Private Equity Associate Recruiting as a Buy-Side Analyst

I'm a current An1 at a respectable buy-side shop with a lot of connections. An A2A is on the table but very rare (1/4 for the last 4 analysts). I'm looking to switch to another firm in 2 years for a variety of reasons and was wondering how to navigate that when it seems like headhunters are pushing out all the roles to bankers.

Is it still appropriate to set up networking chats or should I be more direct and email HR / Ops to ask about recruiting plans? Beyond that, if I were to reach out to other firms, would that reach back to my current job who's under the impression that my goal is get the A2A and I'd stay for sure if I did?

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