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

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Tamara_S

PE

3y

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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:

Do you have an industry expertise and a network in that sector?
Are you able to source differentiated and proprietary deal flow? What would make it unique?
Are you good at building investment theses and proactively generating promising investment themes?
Do you have a clear understanding of all aspects of transaction execution? Are you able to lead a deal team?
Legal documentation: what is your current level of understanding and ability to negotiate key transaction agreements and lending documentation?
What transferable skills do you bring that will be useful in portfolio monitoring?
Do you understand the firm's culture? Do you think you will work well with other team members?

Good luck!

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European_PEMonkey

Mentor

PE

3y

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