Q&A - Offcycle offer from UMM fund ($9bn latest fund size)
Hey guys I'm an MBB consultant from a seconf tier cit (think Denver, Detroit, Nashville) who got an offer during offcycle at an UMM fund. I'm open to answering questions/giving background information on how I got the offer/picked the fund
Responding to IB prospect
1) I had some hard must "haves." E.g wanted to be in a tier 1 city, Wanted to be at a fund with latest fund size of at least $2bn (ofc bigger the better). Sector - I wanted to focus on tech, but the other 2 were much more important factors
2) I actually did on-cycle but didn't get as many looks as I would've liked and didn't close an offer, so I had to do off-cycle. Pros and cons of each:
On-cycle * Pros: You get an offer within the time span of a 10 hour process, so you figure out if you got the offer the same day. Additionally, the larger funds tend to fill most of their classes with on-cycle (but that's gradually changing with more funds reserving spots for off-cycle)
Offcycle * Pros: You get more time to know a fund -either through netowrking events or one on one calls. If you're interested in the middle market then it's more MM spots recruit during off-cycle. * Cons: Funds will d*ck you. Imagine this - you did a 3 hour first round over the phone. Came into the office and spent 9 hours talking to people and cranking case studies. The fund will say they'll be in touch. The headhunter says you did a great job in the interview and you'll hear something soon. Next week you hear nothing and reach out to the HH who says you'll hear back soon. Next week you reach out again to the HH and they don't even bother responding. Now imagine this happening 3-4 times, while people in the office know your recruiting and keep asking "how it's going."... My point is off-cycle gets really tiring and its tough to keep yourself motivated.
3) I didn't network too much, but would definitely recommend you doing so. Networking helps you get more looks from funds in a way that you wouldn't normally (e.g. friend's at bottom tier buldges got offers from KKR via networking). Additionally - I've heard of people with offcycle having a contact at the fund when interviews kicked off and even though the headhunter didn't want to give them an interview - they got their friend to contact to hook them up with an interview.
4) As a consultant - I did quite a bit of work in tech which helped me back up my interest in tech investing. I hadn't done a diligence by the time I recruited which might've hurt me, but wasn't a huge issue in the end
1) You should have a reason for why you want everything. Location - you have friends or SO in x location. Industry - you've done X work in this industry in undergrad or on Y deal. Fund size - I said that I wanted someweher to larger to work on more complex deals / with more complex companies
2) It becomes significantly harder. You got to realize this whole process is highly arbitrary. You can have everything perfectly lined up and prepped a ton - then get blown out by an asinine interview Q. It's a crazy process, but you only need to get luck once, so if you network enough then I think you can finesse an offer from a MF and definitely from an UMM fund.
3) I'll make another response about prep - it's going to be a brick of text... For cases - I would recommend getting Case in point, making an LBO framework (Cash flow generating ability, Industry dynamics, Product, and Deal dyanics). Then get friends to ask you "What do you think about X business" and answer within the framework.