Down after rejection
Made it to the very last stage of process for the firm I'd been thinking about joining for so long now. All was going well, even feel as if the interview went well but they didn't move forward. Feel so down, think I'm just going to just drop out of my other processes. Don't know what I want to do with my future anymore.
Happens to all of us man. Know it's hard but gotta keep your head up and would stick around in the other processes as it's all a numbers game. You never know who you're going up against and what levers they have on their side, doesn't mean anything less about you. If it helps, the last two times I've been in the market I've ended up with my 2nd/3rd choice despite making it to the final round with my first. It's crushing in the moment, but in each case I've ended up in a much better situation than I would've ever thought.
Just happened to me as well for a firm that I have been excited about since banking. Told me I was the front runner and then dinged me in the final round because they said the entry multiple was too high in my case study.
You have to remember that landing a job in this industry has both controllable and uncontrollable factors. Funds are struggling to raise, deployment has slowed which causes a lag in recognizing fees, not to mention blatant nepotism and preferential hiring which frankly is inevitable when you are working with small teams.
Take some time to reflect on your performance in the interview and what you could have improved on - the answer might be nothing. Give yourself credit for the things you did well and make a plan for how to improve on things you did poorly. Hate to make this analogy, but like a break up time heals all and when the next (significantly better one) rolls around you'll completely forget about the last one.
this is a preposterous reason to ding someone out of a process entirely, speaks more to the firm then you, picking a entry multiple that is a few turns high is an educational process for an associate.
Yeah they just needed a subjective point to pass. If it wasn't valuation they would have questioned my revenue growth rate. That's how these things go and candidly, if my shop was running a process and we had our mind set on a different candidate we would do the same thing
PE firms are more similar than they are different. You have absolutely no clue what it would have been like to work there or what it will be like to work at any one of the other firms you are interviewing at - I say this as someone who worked at a very very unique "dream firm" that turned into an absolute nightmare. All you need at the IB analyst stage in your career is just get a foot in the door in the industry. To do that, you have to adopt a volume game strategy - throw as many darts at the wall until one of them sticks.
You got to the late stage of a process, so you are technically and professionally qualified to work in PE (which is more than most candidates tbh). The only deciding factor on if you have a career in this industry is whether you decide to stop putting yourself out there or keep at it.
You've already put this much effort into becoming a good candidate, keep at it. Do not go gentle into that good night.
Thank you. This one is cutting very deep for me right now, I'll get over it eventually, but I had the next steps of my life kind of planned out in my head and that's all in the garbage now. Such an idiot.
Not garbage at all - helped you get motivated enough to learn technicals, model tests, interview answers etc. You had a real ROI in terms of upskilling yourself and making yourself a better candidate.
For better or for worse, PE largely is a commoditized industry and there are very very few unique opportunities or cultures (it’s all just different flavors of the same shit). The next “life changing” opportunity could be around the corner if you give yourself permission to keep your eyes wide open and looking forward rather than backwards into the past and paths not taken.
How many rejections before you finally get an offer? I got rejected from 1 because my consultant verbal case study, another case study, another not talking through my model well enough, and 2 for not being good enough in explaining the commercial side of deals I have done. I don’t know if I should give up. I have been studying nonstop but maybe my brain isn’t just wired for this. Have tried so hard to learn from every process and study more but this is extremely disheartening and it’s hard enough to get an interview, don’t know I will get another 5…
Put a suit of armour on and go again.
No one’s giving you sympathy.
If the fire inside isn’t burning, you’re not cut out for it.
If you’re getting interviews something is going well, if you’re failing from then on, it’s your performance. It’s not rocket science.
I’ve been in your position. Man up, more practice reps, more interview reps - perhaps even worth getting an interview or case study buddy.
And don’t post the same thing 3 times, you’re just going to piss people off that would have helped you.
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