PE Associate Looking to Lateral

I'm at the end my first year at a PE shop. I've made the decision to lateral due multiple factors including 1) culture / fit 2) firm's strategy isn't what I'm interested in / looking for my own career 3) dry deal flow / minimal learning
opptys 

I've been through PE on-cycle and was wondering 1) is the interview process similar in terms of technicals (modeling, pitch, etc.) ? 2) Given I have no deals under my belt so far, was wondering how to best position myself? 3) I've worked on a smattering of deals / portco stuff with variety of people; I don't believe I'm particularly close to anyone - how important are references or are they more check-list items? 

I'm looking to switch to software focused PE funds (from generalist) and I do have software banking background / that's really what I'm passionate about. 

Would be also great to hear anyone's experience so far with deal flow and if you guys have gone through lateral to larger firms. 

9 Comments
 

What's the general view on lateraling before the 2 year mark? Moving to MF PE this fall and becoming increasingly uncertain about it due to some recent threads here. I took it over A2A but have an open door to return to IB if I want - thinking this could be a possible move as I don’t want to realize I dislike the next role and feel like I have to stay for the full 2 years.

 

In an effort to revive this thread, what’s the current lateral market looking like? I’ve heard the general PE market should pick up in Q1 which may spur more lateral hiring. 
 

also, what’s the general perception of lateraling before or just after a year? 

 

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