PE interview at VP / Principal level
Hi everyone,
Long story short: I’m a young Director in a global M&A boutique and I’m seriously considering transitioning to PE. I know the move is somehow atypical at this level of seniority but it seems to happen sometimes and I have several interviews lined up with a few MM and one MF. I’m more interested in MM but given the situation, want to have as many interviews as possible.
I spent quite some time online looking for interview advice for this kind of position (esp. when coming from non PE world) but couldn’t find any: there are a lot of posts on analysts / associates recruitment but not for more senior level. I guess that being able to do an LBO model or talk in details about a deal I worked on won’t probably be the key area of focus during the interviews.
So if anyone made a similar move / interviewed candidates with similar profiles and have feedback to share, it would be extremely useful.
Side question a lot more specific and less important: friend of mine in PE tells me that a question he loves to ask (future ex) bankers is “tell me about a sell-side you ran where you would have done something differently with the target vs what management proposed (in the CIM, MP, etc.) and tell me what your strategy would have been”. How would you approach such a question?
Thanks a lot
I agree with the above comment.
They say that bankers get paid for any deal, whereas investors get paid only for a good deal. Therefore, it does make sense to know cold what you believe represents a good investment.
In terms of other areas, I would personally ask:
Good luck!
Hi OP, I'm NOT (disclaimer) at your level but have frequently heard MDs / Partners comments on hiring profiles like yourself. Everyone above in this thread already raised the main "boxes" for what they look out for, but what I would add is the "senior executive presence" might have been overlooked.
It is really underestimated how much these MDs care about "senior presence" and "gravitas" because in your role, you would be managing investments at the board level and manage people who are in fact more senior than you (e.g. 50+ Year old CEO).
Management is often skeptical about "young PE talent" (to them 40 is young), and thus this is an important "skill" to have coming in. If you can't win them over to see you as a thought partner, cannot communicate tough messages without bruising their egos, cannot effectively build a collaborative relationship with them over the life of the investment...I think this alone is enough to not make the hire.
Just my 2 cents from the peanut gallery!