PE Recruiting for First Year Analyst
Does anyone have info on moving to first year analyst programs at PE funds that offer it (after interning at a top IB group)?
When they start looking, doing first rounds, interview format (more analogous to SA or associate level), etc. I presume they do a bit of recruiting (or maybe all given how accelerated things have been lately) over the summer. Also any info on how many first year positions are generally reserved for laterals, as opposed to just SAs in the program, at places with defined analyst programs like like BX would be appreciated.
I'm interested in making the move over, but obviously don't want to come across too eager contacting people before even beginning my summer analyst program. Unfortunately, not a lot of info on WSO about this so any help is appreciated.
Good idea re not wanting to be overeager. I always lol'd when summer analysts would try to sneakily ask about PE casually like they were just kinda curious and not planning on being the next Schwazman. So casual.
Dont contact people and focus on your internship. They will either contact you if interested. If you don't already have older friends who have been through the process and can steer you through it (direct analyst recruiting), you won't get it. Not trying to crush dreams, that's just the reality.
PE Recruiting Question - 1st yr (Originally Posted: 10/29/2016)
Given that the private equity recruiting process is happening so quickly now, I wanted to get your thoughts on how to present the summer analyst/first yr analyst experience. I've only spent a couple months on the desk but summered in the same group - should I bother separating the summer from full-time experience on my resume? Is it expected that I get deal-specific at this point in terms of describing responsibilities? Thanks in advance!
wondering the same thing
I assume that you went back to school in between FT and SA, so they should be separate entries. If you have worked on deals and can talk about them in a meaningful way, then put them on the CV. If not, then don't.
1st year PE recruiting with 3 months experience? (Originally Posted: 11/20/2013)
Hi fellas,
I'm about to accept a lateral offer to join an elite boutique (coming from mid-tier BB) and was wondering if I would be able to take part in normal 1st year PE recruiting in March/April.
The issue is, I don't start at the boutique until mid-January and will only have 3 months there by the time recruiting kicks off. Besides that, my group at BB was weak coverage group and had zero modeling experience and only did debt financing/equity issuance stuff...not even anything merger related. I would want to focus on my M&A experience from boutique more.
What should I do in terms of reaching out to headhunters/preparing to not look like a fool when explaining the move and how now I want PE? Should I wait until 2nd year even though there are typically fewer spots?
Thanks, ATTAC
If you haven't really had traction up to this point (and even if you have), you might have to be an analyst for 3 yrs or look for immediate start positions
Just because you haven't modeled for a deal, doesn't mean you can't speak to your industry or otherwise modeling experience on your own.
LBO isn't hard and correct me if I'm wrong, but don't believe PE shops really care about M&A modeling.
I know this is kind of late but, if you were looking at the lateral position with the elite healthcare boutique, ask them if they would still enroll you in their training program once you start or when the new group of analysts come in.
If you already made your decision, how'd it go? what did you end up doing?
PE Recruiting After First Year? -- Still Interviewing (Originally Posted: 08/14/2007)
does anybody know if the big shops are still looking for people? also is it true that some of the BB's have said they will fire any analyst that gets caught recruiting for PE? i heard that gs ny told their analysts that, but can someone confirm?
is that even legal?
There is still some recruiting going on, but the vast majority has already taken place. I would guess that recruiting for summer 2008 will be nearly wrapped up by the end of August.
Analysts can be fired for any reason, or for no reason at all - that's the beauty of at-will employment. However, I seriously doubt that GS would fire an analyst for interviewing (let alone fire someone for interviewing specifically in PE, since that's retarded), as this would reflect very poorly on them.
PE Interview TImeframe for First Year Bankers (Originally Posted: 09/14/2008)
So I've heard that first year analysts looking to get prominent PE jobs start interviewing around Jan of their first year (so for newly minted analysts that'd be Jan of 09)
First ? is this - obviously a lot of the PE shops hire on a set schedule much like banks do - is January really an appropriate time to start scheduling interviews?
