Private Equity Reference Check
Hi everyone, I just had a final round interview for an associate role at a PE fund. I thought it went overall pretty well, however there were other candidates (who I'm sure also did just as well) but regardless I am hopeful that I will land the job and be finished with this process.
My dilemma however, is that I put 3 of my senior bankers who I trust and have worked on great deals with over my past 1+ year at the firm, and genuinely believe that they will give good recommendations if they are asked to provide them of me. However, given that I am a 2nd year and my group is not receptive at all to recruiting, I want to err on the safe side for a potential 3rd year offer and be able to recruit for 2020 summer recruiting if this doesn't end up the way I'm praying it does.
Do PE funds always do reference checks after final round interviews before deciding on who to give offers to? If so, should I give my references (senior bankers) a heads up that I interviewed with this firm and that they may be calling them? I do not want them to be caught off guard with a call from the fund, but also I don't want to risk not being able to come back my 3rd year to recruit if they realize that I have been recruiting and struck out this round of interviews. Please help!
next time just say you'll provide references upon request. and then only provide them when it's the very last step before an offer.
as to when they do ref checks, it depends on the firm. but i would imagine the default is to not conduct checks until very advanced in the process. i think it's also fair if you get a second round interview, to somehow ask the firm to give you a heads up if they are going to conduct reference checks so that you can give your senior guys a heads up.
this was as the very last step before an offer. They asked that I fill it out and I handed it over right before the start of my final round interviews last week
My experience has always been that references are taken once terms of the offer has been agreed, with the offer subject to good reviews.
That is the norm, but that is not at all always case and I warn people about this. I have been in a process where I "thought" they were looking for 2 associates, and AFTER reference checks they put us on ice for 3 weeks and then said they actually just hired 1 senior associate instead.
I won't speak to the HF industry, which can check references then wait a few weeks and the PM decides not to hire (or blows up).
Also, OP, I would definitely have a conversation with all your references before giving them to the fund. If you are upfront with people, they are more likely to be more receptive than if they just get a random call. Good luck!
so would you recommend that it would be best to hop on the phone with my senior bankers to give them a heads up if anything? even if that means that they find out that i am recruiting and might be jeopardizing my offer for 3rd year (thinking that I dont want to stay in banking anymore)
The part that you are missing is that many PE firms do blind reference calls. When I was a VP, I received quite a few calls from various PE firms for analysts in my group who did not list me as one of their references. If these PE firms reached out to me, I can only imagine how many other people they called in their network.
As such, I would advise that you be 100% upfront with your group about your recruiting efforts, which means that you need to just man up and make a decision if you want to leave or if you want to stay for a third year. You can't have your cake and eat it too. It just does not work that way, nor will it end well, unless you are recruiting from a group that nobody has any "ins" into.
I know that the prospect of not landing a desirable PE job is daunting. But maybe this will provide some comfort. In my years of banking, every analyst who made an effort to recruit for PE got a job that they were happy with. Yes, it might not be KKR -- and maybe that was what they desired in their heart of hearts -- but none of the analysts in my group left unemployed or was forced to take some crappy PE job at a firm that nobody ever heard of.
And even if you managed to succeed in your plan to snag a third year offer after failing recruiting this year, what makes you think that you will be a more desirable candidate the following year? PE firms know that you didn't stay on for a third year for your love of banking and desire to do more M&A deals. But if you honestly feel that you could use another year to prepare and get more experience, then commit to your group to stay on. Either way, you will be OK -- but having seen how things work from the other side makes me believe that there is real risk in your current approach.
Best of luck in your recruiting!
This is exactly how it plays out - cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be honest to get ahead of this. It is a very small world and it's almost certainly the case that someone went to b-school with one of your current bosses, plays golf on the weekend with them, etc..
This is all very useful, but am guessing this is for the US
Any insights on how references work in London / Europe?
They do blind reference checks if they know someone VP or even MD at your firm. Sometimes they ask you for names to run reference checks as well, so really depends on the fund. I had both!
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