Abraaj Capital - Global Anlayst Program - 2017 Intake

Hey Guys!

With regard to the above captioned subject, I'm looking to get in touch with candidates who have applied for Abraaj's GAP for the 2017 intake. In this regard, I'd be grateful if people can apprise about the status of their application process. Also, all those who are familiar with the said firm and its recruitment procedure, your guidance on the following would be highly appreciated:

  • Does Abraaj notify even if they decide not to proceed with your application?
  • Typically how long does the recruitment process take?
  • What are the typical profiles that make the cut?
  • How many interviews are conducted?
  • How are the interviews typically structured?
  • Are the interviews highly technical or is it more about knowing the firm and PE industry in general.

Your prompt assistance and guidance in this regard would be highly appreciated.

Cheers, Jazib!

405 Comments
 

Hey Jack,

Hope you are doing well and many thanks for your response. The acknowledgement e-mail I got from their end stated that the screening/interview process would start end of April. Anyways, just to be sure, you applied to the GAP only or some other vacancy? Also, do you know anyone who applied for GAP and received the interview invite?

Lastly, if I'm not asking for too much, can you kindly shed some light on what all was the case study about?

Thanks a lot mate!

 
Does Abraaj notify even if they decide not to proceed with your application? NO Typically how long does the recruitment process take? 1-2 months What are the typical profiles that make the cut? Previous experience in M&A or PE and good university How many interviews are conducted? 4-5 How are the interviews typically structured? Technical and fit interviews Are the interviews highly technical or is it more about knowing the firm and PE industry in general. Not super technical, they are smilar
 

HR got back to me two weeks ago (after I emailed them) and told me I got shortlisted and I will be contacted 4th week of April or 1st week of May.

I'm still waiting. They seems to be very slow. I'm not sure how long this process will take.

 

Hey man,

Hope you are doing well! Just wanted to humbly follow up if you have received the interview invite yet? Also, do you have any idea if the interview process has already started or when is it expected to start.

Your assistance in this regard would be highly appreciated.

Thanks, Jazib!

 

Had my 1st round interview last week, have not heard back since then.

Covered mostly personal questions (interviewer was well prepared and has read the CV carefully) and views on what the firms does, the markets where it is invested and some investment ideas on where (region) and in what (sector) I would invest. One question was about a past deal of Abraaj I should name and tell what I know about it.

Technical part were the typical questions on what valuation methods exist and how they are differ from each other in terms of the resulting value. A bit more difficult was to name how the 3 financial statements flow together, but could still be answered with some solid knowledge.

All in all it was a very positive interview where you talk most of the time about your views and own thinking rather than repeating the standard technical part about the DCF, WACC and EV bridge for the 100st time like in a normal ib interview.

 

I also had my first interview last week. Very different from yours. Mine was relatively technical I was asked only one personal question. The rest were questions regarding debt structure, LBO, EV.....

The interviewer was nice and knowledgeable. I was just surprised that I didn't not get asked more personal, CV related questions. Also my interview just lasted 30 minutes. It seemed very short.

 
"Helvetica" Had my 1st round interview last week, have not heard back since then.

Covered mostly personal questions (interviewer was well prepared and has read the CV carefully) and views on what the firms does, the markets where it is invested and some investment ideas on where (region) and in what (sector) I would invest. One question was about a past deal of Abraaj I should name and tell what I know about it.

Technical part were the typical questions on what valuation methods exist and how they are differ from each other in terms of the resulting value. A bit more difficult was to name how the 3 financial statements flow together, but could still be answered with some solid knowledge.

All in all it was a very positive interview where you talk most of the time about your views and own thinking rather than repeating the standard technical part about the DCF, WACC and EV bridge for the 100st time like in a normal ib interview.

Hey, have you heard back yet?

 

mine was very similar to Helvetica. Some additional questions: what is the process of a transaction?, how much legal experience do you have (for nda, ioi, spa)?

 

I know a few guys who used to work here -- my take is that this program generally hires people with at least a year or so of experience (if I look on linkedin most seem to have anywhere from 1.5-3 years prior to joining, and most with a masters). I think pay would be competitive with a bank / PE fund in the region, though I guess it depends what office of theirs you join, and I'm not sure how the pay varies across offices.

 

I received an update from HR regarding a second interview that will take place in June. After reading online, it seems like their interview process takes months!

I hope this won't be the case for us this year!

 

I just had my second interview a few days ago. The interviewer was extremely nice. The interview lasted about an hour. Mostly fit questions and getting to know me.

Anyone else had their second interview?

 

Had my second interview last week. First interview lasted about an hour, not too many technical questions. Second interview lasted about 30 minutes, predominantly technical questions.

I have heard (from Abraaj analysts and HR) contradictory indications on the amount of rounds for the recruitment process (from 3 to 5 rounds). Does anyone else have an idea on this, and how the rounds after the second round are structured (i.e. telephone/skype/inperson - case study/no case study etc.)?

