PE Recruiting 2020 Information Thread
Picking up the pieces from some various threads it is evident that HH's have begun to reach out to some via LinkedIn, and analyst programs are beginning shortly for many banks. This can be a place to update if HH's have reached out to you, virtual coffee chats / happy hours, and other various recruiting tidbits, rumors, and so forth.
When you provide an update, please provide a brief profile (presuming that you post anonymously). Bank (BB, EB, MM) <- ideally including top, mid, bottom, etc), school (target, semi-target, non-target), and group (coverage, m&a).
Mod Note: New PE cases + 20min LBO drills have been added to our PE Interview Course, more info here.
Current associate at a megafund. I can confirm that no one is thinking about recruiting now. Considering we aren't even in the office yet recruiting is pretty low on our list of priorities. My guess it'll pick up again starting in September when we're back in the office and banking analysts are starting to finish training. Of course someone could kick it off but I doubt it.
To make sure you don't feel worried, if you are a coverage / M&A analyst at a BB or independent firm, you will likely get headhunter emails from all major HHs and a chance to impress in August or so depending on the potential timeline
Same associate as above. Don't worry if headhunters haven't reached out to you. you will almost certainly get emails from HHs when you get your work email (if you don't have it). Reached out to our headhunter (CPI / Amity / HSP) and they apparently have not begun talking to incoming analysts. My guess is some time in July / August will be when the real email blasts are going out
Of course. I want to add that just because you're receiving emails now does not mean you're the strongest candidate and just because you're not getting emails does not mean you're a weak candidate. HHs are well aware they will miss a lot of people early on, and many strong candidates (especially now) will wait a year or go off-cycle (I also generally recommend that most people go off-cycle or wait a year. LA majors especially are generally stronger candidates once they have some real banking experience). It is also perfectly acceptable to email a headhunter if they missed you (assuming you're a BB coverage banker or independent M&A banker) since they want to meet basically every independent / BB analyst they can (its their incentive to place, and if they miss a potential hire from, say, a mid-tier coverage group at Citi that hurts their earnings). The only groups they won't miss anyone from are places like MS M&A or PJT / Moelis (Evercore is so big now that I'm sure they won't get everyone, and I would bet their placement numbers go down). Once the HH's start reaching out en masse (again, I expect it to be sometime in mid-August but could easily go earlier or later) you can feel free to reach out. Our HH said that they expect to talk to first years late August / early Sep atm
What is the process like for analysts at strong MM banks like HL/Jefferies/Blair/HW? Are HH’s still reaching out or does it become more of a self-guided process?
Incoming analyst at top group in BB (GS/JPM/BAML) and have not gotten anything yet. Can anyone confirm the same?
GS/JPM/BAML lmao. I wonder which one you’re going to
Same associate, again. I actually asked our HH straight up if they were doing any resume gathering or anything (it is absolutely ridiculous how early it is) and they said they were not as of now. Top headhunter that represents our MF and numerous other targeted firms. HH's will normally find your email from existing analysts who signed through that headhunter, from alumni from your school, and from just finding out what your name is and guessing your email. Again they have every incentive to talk to as many analysts as possible (whether from GS TMT or Jefferies, not to knock on them but to highlight there are a range of firms they want to talk to) since it is not like HH's represent only MFs or UMMs but also a lot of MMs. Additionally, if they find a great candidate from DB who is a great fit for a top firm like Carlyle they will happily put them in the interview. Feel free to reach out to HHs in Sep or so (reaching out too early is detrimental)
You folks don't actually believe this guy is real right? He's likely just another incoming analyst trying to get a leg up on recruiting. On-cycle interviews started in August last year....
What incentive does this guy have to ask his firm's "HH straight up" for a bunch of random hardos on WSO? You guys are smarter than this, come on.
Believe me or not, makes no difference to me. However, recruiting last year actually doesn't mean that much. We're in a world-wide pandemic and recruiting will 100% be delayed because of it. Firms like Blackstone have opted out of on-cycle recruiting (at least that is what they said publicly) and many strong firms have delayed their start dates so analysts may not even be on the desk until September or later. Most PE firms aren't even back in the office yet, and believe me, recruiting isn't going to be top of the list of priorities when we do go back in en masse. Who knows If someone will kick it off even earlier / same time as last year but I doubt it. If I were in your shoes I would prepare for mid-Sep kick off anyway to be safe.
I reached out on behalf of recent graduates from my undergrad entering into consulting and banking who reached out and are looking to learn more about my firm and the process. Since I was on here anyway thought I'd add.
Had an introductory call in the last two weeks with a recruiter and they told me that recruiting for summer 2022 starts won't happen until early 2021? Can anyone confirm they heard anything similar? I was expecting the process to be delayed a bit but 6+ months surprised me a lot...
Was it one of the reputable recruiters? I’ve heard from Gobuyside but that’s not saying much.
how are you a principal in PE, but working with GoBuyside on an associate recruiting forum?
No one knows when recruiting will kick off. Anyone who says they do or even has a real idea is probably lying or at best guessing. Every year there are rumors: "I heard it will be before Thanksgiving / Halloween this year," or "I heard firm X is planning on flying to NYC to hire kids" etc. Most of these rumors are generally exaggerated or false but people also tend to dismiss each year's cycle as "no way that's going to happen." I remember when it kicked off on Halloween, no one thought it could be before Thanksgiving, but that's what happened.
That being said, I really think this year it will end up getting pushed, for a number of reasons. Right now, most firms are not in the office (at least a couple have offices open but no one is forced to come in) and it is really difficult to imagine firms hiring people based on nothing but a Zoom call, resume, and modeling test. PE is a human interaction business and the face-to-face component is crucial to all aspects of PE, including meeting candidates. So I can't see it kicking off unless many firms are back in office, which could be in 2021 (depending on the second wave etc), which could explain what the HH said. However, who knows. Maybe certain firms are ok with hiring without meeting face to face. That will hurt kids from non-targets, analysts who start later than others, and analysts who are not in BB / EB banks, and kids who have strong interpersonal skills. I can't see hiring without meeting someone face to face happening, but every year we've been wrong about when it will kick off, so maybe we'll be wrong this time.
Spoke with a few alumni who mentioned partners would be uncomfortable hiring somebody without actually meeting them in person. This leads me to think it'll get pushed back a little until in person interviews can take place, but who really knows as all it takes it one big firm to kick off virtually.
this could be the year where we don't go early for once! HURRAY!
Recruiting won't start for a while. Would suggest everyone tries to prep for an hour or two if they can a few times a week and really drill into their jobs. The HH firms and their clients made a pact that they won't rush this year (they are always doing it but this year it looks like it will stick), but except for BX most PE firms are still wfh too. They probably won't kick off OCR until a large number of people come back to nyc so don't stress about it. Just be prepared. Another thing to note is don't take advice too seriously from older people. The longer it takes until it starts the more they will change. The modeling tests during OCR are kind of a joke but they will probably get harder if it starts in December or after, also more emphasis on deals the longer you wait. My group is pretty active and a few of our first-years have gotten public deal experience.
We're in a global fucking pandemic... not going to hear anything for a while bucko