Nerves holding me back on PE interviews - I'm good at my job but freeze during case studies

Practice going through your presentation, talking out loud (hearing yourself speak). Prepare by going through your case study and try to think of any questions that might get asked - if you were looking at this from their perspective, where would you want to probe a bit more.

Try a beta blocker

Beta blocker could work if your anxiety feeds on itself. Ie, if when you get nervous your heart races and because of that sensation you get increasingly more anxious.

That best natural solution is reps and practice. And practice in a setting that is comparable to the setting of the case study. Increase the stakes, practice at the same time of day, memorize parts of the presentation if you need to (if it is a prepared case).

What quells anxiety in high pressure situations is not telling yourself to relax. It's having the foundation of reps to remind yourself you've done this before. And then, what naturally happens, is it becomes commonplace enough where you don't feel the pressure.

In addition to the above, try some workout the day before (light, not excessive), some relaxation meditation (a least 10 mins, not just 3' 3x breathing, im done.. You'll see it takes effort), and perspective: you master this already, is about taking it a bit easier, keep revs down until really needed, partners are oftentimes more relaxed and forgiving.

Good luck, keep us posted how it went champ!

Conducted lots of case study mocks and the problem is usually in the beginning minute when you’re just getting started. Once the conversation starts to flow, most people start to relax. I’d over-invest in your preparation for the intro / exec overview slide to give you the confidence you need to start off on the first foot. Once you do that, the rest should flow much better.

Struggled with this a ton.

Ended up taking beta blockers and got an offer. Give them a shot you can get it prescribed online.

Dude, you've clearly got the experience so back yourself.

The Partners/Directors sat opposite you are flawed fucking humans at best (I know, I am one).

Hold your head high, own the journey you've been on and have the confidence that you should be there.

Break a leg.

Tbh I don’t think you have anxiety. It’s the fact that you’re not sure of your answers and the only way to combat that is constant prep.

Thanks for the solid advice everyone! Prepped a lot which I think made me feel comfortable. Also the interviewers were quite chill but pressed on some points of course. Had logical (or logical sounding) answers to give back to those. Got the job!

As a tactical tip, I find that when I start to get flustered (in interviews or speaking in front of IC), it really helps to ask some clarifying questions to force the other person to talk, just to slow down the pace of conversation and buy yourself some time to relax a bit. Even if you don’t actually need anything clarified, just pretend you do. There’s always something you can ask that doesn’t come across as being dumb, but simply trying to better understand what the interviewer is looking for from their vantage point.

The other thing that really helps for me pyschologically is just realizing frankly 1) most these Partners/MDs/etc are where they are just as much out of luck as being competent, being at the right place at the right time growing with the PE industry itself; and 2) they’re honestly no smarter than you. More experience? Sure of course. But a lot of senior investors in PE today got there largely because the industry itself exploded the last 30 years (not that they don’t have any positive attributes of course). I’ve met/worked closely with some pretty questionable senior investors that I frankly don’t think would make it to Partner level if they started in the industry today (not because I think I’m particularly amazing, but there is truth to the saying “a rising tide lifts all boats”). And even the best investors can and do have straight write offs on their track records, literally losing tens and hundreds of millions of dollars of equity. 

It is definitely possible to be very well prepared and still have the nerves get the best of you in the moment. If you’re genuinely doing well in your current job and well prepared for interviews, then it’s your own mental that’s psyching you out; not the because the person sitting on the otherside of the table is some genius that can do no wrong.