Land a PE job without interview guides?
My friend is probably one of the more intelligent people I know. Absolute tank. HS valedictorian, great uni, had a 4.0, finance major, top bucket in our mm bank both years etc.
She wants to recruit into PE, but doesn’t think purchasing any modeling or interview guides is worth it. She says she understands investing and knows how to build complex LBOs and other models based on what he learned on the job and in undergrad. I honestly believe it but would this be the recommend path?
I thought I was only able to barely get an offer after rigorously reviewing and practicing from these guides and templates, and like many others, had also gotten turned down from dozens of places even with all the practice. Any thoughts?
Some people are just stubborn and prefer the struggle bus over the proven easier path.
Know someone similar, friend's sister just refuses to take antibiotics or over the counter meds every time she gets a cold/flu, prefers to just heal on her own lol. When covid came around, she was the only person in our friend group who never took a vaccine and just missed out on so many social and other opportunities because of it.
Perhaps this person is now looking like the smartest person in the group for not having taken the vaccine.
Probably a number of ways to frame it.
PE recruiting, even if you’re really smart and solid, is tough and there are limited spots. If everyone else is arming themselves with good reference materials, why wouldn’t you? Why put yourself at a disadvantage?
If cost is her concern - then just opportunity cost. Guides are what, like $500+? They help save you time and may show you situations you haven’t come across. So if they help you land your dream job, then it’s a drop in a bucket. And if you don’t get your top job, then at least you know you did everything you can and can readjust + use guides and your experience towards the next opp. If you just do it on your own and you don’t land the job(s), would you be bothered wondering if only you had studied a different way?
There are some stuff for free or probably passed down between analysts over the years. So she can at least look into that.