Starting Early as a PE Associate

I was recently asked by my fund if I’d be willing to start early. I’ve been in banking for a little over a year and would have roughly 16 months of experience by the time I joined the PE firm if I decided to start early.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through a similar transition. What does the associate ramp-up typically look like at a PE firm? What is generally expected of a new-hire associate in the first few months, and how quickly are you expected to take ownership of deals/workstreams?

For those who started early, did you feel like it was beneficial to get in sooner and start learning the job, or do you wish you had taken the additional time off? Does starting a few months early meaningfully change the experience or learning curve?

I’m generally someone who would prefer not to start a job early, but candidly, I’m finding banking pretty monotonous at this point and am very excited about my next role. So I’m definitely open to starting early — I’d just like to better understand what the transition is actually like and whether there are any downsides I’m not thinking about.