With November/December quickly approaching, I was wondering if any of you experienced monkeys could provide some insight into what happens at the initial headhunter meetings?
Anything along the lines of what types of questions they ask, what we should be prepared for, etc. would be great. If you could give any insight into firm specific (e.g. CPI, Amity, SG, Dynamics, etc.) differences for these meetings, that'd be great as well.
Thanks in advance!
For the most part, the headhunter meetings will be the same at each search firm. You will always be asked 1) Tell me about yourself. 2) Why buy-side/investing? 3) Why PE/HF? 4) Tell me about a deal you worked on. What was your role? I saw all the relevant firms and there really isn’t anything unique to the meetings besides their client list. Some firms have more PE clients and some more HF clients. I think you being specific about what you want will go a long way. “I want a middle-market deep value/distressed opportunity because...” sounds better than “I want a PE opportunity”. As with most interviews, you’ll find that your answers will drive most of the dialogue. Once you say “I owned the model” expect “Walk me through the model” as a follow up.
The one unique piece of advice I can offer is that a decent amount of these search professionals were in respectable finance roles prior to becoming recruiters (this doesn’t mean their current role of being a search professional isn’t respectable). For example, a few of the recruiters I met with had analysts stints in top groups at BB investment banks (MS M&A), degrees from top business schools (HBS) and had prior experience as a PE/HF investment associate. I’m pointing all this out to say that these recruiters can read through bullshit. Some of them have done deals and ran models like you so they are fully aware of how a young investment professional should speak and carry themselves. They will get a feel very quickly if you’re the type of person who can sit in a room with a Managing Partner and explain an analysis with confidence. Please don’t have the mindset like some analysts and assume you’re talking to the stereotypical human resources blonde/brunette with little finance knowledge. Remain humble. Good luck.
Edit: I should also add that is not likely all the firms you meet with will have your back come recruiting time. It’s not impossible, but it is improbable. Even my friends who got the best interviews had 1-2 search firms who just didn’t go to bat for them like the others. Out of the firms I met, I had 3 major backers and 1 semi-backer. They were super responsive and supportive of me making the transition. This doesn’t mean I didn’t get opportunities from search firms outside my core 4, but the core 4 prioritized me heavily. The job offer I received and accepted came from an opportunity from my core firms.
Thank you for that amazing answer.
^That's about it. The only thing I'd add is just know going into the meetings what you are looking for (be it PE, HF, Corp Dev, or some other "brand" of a new job such as special situations investing or whatever). It's good to communicate this, but know that it's quite likely they'll be scattershotting opportunities to you so you'll likely get shown some stuff that doesn't fit well anyway.
Anyone have any advice on how to deal with leaving the office for these meetings - do you tell your staffer you have a doc appointment or what is the best BS excuse to use?
I mean you're going to have lots of these so you can't have a doc appt for every single one. For me, I just... didn't tell anyone. Like do you tell your deal team every time you go to Starbucks? No? Then why would you have to tell your staffer when you duck out to meet someone for 30 min? Save your bs excuses for when real interviews roll around (and even then, use them only when needed.)
I agree with CHItizen. However, I want to expand on this a bit. You should understand you can't fool anyone when interviews come around. This process happens every year. Your team has seen it several times. They will know you're recruiting. At some point, when you have a shit ton of meetings back to back you will need your BS excuse, but you won't fool anyone. I was fortunate enough to have a few supportive Associates. Therefore, when the time came for me to be out my seat all day, I was completely honest about what I was doing. In my case, they were super appreciative of this. A few of them also provided recommendations at a few points in my process. You will have to be the judge of how strong your relationships are with people when you think about disclosing your desire to recruit. I told an MD in my group who also provided a recommendation. I had a very strong working relationship with this MD.
I see you have a point and that would probably work during a period where a persons not jammed with work and disappearing for 30 mins - 1 hour wont be noticed.
