PE Recruitement and Headhunter Etiquette

Hi All, 

I'm currently a senior in college planning to return to the same shop I did my SA at (MM – HC cov) this summer after I graduate. I liked it, and wouldn't mind staying, but I'm pretty interested in recruiting during the next on-cycle PE process. Of note, I come from an unconventional background (genetics major, was on MD/PhD track), so most of my friends are pre-med, and the ones that are in banking don't seem to have given recruitment much thought yet. 

As of late, headhunters (HH) have been reaching out to me on LinkedIn and asking me to "register as a candidate" or give them information. I am by no means prepped for PE interviews yet, as I was planning to prep over winter break and next semester (I thought interviews normally occurred in the summer, towards the end of AN1 training).

My questions here are:

1) How do I deal with HHs? I've been told that it's best not to speak to them until I am prepped, but I wanted to communicate my interest, so I have started to register with some of them. Is this a bad idea, or was I correct in my assumption that headhunters do not begin calling until the summer?

2) What is the general timeline of PE recruitment, from initial HH outreach to offer signing?

3) What are the most reputable HH's, and which should be avoided?

4) If I get a HH message or call in the near future, and I am not sufficiently prepped, what is the best course of action? I've been told that a bad interview ruins your chances of that HH placing you.


Any insight here would be extremely helpful and appreciated.  

 
Most Helpful
  1. Do NOT engage until you start full time.
  1. On-cycle will likely hit again in Late August / Early September - it was only like 2.5 weeks from first HH reach out to on cycle kick off this past cycle.
  1. Tons of other threads on this already
  1. Ignore and do not engage. Probably feels like a big deal/decision right now, but it literally is not a big deal whatsoever. They will reach out again when you hit the desk. Frankly, whoever is reaching out right now is probably not legitimate unless you have a misleading linkedIn profile that makes it seem like you started FT already.
 

why do not engage? A reputable HH reached out to me and I emailed them back communicating my interests. It was quite constructive and they told me they'd reach out again when I was closer to FT. Wondering if I made a mistake somehow?

 

Agree that no legit HHs are reaching out now - the real ones reach out to the 2nd year for a list for the 1st years' emails when the time comes. No need to stalk a thousand random kids on LinkedIn.

That said I don't think it's a big deal to pass along your work email address and contact info. Otherwise ignore, certainly don't hop on the phone or respond to any "informational" requests with any HHs before you start.

Guys like Mercury, Pinpoint, Water Street Search you do not want to deal with and you're best just blocking their alias. Other HHs are varying range of useful and there are tons of threads on here.

 

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