Second? - what's the best way to start preparing for interviews/setting up interviews?
Third? - what the hell do they base hiring decisions off of in January as I've only been on the line for three/four months at that point? How imp is undergrad GPA if you're at a top bank - GS/MS/JP in a solid product group?
Fourth? - is it even worth interviewing out this year? Mightn't it be better to hold off an try for a third year analysts position and interview such that I'd leave after that? I imagine that mkt conditions will have improved/job opportunities would be more at that point?
Heh, we all may want to make some backup plans...check your Bloomberg terminal.
PE / VC Interviewing as 1st Year Analyst (Originally Posted: 12/04/2008)
I'm a first year analyst working for a pretty good size MM bank in their Tech group. My firm is pretty good about offering analysts offers to stay on as 3rd years, but I'm more interested in getting over to the buy side as soon as I feasibly can.
However, I don't know much about the recruiting process. If I'm looking to get out after two years when, realistically, should I start applying to PE shops and or VC firms? How do the logistics of applying for those jobs work (i.e. do I contact them, do they contact me via a headhunter...etc)? How or will recruiting be different this year given the shitty environment? If anyone can shed some light on these issues it'd be great. Thanks.
Firstly, I believe you mean "getting over to the buy side" - that said, you're in a good situation at what seems like a decent bank. Take this time to learn as much as you can, if you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, educate yourself and make yourself valuable somehow; can be studying for a CFA, getting the necessary licenses you may need if you do in fact stay on the sell side, but also you should be reaching out to recruiters while headhunter's might find you. You shouldn't rely on them, however, and so you should be contacting recruiters at shops and getting your name and resume in their hands in the meantime.
Recruiting as you know will be harder and more competitive than ever for the foreseeable next two year time frame, at least. Just do your best to make sure you're waking up every weekday and heading to the office for now (have a job). Hope that helps.
Thanks for the response. Could expand on how I should be reaching out to recruiters, though. Should I start looking at firms I want to apply to and sending their HR contacts my resume and cover letter? Is this the normal course of action? Also, when is the appropriate time to start doing this? Now? 3 months from now? Summer?
Sure, there are plenty of recruiting websites and outsourcing groups that are paid to recruit people and post on several sites such as efinancialcareers, etc. However, the best approach for me has been utilizing alumni from my college. If you have a career services at your undergrad school, you should do your best to gain alumni contacts working in the industry and reach out to them - they're usually the first to get back to you and will generally put you in touch with their HR offices (there's no way I would have had interviews and worked at JPMorgan this summer without the contact I had) - That said, as I'm sure you are aware, most recruiting is frozen so it will be hard. You can also do independent research and look up the top 100 companies as ranked by vault or performance and look for careers sections and send your cv and letter out that way. Good luck!
While your school alumni may be one path, I wouldn't rely heavy on it. If you want to go from banking to PE/HF/VC, just go through the bigger headhunters. Most reputable shops retain headhunters to do their search, anyways, so if you were to get in contact with an alumnus of your school he'd probably just send your resume to CPI/Oxbridge/SG or whoever was handling their process. I get resumes all the time from 1st and 2nd year analysts at banks and I don't have the time to sift through them all. I'll usually just take a quick glance and if it seems ok I'll throw it to our recruiters.
Don't rely on recruiters. Turn to your senior professionals, they are the ticket. Ask them if they have any relationships at whichever PE firms you're interested in. Their placing a phone call is pretty much a guaranteed interview, then it is up to you. I can't tell you how much it helped me in my job search to have the senior guys place calls on my behalf.
For me, headhunters were often a dead-end. While my bank is very reputable in the middle market and the PE world, it doesn't read Goldman Sachs on the top of it and I didn't go to a top undergrad school. As a result, headhunters almost never picked my resume for opportunities I was aware of nor did they call me with new opportunities. The only time I received interviews through headhunters was when I cold-emailed an alumni of my college as well as cold-emailed alumni of my bank and they passed my resume onto their recruiter.
