PE Recruiting - Coffee Chats

Also curious, especially when recruiting in a different city than where your banking gig is at

Not very important since it mostly runs through headhunters

Coffee chats help but aren't necessary by any means. Headhunters coordinate the process but having a good contact can make sure you at least get a first round interview you might not have gotten otherwise.

Your headhunter ranking will trump any coffee chat 'relationship' or associate reference. If anything, the largest benefit from a coffee chat is that it arms you with real data and discussion points about the fund to bring into an actual interview (e.g., their strategy resonates, generalist program, staffing model, etc.)

I knew people in my program who did not a single minute of networking and landed interviews with the best funds based on a 4.0 GPA and top bucket performance which would have granted them a strong HH referral.