end, 3 consecutive times! Most of these were 3+ rounds at a few hours each. Either way, recruiting is basically over and there is nothing worthwhile going around at this time.
I want to focus more on my job here, especially given I couldnt fully do that during recruiting although I made out pretty well and got ranked high and had a great review despite having to ditch in the middle of the day several times. Is it possible to salvage my recruiting efforts and give this another go during the recruiting season in 2016 / 2017? How will they react knowing I already particpated in the process this year? And is it possible to interview at a fund that you made it to the final round with again at a later time?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Would caution you not to assume striking out was due to your group or school or "luck". It might make you feel better but it won't help your situation since you can't change any of those things. Would spend some time thinking through the interviews and really focusing on areas you can improve.
Sorry for the rough go, I've been there. Look, the fact of the matter is -- stating the obvious -- is that these PE seats are SO tough to get. I interviewed at 11-12 funds before I landed an offer. Couple of thoughts how to navigate your situation:
1) Try again next year -- you're deal IQ will be sharper and you'll have the deal-sheet to back it up. It kind of blows me away that funds recruit kids who are barely 6 months on the job. When I was in IBD, 1st years were pretty much useless until they hit the 1year mark. You may be excluded from some of the funds you recruited with this year in 2017, but doing additional deals may get you in with other funds that put a higher premium on experience vs. pedigree.
2) Retake the SAT -- This may sound ridiculous, and even more of a pain in the ass when you're getting hammered at work; but if you really feel this stat is holding you back in recruiting why not try it. There's nothing preventing anyone at any age from taking the SAT. HH's always ask what your scores are, not when you took it so it doesn't matter.
3) Do your own recruiting -- The HH shops that handle the big annual processes are kind of a joke. They've got a specific placement matrix and if you don't exactly fit into their boxes, you're SOL. They seldom have first hand experience doing what you do every day as an analyst and therefore can't and won't convey what type of candidate you are effectively to their clients. Look for off-cycle associate openings during the year on job boards, reach out to folks at funds your interested in who went to your school or were in your group previously for informal coffee chats.
4) Be more tactical with your recruiting -- Being in an M&A group, it's easy to get the sense that you're a good fit for any generalist fund. Although this can be true, most funds with generalist strategy's will be more active in one or a few specific industries. Have you completed a few deals in chemicals space? Check in with your staffer to do more and go after funds that are also active in the space. That makes your background a more logical fit than the 1st year from Wharton who's just getting on his / hers first deal.
Good luck.