On Cycle Recruiting 2018: What to Expect
Monkeys - due to the absurd timelines for private equity recruiting, many first year analysts (including myself) feel pressured to proactively prepare for on-cycle private equity recruiting. Would be helpful to have the community outline a prep plan for the next few months. Particularly, how should I prioritize:
- Networking
- Soft interview prep (talking about my background, story, why PE)
- Technical interview prep
- Thinking like an investor (investment pitches, good LBO targets)
- Any other points to position me well for interviews and headhunter meetings
Any tips around managing headhunters would also be appreciated. Would appreciate abstention from "you're only a first year, you should focus on doing a good job" type of comments...actionable advice would be great.
Any and all input welcome, thanks!
I can take a crack at this as I sit waiting for my delayed flight. Went through this process a few years ago now, but the themes likely still hold true. For reference, I went target -> BB -> upper middle market buyout firm.
One disclaimer: This is based on my opinion and experience. Others may have different views on what is important or may have had different recruiting experiences - there's no one-size-fits-all answer.
One note: I'm still learning how to format on this forum, so apologies if some of the bullets are hard to follow. I can't figure out how to create sub-bullets or force the text to be formatted (or not!) the way I want.
Strictly looking at the items you noted, I would order them like this:
Now with a bit more detail:
All this said, and going directly against your request, you need to make sure you focus on establishing a good reputation for yourself in your first few months of banking. Don't forget that the folks you work with will be giving you references (and I'll let you in on a little secret: they matter!)
Hope this is helpful. Happy to clarify anything.