Can’t get passed 1st round PE interviews
Currently a 2nd year in banking and in the past year I have been interviewing at different PE funds but I have never been able to get past the 1st round.
I have definitely improved over time with my interviewing skills but I keep getting stuck at the 1st round. For those interviews that include technicals, I have gotten them all / most right.
Does anybody have any advice / experience to overcome this? I would appreciate any help.
Are you from a BB/EB?
EB and I have deals on my resume.
GPA isn’t the best but I don’t think I would be in the 1st round to begin with if that was a key role.
It's impossible to answer based on this, you need to do some mock interviews.
I guess I’m more asking if there is something that most people don’t think of when they think why they don’t get moved on.
I have done mock interviews before with associates and senior professionals in PE and I haven’t gotten any feedback that should be red flags.
I'm happy to do a mock interview with you. I've done a good number of PE first rounds and I have almost always progressed to at least the 2nd round, and I think you probably have a few very clear missteps that are dinging you at this point.
EDIT: sorry I saw that you had already done these before. LMK if you think another one (maybe less biased since I don't know you at all) could be helpful.
Also: I would recommend everyone take beta blockers before emails, even if you're a confident speaker. It lowers your heart rate and helps you think more clearly, and slows down your speech. I take one before every single interview, whether it's an HR screen or a case study presentation. They're like $10 for 30 and your PCP will prescribe it (I told mine it was for meetings / interview stress)
Alright, so you are getting first round interviews, that means its not a resume problem. Which means it is in fact the interview, so lets cover the basics:
Technicals: You need to know these inside and out. I would even make sure you know how to Paper LBO in your head (linked a free course/site). I have linked a very helpful site that has a bunch of IB and PE technical questions below (also mobile friendly). I would always study on my commute with the flashcards on my phone.
LBO link: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/lbo-modeling-test/
Question/flashcards: https://ibvine.io/
Behaviorals: You really need to have answers to these questions with your own flavor: Why Investing?, Why Private vs. Public?, Why control vs. growth?, Why are you recruiting today?, why our firm over others?, What makes you qualified to be here?, Why this industry?, Why a generalist fund?.
When I was ramping up recruiting I took a 2 hr walk and in my head flushed out drafts to all these questions. Then you need to rehearse until you you can say your answers in your sleep.
This is what I would consider you need to do to get past first rounds. Hopefully some others can opine.
Happy to dive more into anything if you have specific questions.
I appreciate this. I have done something similar in rehearsing all of the behaviorals (why this and why that). At this point it’s making me think the answers are not good enough or there is a red flag somewhere that I am not realizing.
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