Incoming AN1 at BB here. Wondering what other incomings are thinking of on cycle - are people going for it or sitting out? Curious to hear thoughts. I’m veering towards sitting out personally…
| +48 | Secondaries Career Outlook: Comp, Exits & Long-Term Upside? | 15 | 14h |
| +46 | PE to PortCo Chief of Staff | 19 | 1d |
| +45 | Consumer PE is dying/dead? | 10 | 1d |
| +26 | Private Equity Office wear | 12 | 13h |
| +18 | Use Cases For Claude Cowork / Claude Code | 3 | 11h |
| +12 | Post-Banking Seats | 7 | 3d |
| +11 | Graduating Before Junior-Summer PE/Growth Internship — How Should I Approach the Firm? | 3 | 4d |
| +8 | How do I go from underpaid to overpaid | 2 | 6d |
| +7 | Oncycle rumors | 1 | 1d |
| +7 | JD, MBA related to PE and other Wall Street Jobs | 2 | 4d |
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.
Not in this class, but as someone who went through oncycle last year and watched some of my peers go through offcycle…
If you already are sure in what you want to do, and especially if that is something very competitive, I would highly recommend oncycle. I had easier oncycle interviews for MFs than my friends did for MM offcycle because they can afford to interview you for 3 weeks during offcycle. In terms of prep, depending on how sweaty your group is, this may be your best time to prep and the on the job learning doesn’t really help you build a 3 statement LBO from scratch in under an hour, that’s more of a self-taught “learning the test” thing.
If you don’t know what you want, then it makes sense to take some time to figure it out as it is a big decision. Maybe in that situation, the longer interviews would be helpful too.
Thanks for the insight. In my case I have a mild interest in PE but wouldn’t necessarily say I’m obsessed. Just trying to work out if it’s really for me as opposed to blindly following the crowd. Really need to figure it out over the next few weeks
Agree 100%. My UMM on cycle interviews were infinitely easier than off cycle that other analysts went through even at random LMM shops. Off cycle is always an option if on cycle doesn’t work out, but especially for top funds there might not even be a seat left where you want for off cycle
Would you say go wait a year for Oncycle 2026 then?
What if I reclass to 2026 Oncycle?
I did off cycle. Was lucky to land an MF that was still hiring.
Interview process was 10 rounds over 4 weeks.
2 3-statement models, paper lbo, 4 case studies, 4 behavioral/fit/deal walk through.
Off cycle sucks.
If you have an interest and some extra time, would highly suggest preparing now
Congrats on the MF offer thats huge, esp offcycle. Would you be open to sharing practice case studies? I am un-anon if you could message? Willing to pay as well
me as well if possible
Same here
What about waiting for 2026 on cycle?
Yes, wait next on cycle vs. off cycle for a rando shop.
If can get off cycle for solid shop, you should.
Not at a MF but my off cycle was about 8 weeks because they chose to space it out so much
Went off cycle and got a MF offer. Interviewed at 8 shops over entire recruiting cycle. MF process stretched 2 months and was painfully slow. Highly recommend on cycle - PE hiring for class of '24 associates fell off a cliff in roughly Feb of this year due to fundraising conditions. Number of seats fell and it became more competitive. On cycle if you can prepare now will be much easier than off cycle
What about waiting for 2026 then
Do you guys respond to all headhunters even if not recruiting for 2025?
If you aren’t recruiting you should just send them a note to say that you won’t be participating in on-cycle but would like to stay in touch for off-cycle or opportunities down the road. Just as a formality to know you’re still interested in working with them later.
Asperiores id tempore distinctio numquam aliquid provident. Quis id eligendi pariatur ab consequatur quas.
Commodi repellendus vel et nam et quia recusandae aut. Est ducimus inventore ex occaecati. Omnis quibusdam ipsa incidunt velit veritatis laborum sunt.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...