There’s always a way to finesse it in, and I’d love to know best practices…
I’m always finding it awkward to 1. Structure an informational interview, and 2. make an ask at the end that’s in line with the conversation.
| +51 | Secondaries Career Outlook: Comp, Exits & Long-Term Upside? | 17 | 27m |
| +46 | PE to PortCo Chief of Staff | 19 | 2d |
| +45 | Consumer PE is dying/dead? | 10 | 3d |
| +28 | Private Equity Office wear | 13 | 1d |
| +20 | Use Cases For Claude Cowork / Claude Code | 5 | 23h |
| +12 | Post-Banking Seats | 7 | 4d |
| +11 | Graduating Before Junior-Summer PE/Growth Internship — How Should I Approach the Firm? | 3 | 5d |
| +7 | JD, MBA related to PE and other Wall Street Jobs | 2 | 5d |
| +7 | Oncycle rumors | 4 | 14h |
| +6 | What is the value of JD & MBA | 1 | 6d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
For structure, my goal was always to have them see a younger version of themselves in me (generally that means hungry, resourceful, etc.). Regarding the ask, I always liked asking "What would you do if you were in my shoes? Is there [anyone I should reach out to / any firm I should target / any timeline I should be aware of]?" or some variation of that.
If it's a more junior person it's sometimes easier to be casual (though this is a call you'll have to make live) and you can be more blunt.