Q&A: Signed to a PE UMM/MF during 2019 on-cycle from MBB

Hey everyone. 2020 on-cycle PE recruiting will probably be heating up in the next couple of months (unless Covid significantly changes things this year). And since quarantine is starting to bore me to tears, I thought I'd open myself up for questions on my experience during the last on-cycle process in case it's helpful for some of you.

Background isn't too unusual: went to target, had prior internships in finance, went straight to MBB, then signed at a UMM/MF that hires both bankers and consultants. I have several friends in banking who also recruited and placed, though obviously I can speak more to the route from MBB.

Before asking any questions I would highly recommend reading the following walk-through from @embeebee, who did the same thing but in 2018:
wallstreetoasis. com/forums/private-equity-recruiting-walkthrough-my-experience

And would look through his prior Q&A since it might already answer your question:https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/qa-2nd-yea…

Otherwise if you have additional questions, fire away. (Mods, let me know if you want to verify.)

WSO Podcast
Check out the podcast with @perecruiting_throwaway here.

 

I presume you mean networking events at your school for MBB recruiting? To be honest I really don't think these matter too much. Chances are low that the person you talk to will be able or willing to push your resume through to ensure that you get an interview. In my personal experience, networking in general isn't as effective for securing MBB interviews as it is for getting PE interviews. Perhaps the networking session will give you a couple of names to include in your cover letter if you have particularly good conversations, but it likely won't move the needle.

 
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This is misleading advice.

Networking is a process that begins before these broad recruiting events through cold emailing and/or workshops designed to groom underclass men who expressed early consulting career interest into successful applicants. Subsequent company presentations and networking receptions are a way to strengthen these relationships, either by meeting with the contact you’ve previously networked with, or by meeting someone that they indicate you should meet with who will be expecting the conversation. If you have networked with someone at the manager level or higher, they will specifically note to the recruiting team or a consultant involved with recruiting that you are a strong candidate and should likely be extended an interview given that there are no red flags.

For those late to the game, while relationships formed at networking receptions generally won’t move the needle, it is still worth shooting your shot (and there is free catered food). Analysts and Associates attending these events are involved in firm recruiting efforts and therefore more likely to be those screening resumes. If you network with someone and are fortunate enough that they screen your resume (this kind of luck happens every year) then there is a significantly higher chance you will get a foot in the door by way of a first round interview invitation. The junior employee is much more likely to push your resume through if they recognize your name. The extent of what this entails includes a few thoughtful questions at the networking event, asking for a card, sending a thank you email, and extremely rare cases when initiated by the consultant, a follow up call.

By not attending these networking events you are not maximizing your odds.

 

Thank you for doing this - here's some questions I have...

What made you choose to go the PE route given the variety of other exit opps available to MBB consultants?

What types of projects did you complete (or was working on) and how did you discuss those during the interview process (I guess to convey interest as an investor vs consultant)

Which networking events for UMM/MF did you go to? Did you actively reach out to HH?

Did your MBB (colleagues I suppose) know that you were recruiting for PE? Did this affect your work (if outside of NYC or SF, I'd assume you may need to travel for interviews etc)? How did you deal with scheduling?

 

I knew that I wanted to do PE going into MBB, and had decided that I'd rather avoid banking if possible.

It wasn't difficult for me personally to express my interest in investing since I had pursued finance before MBB and have been investing my own money for years. I think that passion showed through pretty obviously during the interviews.

Went to whatever networking events I was invited to through the headhunters. I did proactively reach out to all the top HHs to make sure I was on their radar. Chances are that one might miss you, so I wanted to make sure I left as little to chance as possible.

I discuss scheduling on the podcast. It was difficult to ignore work when on-cycle kicked off but I was just transparent with my manager. It's all you can do. Some MBBs are more PE recruiting-friendly than others, but you do what you have to do. Luckily I didn't have to fly, but it wouldn't have changed much besides not being able to start until Friday morning instead of right when it kicked off Thursday night.

