On Cycle Preparation
Hello all, I'm a senior at a low target school (Duke, ND, UVA) with a 3.8+ and got a return offer from a high-performing mid-tier BB coverage group this summer with ok exits.
Before I take a month or two off to relax at school, I want to come up with a plan to prep for on-cycle well in advance to make sure I'm maximizing potential. I definetly have the interest in investing, but I've never built an LBO from scratch, and have a lot to learn and practice over the coming months.
I know all the banks banned recruiting on the job, so I imagine this has pushed PE firms to start earlier with seniors. I have some mentors who went through the process a few years ago, but I imagine the landscape has changed a ton.
For any recent grads who just went through the process or are going through it right now, I'd be grateful to get a better understanding of:
- What materials did you use to prep?
- When did you start preparing?
- Is there a networking phase like IB SA recruiting in the fall of sophomore year or is it just chats with HHs right before on-cycle kicks off a long time from now?
- How did you determine what kind of fund/strategy you were interested in?
Thanks so much for any insights.
bump
Oncycle is pushed back relative to other recent years, not forward. If you just finished your junior year internship you likely have 18+ months before oncycle. Go have fun during your senior year.
Recruiting happens 5-6 months in. Funds pushed back the timeline, especially after how bad the c/o 2026 recruiting was during training. Would focus on enjoying senior year. You'll have months on the job to prepare anyway.
Step back and figure out what type of PE you actually want. MF PE might not be worth it. Very few promotions, going down-market is harder, and business school is a massive money sink when the alternative is joining a fund that promotes without an MBA, meaning you're not losing $300k+ in earnings plus cost. MF PE only makes sense if you want a HF exit or you're just prestige-whoring. A lot of my friends at MF PE from top BB groups got forced out. Same happens at smaller funds, but MF is worse because sometimes nobody gets promoted, so even being top-bucket doesn't save you.
UMM PE isn't necessarily better, but there are funds that promote without an MBA and have solid promotion rates. Getting above VP is a long road everywhere except maybe newer funds. The industry as a whole is challenged, so it's not exactly finding those seats; you are just more likely to find them in the MM/UMM fund sizes rather than MF PE.
Is it still commonplace at most MFs to require an MBA for VP promote (if a spot even exists)?
Yes, MBA is required for the most part. Most MF PE spots won't promote more than 10%, if anyone, and sometimes your class has nepo's (in which case you are just screwed). There was a time where firms like Thoma Bravo and Vista promote a good % of people, but it's over now as funds have matured. Everyone thinks they will be that person promoted, it is statistically not likely.
It is much more likely you will be someone who get's pushed out of PE or goes downmarket to a LMM. Some of the MF PE associates who got into HBS/GSB can get better outcomes with it being often PE senior associate seats (getting rarer to go straight into VP), but getting into HBS/GSB is increasingly difficult for the cookie-cutter resume of IB -> MF PE from any fund.
Does it make sense to network with PE funds or is it all HH driven? How does one find out in advance which firms participate in on cycle recruiting? Is there a list of such firms for prior year?
bump
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