How hard is on cycle
Know this is a kind of a stupid question but if you are at a good bank/group with at least decent placement to MF, how hard is on cycle recruitment/interviewing actually?
Obviously preparation is key but given you don’t go into these interviews blind, how hard would it actually be to land an on cycle gig at one of your most desired pe firms?
Ridiculously difficult, like way more than IB. Even at MFs, there are really only like 2-3 Associate seats. So even if you’re at a top bank and top group, you’re competing with hundreds of other “top” candidates for 2-3 spots. That’s also not accounting for the fact that everyone knows which shops are the best and shoot for the same places.
Very helpful thank you
2 - 3 associate seats per MF? That sounds pretty low, understandable for some of the UMM but for BX, KKR etc is it really 2-3 per class?
No, it’s way more. Blackstone probably hires 10+ for BCP NY.
Should have specified 2-3 per group. Obviously varies by firm, but PE shops aren’t like IBs where they have 6+ analysts per group.
PE firms run a lot leaner.
It’s not. More like 5-10 per fund (some, like Apollo are smaller). Maybe even more when you factor in different groups at each fund. There’s also larger MM / UMM funds that bring in classes of ~5-10 associates per year.
all things considered it’s definitely a tough process and you should take it seriously, but it also isn’t too hard to land an offer assuming you’re prepping the right way.
On a separate note, there are way more off cycle seats available than people here tend to think. This is dated (circa 2015) but 4/7 analysts in my class got megafund offers but 3 of them were off cycle (struck out in on cycle). Note that these are name brand MFs (KKR, BX, Carlyle). Not saying this is typical but it certainly happens. I would imagine there’s even more off cycle spots available now considering how early recruiting is.
There are only roughly 50-60 MF PE associate positions per year in NYC. Funds hire anywhere between 3-8 associates per class. If your only goal is to do MF PE and you are location agnostic, your best bet is to look for non NYC opportunities in SF, CHI (Vista) or MIA (Thoma Bravo).There's much less demand for these markets and the vast majority of competent folks will have a very solid chance of getting a MF offer, especially in SF. I know many people with SF MF offers who either aggressively leveraged their offers for the NY office for the same MF or turned down a top SF / Menlo MF for a NY UMM (NMC / Veritas type). Very similar market size on West Coast, with a lot less competition / demand.
In your experience, why do people turn down West Coast MF for NY UMM? Is there a big difference between being at a MF in the West Coast vs in NY?
Because NYC > SF / LA
Deleted
His comment was a complete generalization, the majority of people aren’t doing that.
FYI - diversity plays a huge role in the process (both gender and race). Have many friends at UMM / MF funds in NY that mention that the LPs are pushing more and more for diverse investment teams. Most obvious example is Apollo's Impact Fund, after the whole Leon Black situation, they tried to dig themselves pretty aggressively out of that PR hole. Know a good number of female analysts who had never done a practice LBO and didn't prep for more than one or two days who got MF buyout offers within a couple hours of the process kicking off. Every MF has reserved "diversity" spots, and these spots have a far greater need to be filled as compared to the standard spot. The extent it happened the last on-cycle process was fairly extreme - ask any of your friends who are involved in recruiting in MFPE and they'll tell you about it; have even heard anecdotes of completely different processes for certain folks (ie no modelling exam, purely behavioral interviews, etc.). The aforementioned 50 - 60 spots becomes much closer to 20 - 25 when you remove diversity candidates and folks whose parents are well-connected in finance. Definitely an overcorrection the previous cycle, but very curious to see how it plays out this upcoming cycle.
Interesting, wouldn’t think diversity hiring would be a big thing like in banking but nice, thanks for the input
I’ll second this comment. From the hiring at my own firm to what I’ve heard at other shops, there’s a push across most of the industry to include more diversity in a space that’s filled predominantly by white males. I can’t say for sure that the interviewing has been much easier since I’m not typically directly involved, but if you’re a female for example with a relevant background in banking or some form of principal investing and came from a solid well-known undergrad, you’re almost guaranteed an interview and will have a much easier time separating yourself from the pack toward the final rounds. It’s still not as big of a factor compared to banking but it’s becoming a bigger point in recruiting. I’m personally all for a greater diversity of thought and experience considering my firm consists of all white guys (including myself) from the same type of background. It gets trickier when some firms are out there clearing just hiring to show off diversity statistics to LPs, and not really hiring for the right reasons. Just my 2 cents
Deleted
Any insight as to why LPs are pushing this crap? Is it really just PR?
I can second what folks are saying above. I’m currently a first year at a UMM/MF and our headhunter sends us a separate diversity only resume book.
Cum blanditiis nostrum dolorum cum molestiae ut sed neque. Magnam fuga recusandae odit et. Animi voluptatem ut vel illo. Esse eveniet omnis cum error unde.
Enim ut repellendus dolorem ipsa quaerat nobis magnam eum. Quo et occaecati autem maiores harum omnis quasi nemo. Nisi vero quaerat omnis nobis. Similique pariatur tempora vel quae voluptatem.
Libero eligendi hic voluptas quibusdam sint exercitationem sint. Enim quasi omnis quasi repellat hic vero ut. Voluptas aut et minima provident. Dicta eum illum quas iste commodi nam.
Aperiam rerum voluptatem aut harum quos minima. Nulla dolor ducimus architecto quibusdam quasi illo ex earum. Rerum sit ut perspiciatis ullam est. Est aliquid blanditiis temporibus harum magnam sequi doloribus. Reiciendis consequatur qui accusamus harum. Repellat tempora occaecati quia quam excepturi quisquam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...