Private Equity Interview - How important is the LBO model?
Hi, It would be great to get some perspective from guys on the other end (landed offers, review candidates models, work in PE, etc.).
I’ve heard different perspectives and outcomes. My question stems from the following:
M7 MBA candidates with no prior banking or PE experience get the model completely wrong but received offers. (UMM)
1st/2nd year analysts get the model directionally correct with a few errors and receive offers. (MF)
No model needed for some interviews. (UMM and LMM)
I’ve even spoken to a Senior Associate who said they’ve never seen a perfect model from interviewers.
How important is the model in the interview process and what are you expecting when you receive it?
What happens if there are small errors or big glaring errors. What are you looking at when you open the workbook?
Thank you in advance Monkey’s! (This was written on my cell, sorry for formatting)
🦗🦗🦗👀👀👀
I often review LBO models submitted by associate candidates and we are largely looking to make sure they conceptually understand (1) fundamental financial statements links and how they are connected and (2) essential LBO math and mechanics. It’s not the end of the world if 100% of excess cash is swept for optional prepayment of debt when the assignment specified only 25%. There is also more leniency the more junior you are. We don’t expect most banking candidates to build a perfect model because it’s not something they are often doing constantly. With that being said, I’ve never encountered or even heard of a M7 MBA candidate with no prior banking or PE experience get the model completely wrong but still receive an offer. The skills they need at that level (sr associate and up) are far beyond just modeling but I would have serious concerns about their overall intelligence and attention to detail if they struggled with a modeling test.
Not sure why WSO is making my post look so wonky
Gotcha, thank you for the thorough response.
Final question if you don’t mind - how about the very short 1 or 2 hour models. What if there are very small formula errors (from an analyst in IB)? Would this prompt a next round? Or as long as they hit the points you mentioned and are directionally correct?
Obviously it depends on who is reviewing but I think it first depend on if the small errors you mention alter the output of the entire model significantly. If it causes your moic output to be 0.01x off, I likely won’t care but if there’s a half turn difference from the expected output, that’s another story.
One thing worth touching on for the benefit of others on wso is that your modeling test isn’t being reviewed in a vacuum. Meaning, you’ll generally be scored against the quality of work that other candidates have submitted, unless they are all garbage, in which case we’ll just pass on most everyone and have HHs find more candidates. So, you could have only missed a small calc, but if every other test is perfect, you may still be screwed
Obviously will depend on the firm and talent pool, but I just took a case study and couldn’t balance the balance sheet. Am I probably screwed? I thought my analysis was pretty good and figure that’s probably more important but idk
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