As to your question regarding timing. If you're looking to join a mega fund, you'll need to start making contact prior to the end of your first year (around May timeframe). The middle market firms generally kick off a month or two later, with some straggling behind into August / September. Can't tell you how this year will differ other than it will be extremely selective and things may kick off later as PE firms try to get greater visibility as to their junior resource needs.
~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker
I left banking for PE right after my first year so I have an idea where you're coming from. As far as contacting alums, it depends on what school you go to. If you tend to have a very strong alumni network, it doesn't hurt to contact them and establish dialogue. It's good you are starting to think about it your first year. Cultivate a good relationship with the alums first before you start asking for a job.
I worked with headhunters (SG Partners, Oxbridge, Glocap, etc.) but I found the most success with people from my alma mater. Why? A lot of the alums I contacted were at the principal/MD/Partner level and they have much more pull in making things happen, assuming the firm is hiring. I remember going into an interview at my current firm and the principal who got me the interview pulled me aside and told me if I had a 'bad' meeting with any of the interviewers, he'd smooth it over and it's not the end of the world.
Actually, I digress. HS and Compbanker make good points. In this market, with selectivity going through the roof, it probably wouldn't hurt to explore every avenue you can. Some headhunters are pretty receptive to people with different backgrounds, not just the typical Ivy/2yearsBB/PE route (I was from a non-target), but SG Partners is the worst when it comes to that stuff (even though I was coming from a BB with a megafund LBO on my resume, they still brushed me off). So I kind of understand Compbanker's frustration when it came to that.
Senior guys are the way to go, but its a touchy situation with some of the smaller banks, especially if they view you as a good associate candidate, so just be careful who you reach out to within your group.
Thanks for all the responses, a few more things to ask though...
Is it commonplace for 1st year analysts who haven't even completed their first 9 months to come up to senior bankers and ask them about PE/VC interviews? In my firm, and my coverage group particularly, they like to keep analysts around for 3 years, so I'm affraid this may be a thorny issue to begin with. Also, given that deal activity has been absolutely dead, if I am applying to PE shops in the spring, what would I talk about on my resume? Thanks for all the advice...
Analysts who moved to PE after first year (Originally Posted: 07/31/2010)
I'd like to hear from analysts who switched to PE after their first year rather than staying for the full two years. I understand most firms will expect you to finish your two years before they hire you, but I know moving after one year does happen.
So, if you switched to PE after one year in banking or know someone who did:
-how did you find and approach the PE shop to find out they'd hire you after one year? And how did you spin the fact that you wanted to leave banking "early"?
-how did you keep applying/interviewing hidden from your senior bankers? From what I saw during my summer internship, most PE firms call your bank for references, and that doesn't work if you are hoping to leave after one year.
-any other advice/anecdotes/etc?
Thanks.
dude there was just a thread covering this exact question. Look for CaptK i believe he posted it.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/how-to-jump-to-the-buyside-after-…
As the two posters above said - check out the thread I recently posted. As far as references go, PE firms should realize that you're interviewing early and it's not appropriate to call your current employer as a reference.
Thanks - haven't been on here at all lately so I missed it.
Why aren't the recent posts updating?
we were having performance issues so a 5 min cache was put on the recent posts....I will see if we can get it lowered to 1 minute for more real time updates.
Market rate - 1st year PE Analyst (Originally Posted: 11/20/2010)
Hi all,
I graduated from a UK university in 2010 and got an analyst job at a private equity group that focuses on picking up Real Estate and Renewable Energy projects in distressed companies. It is a fairly new firm and currently has £180m invested in various projects and several deals in the pipeline.
We are due to negotiate my contract/package shortl y. Does anyone know what the standard is for this kind of position - am currently on £35k + undefined bonus. What should I be looking to achieve?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
It's like 60k for ibanking in London. 25K in BIG4
Base 60k, undefined bonus targeting/averaging 30-40k seems reasonable in PE.
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