Similar to the discussion on aiming for APO from a couple months back - was wondering if anyone had some advice for aiming for H&F from a consulting perspective. Currently a first year at MBB; I understand that MBB to PE has been covered enough on the site, but if anyone knows what it takes to get into H&F, I'm all ears.
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Never a good idea to get too infatuated with one top fund given how much of a shitshow oncycle is.
The usual items - be from a top school (ideally an Ivy) and top group at MBB that regularly places into there or comparable funds. In terms of things you can control, of course being well-prepped is a given but having a unique / nuanced view on the strategy, recent acquisitions etc is where you can add some perspective as someone with work experience vs. an IB kid coming straight out of training.
Also can't hurt to informally grab coffee with one or two of the ex-consultants there to see what they thought helped them in the process.
I know H&F is very well respected and prestige can be very exciting at this point in your career, but H&F is also known to have a pretty tough culture/ is a 2 and out program, for whatever that might be worth
Would really caution against having one top fund in mind. Just setting up for dissapointment...it's ok to have high standards but I've seen some people make suboptimal decisions in the wake of dissapointment. At least give yourself a handful of top choices.
Even a handful is too little.
99% of analysts sign the first offer they get.
Did H&F sit out oncycle this year?
they held interviews
Did on cycle from MBB and had interview invites from all the big consultant-friendly funds. It’s really the same optimizing factors across all funds - have a good GPA, good school, good reviews (assuming you do one year and then on cycle to leave after 3 total at MBB), do PEG / MB equivalent, network with an alumni at the fund, and don’t be weird with the headhunters. That literally covers everything and got interviews for Advent, Bain Cap, H&F, etc.
H&F class of 2024:
MS M&A
MS FIG
GS C&R
GS TMT
Weiss AM
PJT RSSG
Missing GS FIG
Lol Weiss AM??? Nepo baby hire?
She was part of GPS, so no not nepo
2 x MS M&A
H&F is amazing. Need any EB or GS/MS/JPM.
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