 

My take is that in addition to the recruitment process having changed over the last two years, people interpret "rounds of recruitment" differently. For example; if you have two phone call interviews, and one Skype interview consisting of a case study with an associate and a behavioral interview with senior management, this might be defined as three rounds (2x phone + 1x skype) or 5 rounds (1x CV screening, 2x phone call, 1x case study, 1x talk with senior management).

Also, my feeling is that the the decision making responsibility doesn't lie with the person you last spoke with. The second interview I had felt as if there was a predefined list of questions to go through (i.e. no follow up questions based on my answers). So I suppose through each round all factors are considered (i.e. CV and background, and performance across all interviews).

 

Not yet. What about you?

The interviewer told me it would take HR approximately 14 days to get back to me. So I should hear something next week. It took them one week to get back to me after the first round interview.

 
"Jan-Keizen" Not yet. What about you?

The interviewer told me it would take HR approximately 14 days to get back to me. So I should hear something next week. It took them one week to get back to me after the first round interview.

Same. Do you have any deal/modelling experience? Also any chance when the program starts? The last intake started in October :/

 

You will be based in Dubai, however you are likely to work in multiple offices and it really depends on the specific demands. For example, if extra capacity is required in Singapore, then that is where you will move. So there is no fixed amount of rotations. Furthermore, it is often argued that the GAP will take your across different functional teams (deal teams, investor relations, portfolio management), but from what I've heard you will spend most of your time in deal teams.

 

Update: Just got off the phone with a friend who has insight into the recruitment process. All applicants who have had their second round interview should receive an answer by the end of this week (both invites to further rounds and rejections).

 

Based on what I've heard from other forum members in PM's: all interviews are conducted through telephone, even for those based in Dubai.

 

Thank you for sharing the updates with us. Do you have any insights on the third interview? Behavioral? Technical? Case interviews?

Also, I have talked to a few of the analysts from last years. They mentioned that they were all phone interviews. Even HR told me that all interviews will be conducted remotely.

 

Many thanks for your input. Some questions:

1) Did they give you any indication on how many round there would be? 2) Considering you have been told chances are you'd start with a rotation in Lagos, does that mean you don't have to participate in the GAP training?

Because I have seen some Abraaj analysts on LinkedIn who started in January with only having 3-6 months of total internship experience, I wonder whether they allow analysts to start off-cycle.

 
"Tee_Dogg" Hi all,

Applied for the GAP in February and had two round interviews in April and May. First round interview was largely behavioural whilst the second was technical covering Accounting, DCF and LBO centred questions. Both interviews lasted 30 minutes each.

Emailed HR asking for a timeline on when to hear back and she said it's likely to be within the next 2 weeks. I live in Lagos, Nigeria and was told chances are I'd have/start with a rotation here

Hi, I am interested in African PE (I am in the industry too) can I send you a PM ?

 
"NYC00" I emailed HR to ask about next steps. This is what I understood: - There are two more rounds of interviews left (third and fourth) - We are going to hear back by the end of this month regarding the third interview, by mid to late July regarding the fourth interview - Interviews are mostly going to be conducted via phone or Skype - Final decision will be made by September (three weeks training starts mid October)

Any additional insights you guys have would be helpful.

Thanks for this- can I ask which HR did you get this info from, i.e. which region please?

 

Anyone else received an invite for the superday?

I received an invite for a phone interview. I'm not sure if they are being consistent with how they do these interviews? Or could it be because I'm in another location?

 

I have information that Staccy's old post was complete bullshit, so it seems that so far on this forum Aa03 is the only one with an invite.

 

Not yet. Yet I find it hard to believe that only one applicant out of all people from WSO who had a 2nd round will make it to the third. Hence I suppose HR is just taking their sweet time at sending some invites.

 

Probably true. I think those who haven't heard back have been majestically f*cked by HR.

But I understand, in those climates sending a single email in bulk requires 5 minutes of heavy physical exercise with your hands and some ultramodern devices (I think they are called keyboards and mouses) which significantly increases the required calorie intake in order to stay alive. This, in turn, might simultaneously implode and explode the food sector in that region. Want to know what this will result in? Some bad shit, majestic f*ckery of a lot more people than some GAP applicants. Armageddon.

 

Some of last years analyst have non profit, political science and engineering background. You'll be fine.

For those who are shortlisted, did you hear back? It's Thursday already!

 

Did you already have your 3rd interview? I was told that I'm shortlisted (for the 3rd interview) but haven't heard still about when is the interview going to be.

 

Hey guys, when you call Nida, do you reach her on the mobile number provided or the telephone number provided which I assume is an office phone.

 

Hi, had my 4th round also. Any idea when we get to hear back on their final decision?. I am guessing this was the last round. Who else has given the final round?

 

The latest post on Glassdoor is for 31st July 2017, I am guessing that decision was sent to the candidate after the third round. I think they are conducting more fourth rounds this week and will roll out the decision in a week or two. Any idea how many analysts they are taking?

 

I think all 4th interviews were done last week and the week before. I was told we are going to hear from them this week.

 

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