Also, given the nature of IB work, how do you deal with scheduling these meetings? I could plan on meeting a headhunter a week from now but then get blown up by comments from my associate or VP.
As another follow-up question, how technical do the discussions on deal experience typically get?
From my experience... Not technical, unless you say you're looking at HF's. Then they instantly ask if you have any ideas and whatnot, to screen out those that just said HF because it sounded cool.
Echo the point on just being honest... Everyone knows when you are recruiting and have interviews. VPs and MDs have seen the process unfold for YEARS, and don't appreciate a kid trying to lie and "pull one over" on them. I would tell your teams you are recruiting and just have a story why.. The same way you have a "why do you wanna do banking?" and a "why do you wanna do PE?"... you need a "Why do you wanna leave banking for PE?" to tell your teams.
The more flexible and respectful you are of your job and teams the more likely it is that they will return the favor... NOTHING pisses senior bankers off more than Analysts lying or dodging work to go to interviews.
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Analysts at my firm have heard from all of the major headhunters already.
Meeting with Headhunter (Originally Posted: 02/22/2011)
I have my first meeting with a headhunter this week -- any tips? I am leaving it this open on purpose. Would love to hear success/failure stories, things not to do and not-so-common things you should do.
Also, how technical are these meetings? I realize it won't be technical finance questions but will they ask specific metrics on my deals or just overarching themes? Any help would be great, thanks everyone.
Questions to expect (assuming you're currently in banking):
Tell me about yourself / walk me through your resume Talk to me about deal X Was it a good deal / acquisition / divestiture / etc? What do you want to do post-banking? Any questions for me?
That's been the routine for about 90% of the meetings I've had. Hope this helps.
yep, currently in banking, thanks beluga
should not be too technical, fit questions, questions about the deals, your job, why buyside, some general markets stuff.
I would not prepare too much, just be yourself, confident, know your work stuff and you should be fine.
I would never prepare for HH interviews. I think it's really important for you to be yourself, so the HH can get an idea of who you are and what you are looking to do. Sure, it might be a good idea to think through your deals a bit if you're stale, or think through what you want to do and why, but don't spend too much time prepping like you would for an actual interview.
I'll respectfuly disagree to an extent. Really depends on what kind of a person you are and how well you present yourself. I think it's very important for you to come across polished and like you know your sh*t. At the end of the day, this is an interview, and while you don't want to sound rehearsed, you should be able to speak to a deal succinctly, highlighting the key points and underlying themes. For many people this is not easy, so it wouldn't hurt to practice. That said, I wouldn't spend more than a couple hours or so prepping (definitely don't need to be prepared technically).
Headhunter Introduction Meetings (Originally Posted: 10/21/2013)
Hey guys, what type of questions do headhunters ask during introduction meetings? What are they looking for and how do they try to evaluate you?
Standard questions about what you're looking to do next and why, and most will ask you to walk them through a deal from your resume. Nothing unexpected or difficult, but these are important meetings.
Headhunters - Intro meeting (Originally Posted: 09/30/2011)
hi guys,
just had an intro meeting with a headhunter.........at the end of the meeting, the headhunter was interested in sending my resume to a PE shop (really small shop)......i have no interest in what they invest in.......is it okay to nicely tell the headhunter no and explain i would rather leverage my background (i have a science background) and go to a more life sciences orientated pe firm? i heard that telling headhunters no is bad since it shows you're not ready to be serious and it can quickly break your relationship up with the headhunter
Don't know who fed you that advice.
Be honest with your preferences. If you have no legitimate interest in the opportunity she presents, your prep for the interview will most likely reflect it. If you perform poorly in the interview, the firm will be pissed at the HH for sending a dipshit its way.
I've had mezz funds and cleantech PE funds, among other opps, pitched to me and I rejected them. Not my cup of tea. If you're not feigning interest in everything under the sun, your headhunter will know that you have some conviction in your preferences and that you actually know what you want.
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