Monkeys,
I have an interview for a smaller middle market buyout shop (think $200-$500MM AUM). It is coming up in a few weeks and I'll be there all day. The team is small, I think there are ~10 maybe less people there. I am expecting to spend a solid 30 minutes or so with each person and I am assuming I will have to do a case study / model / presentation of some sort as I do not know what else we would do for remainder of the day. My background is not in banking... I work for a PE firm that invests in real estate debt. I've networked hard for this opportunity as my background does not put me to the top of most people's lists when they are looking to fill a position. All this to say, I am confident in terms of modeling and investment memos, but perhaps not as competent in accounting as I may need to be for a LBO test (or at least not "fresh", I passed CFA L2 but need to brush up). So I have a few questions...
1.) Does anyone have a good short form or medium form case study or example they could point me to? I have looked through the threads and found several long form models that have been posted (macabacus, etc.) but I think that these are honestly too much for me to try to take in during the short period between now and the interview. While I will probably need to learn the long form intricacies of a LBO eventually, I do not think that all of those details will do me any good at this point. I need to learn the basics and be able to quickly and effectively learn how to do one and present what is important. From what I have read, for short form / medium form, simpler is better.
2.) How much of this interview will be "fit" as opposed to technical questions? I'm thinking because of the smaller nature of the firm it will be more tilted towards "fit".
This could be one of my best shots that I get at a target city I am looking at. I've been networking hard and this is it. I want to be as prepared as I possibly can be and leave everything on the table. Any general advice is appreciated.
Thanks!
This is a pretty good guide / overview for the modeling and LBO process-type stuff: http://cec.shfc.edu.cn/download/ff9afd43-a63a-4c1e-b8f3-9566c0c62053.pdf
awesome...thanks for the link
The common misconception is that the interviews at small firms will primarily be fit, but that can be the kiss of death. In my experience 'fit' is more important at smaller firms than larger firms...no doubt about that...but that doesn't necessarily translate into a fit heavy interview.
The fact is, as one of the only junior level people at a firm, the senior guys have to be able to rely on you for accurate and timely analysis, modeling, support, etc. With small teams, there are fewer people to pick up the slack and that means (more) senior level guys will be making up for your shortcomings.
Regards
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