General Atlantic follows Apollo in halting early recruitment

General Atlantic has followed rival private equity firm Apollo Global Management in abandoning early recruitment for its junior roles, telling applicants that it will not conduct interviews this year for positions starting in 2027.

So-called on-cycle recruiting — where private equity firms recruit recent graduates about to take up roles with investment banks for positions that start two years later — had pitted some of Wall Street’s biggest players against each other. JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has been a vocal critic of the practice, arguing that it creates conflicts of interest.

On Thursday, General Atlantic emailed potential recruits to notify them that it was delaying its recruitment until next year.

“General Atlantic does not plan to conduct formal interviews or extend offers this year for the Associate Class of 2027,” the company wrote on Thursday in a message seen by the Financial Times.

“This decision reflects our commitment to making long-term, thoughtful choices about the talent we bring into the firm and the culture we cultivate, while also allowing you the space to prioritise your development in this stage of your career.”

On Wednesday, Apollo became the first major firm to disavow the accelerated interview process. In previous years, it had started in June, ahead of the July start dates for investment banks’ training programmes.

Both Apollo and General Atlantic reversed course after JPMorgan last week told its junior analysts they would be fired if they accepted future-dated jobs within 18 months of starting their programme at the bank.

Dimon had called into question the ethics of junior employees working on deals that may involve their future employer, a situation that has the potential to create conflicts of interest. 

Marc Rowan, chief executive of Apollo, acknowledged on Wednesday that Dimon had a point. 

“When someone says something that is just plainly true, I feel compelled to agree with it”, Rowan said. 

“Bank CEOs, along with others, have said what many of us have been thinking: recruiting has crept earlier and earlier every year and asking students to make career decisions before they truly understand their options doesn’t serve them or our industry.”

General Atlantic, based in New York, manages just over $100bn and is known for both traditional leveraged buyouts as well as growth equity investments in emerging companies.

The firm declined to comment.

One recent college graduate who had been preparing for the early recruiting window expressed frustration about the hiring delays to the FT, pointing out that interviewing would now happen in six to 12 months when he and other junior colleagues would be in the middle of demanding investment banking jobs.