PE Recruiting as an International

Hey everyone, I was curious if anyone knew how PE recruiting works for international students. A lot of international students have 1 year eligibility to work and the PE offers given are two years out. Do they transfer you to another office then? Or is there a work around?

Thanks in advance.

13 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Ignore the title. As an international myself, if you don’t have STEM OPT you are mostly ineligible to recruit for PE.

Even with STEM OPT, I found that most shops (outside of large funds with global offices) were not interested given that you’d only have 1 year as an associate and then would have to leave.

I won the H1B lottery recently and the opportunity set that’s available has increased 5 fold. I’d recommend trying to secure the H1B by having your bank apply for it the cycle before your start + the cycle you are already at the desk.

If all else fails, look into Day 1 CPT masters, regular 1 years masters (Vanderbilt/MIT MFin) or transferring abroad.

Best of luck

 

Planning to do Day 1 CPT next year if I don’t get selected for H1B. Would I still have the chance for PE, given I would have 3 yrs of work authorization (from Grad STEM-OPT) by start of my associate role. 

 

Voluptatibus et ut nihil qui voluptatem. Qui dolorem dolorem consectetur labore a. Voluptatem omnis dolor et. Earum illo iure temporibus facere voluptates. Nam reiciendis modi odit molestiae nulla in. Cum voluptate quia aut ad.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.3%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (98) $365
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $62
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”