DONT DO ON-CYCLE...If you’re not prepared
A little rant that is hopefully helpful for you incoming 1st year analysts.
To start off — No, I don’t know when on-cycle will kick off this year.
That being said, in the previous cycle, we saw far too many analysts jump into recruiting when they clearly weren’t ready.
To give you some background on UMM/MF interview processes... my interviews with my firm (MF) lasted from about 8am - 4pm and I met with more than 10 ppl. Interviews are extremely technical. There are cases, models, mental-math, etc, and they WILL ding you for very small mistakes. I’ve talked to many analysts who assume the bar is lower because recruiting is so early. NOT TRUE
By jumping into on-cycle recruiting because you’re excited and everyone else is doing it, you could really put yourself in a bad spot. If you interview with a handful of firms and get no offers, you won’t get a second chance with them. Also, the HH’s you worked with will be less helpful for you in future processes.
WAIT until you are really, really ready. As in over-prepared. Our firm, and many others, intentionally leave many seats open to recruit bankers starting their second years who choose to wait a year before recruiting.
Just something to keep in mind for you new, eager bankers.
Do mocks with PE associates in your network. That was my best gauge. Practice timed modeling tests and case studies in interview-like environments. These should be second nature and if you’re struggling with any portion of them... you’re not ready.
Have people grill you on deal experience. Everything from high-level rational to niche metrics. If it’s on the resume you should know everything. If you don’t... not ready
Make sure you can nail variations of the advanced LBO/Accounting technicals in many of the guides. You should also be able to quickly run through paper LBO’s using mental math.
The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. You’re competing with over 1,000 bankers, many of whom think they’re going to Blackstone. Most top firms hire maybe 4-8 people in a given cycle. Not trying to scare you, but there really is no room for mistakes
I think this guy is just trying to scare people off so he can get the UMM / MF offers himself. Make it easier on himself.
Maybe they were too techincal for you because you weren't prepared yourself.
Ever think about that?