 

Thank you for doing this. Could you walk through the following?

1) Your interview process on the day of the interview for a single firm:

  • How long was the interview?

  • How many interviews?

  • Can you take us step by step what a day in a PE interview looks like? (LBO model test, case interview, behaviorals, deal/project experience, etc)

  • What does the case interview w model test look like? What is the investment memo supposed to look like when you present? PPT?

2) Did headhunters get you interviews at strategies/firms you showed interest at? I’ve heard that headhunters sometimes don’t really listen to your preference and throw opportunities at you that you didn’t show interest in, while the ones you wanted go past you

 

The interviews are generally 30-45 minutes, and you will have anywhere from 6-15 of them by the time you get an offer.

The step-by-step varies for each firm, but generally it starts with one or two standardized tests, like building a model, paper LBO, PIB review, etc. Once you make it past that it gets more variable depending on who is interviewing you. I also run through this in more detail on my podcast.

I never did a PowerPoint case or formal presentation. Fundamentally, the case interviews are speaking intelligently about an investment opportunity. If there is a model that comes first, it just gives you more to discuss and analyze but it doesn't change that reality too much. They're looking to see if you think like an investor and if you're someone they could see themselves discussing potential investments with.

The headhunters generally threw me to all the consultant-friendly UMM/MF firms that they covered within the geographies that I was open to. The preferences within that universe matter a bit less since those firms generally all compete over the same MBB talent pool and the HHs throw you those opportunities accordingly. From what I could gather, they generally think of you as an MBB person and don't segment too much past that. It's not as differentiated as it might be for a banker, where you may have to be specifying a more specific type of firm since your universe of firms is much larger.

 

For firms that like to take consultants (Berkshire, H&F, GGC etc) how are the interviews for consultants different than the ones for bankers? if you’re a banker going for these funds, do you have to adjust your prep to account for more consulting type questions?

 

Yes. If you're a banker I recommend doing prep on both the modeling and investment case study front, because you'll need both to get through the process. Bankers who only can model and are not good at discussing the model's results and how they relate to an investment thesis are generally not going to succeed in either process. Similarly, consultants who have no idea how an LBO works will likely not succeed even at the shops you mentioned.

With that said, you can of course tailor some of your studying to be more heavy on the case interview side if you know that you're targeting funds that heavily stress it. It's less of something you can explicitly study for, though, since you just need to be able to speak intelligently about an investment. If you invest on your own its a great start since you're already forced into this way of thinking on a daily basis.

 

Do you think MBB gives better shot of MF/UMM PE than a BB/EB? And sounds like you were in the NYC office - do you think being in another office and recruiting for NYC PE is significantly harder? And how much smaller is the universe of funds that will even look at you - I’m guessing that KKR/Blackstone/Carlyle dont really take consultants besides like KKR Capstone while BainCap might take a lot?

 

I think at a top bank/group your odds are probably still better. But I would bet that MBB gives you a better shot than from less sought after middle-market banks.

No, you can successfully recruit from any office in the US. You might miss an initial interview if you're not already in NYC (e.g. consultants who flew in couldn't start until Friday morning even though on-cycle kicked off Thursday night for some firms), so it does help your chances to either be in the NYC office or be on a NYC-based project around the time that on-cycle will likely kick off.

Universe is 15-20 UMM/MF firms that hire consultants for deal team roles. You should be able to compile your own list pretty easily starting from info that's available on WSO. From there you'll want to learn more about each fund so that you can start to differentiate them in your mind.

 

what kind of cases did you do during your short stint at MBB? did you try to focus on DD and other PE related cases?

how difficult/easy was it to get top HH’s to meet with you and recommend you to PE firms coming from MBB?

what else did you do while working as a consultant to maximize your chances of PE after?

thanks for sharing, I’ll be at MBB this summer and FT and am interested in PE after having interned last summer at a MMPE shop

 

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