Seem to always fail at the final / semi-final stage in PE interviews

Rejected by my third process. I have only interviewed with a handful of funds so far as I wanted to be careful with the type of funds I interview with (not looking at MFs or funds known to be sweaty) but now I’m ramping up my recruitment effort. I’m also kinda waiting for a rejection from my fourth process as it’s been more than a week since I’ve done my semi-final interview. I’m not even sure if this is positive or negative as I have never failed a single modelling test / case study but I somehow never had any luck in the semi-final and final round (was rejected after final round in my first two processes). I’m trying to take the positives away and focus on the feedback I have received but it’s getting a little tiring to do all these interviews for each company and never walk away with an offer.

 

Have you already made your mind up with respect to leaving at the end of your second year (assuming you land a PE role)? If so, might be easier to push back on certain projects to free up more time for yourself to prepare for specific interviews/case studies without having to stay up all night every day trying to manage both. There's certainly more optionality if you are still putting in 110% at your bank as you will have bought yourself more of a runway if recruiting doesn't go as planned this spring but can also hurt you during your interviews if your group is extremely busy.

 

I am actively interviewing too now. Something that I personally struggle with is showing energy / enthusiasm, especially now that interviews are over Zoom. Idk if this is your issue too but maybe reflect on how you could structure answers more positively (e.g., “I want to be in middle market because there’s more opportunity to source proprietary deals” to “I want to be in middle market because there are more opportunity to work on proprietary deals and that excites me because I like developing relationships with executives/potential targets and having an early exposure to sourcing which I think is a critical element to an investing career”. 
 

Just something that I struggle with so figured might share.

 

Hey man, I know it's a grind but you just have to keep at it. I went through half a dozen processes in my first year on the job, and another 4-5 during my second till I finally broke through on my current position. All the previous ones failed at the last or 2nd to last stage of the processes, so I know exactly how frustrating it can start to feel. Just ask for feedback each time and hopefully get whatever takeaways you can, adjust, and move on. If you're genuinely enthusiastic and show competence, I believe it will shine through once you find the right fit.

 

It's only robotic if you're robotic in your answer. I've always felt behavioral stuff isn't emphasized enough, not just what your answer is to the question but how you give the answer is as if not more important. I've spoken with founders who had utterly broken English but because their nonverbal cues were extremely positive we had great conversations, interviews are no different. Things to think about and maybe practice in a mirror if you're a psycho like me:

  • Eye contact (nobody likes a fidgeting little shit who won't look them in the eye when you're speaking with them, a MM GP told me that as the last part of our conversation and it really stuck with me)
  • Mirroring positive body language
  • Tonal control
  • Smiling (within reason, not like you just got hit with Joker gas) when I'm talking about my personal experiences or reaffirming something the interviewer said
  • I always try to pause for a second or two before asking thoughtful questions about the interviewer's experience working with the firm or their thoughts/interests as it relates to something they've got listed on their profile. I find it helps with my own nerves if I feel like I'm controlling the pace of part of the conversation and not the other way around.
  • I always try to have something in the background (assuming you're doing video interviews) that is a conversation starter. I have framed art from overseas and some other cool knickknacks that I rotate behind me in my work space so sometimes an interviewer (or executive/founder) will ask about what one of them is and I can launch into a short 1-2 minute story about an experience I had. If I'm lucky, maybe they've been to that place or somewhere nearby and it becomes a point of mutual contact. If not, it at least shows them that I'm somewhat interesting outside of a work capacity. A plain white background is boring and makes you look like you work in an asylum (in my opinion).

These are just some of the things I personally worked on (and got feedback from in various ways), but everyone's different. Can't emphasize enough how meaningful it is to ask for feedback after a failed process and come from a place of wanting to improve over a "wtf what did I do wrong" attitude. Worst case you don't get an answer, best case you get an answer that helps you get the next offer.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 
Most Helpful

So many people overestimate the importance of the LBO modeling test when it can kill your chances but it's not enough to get the offer when you are up against crazy competition...

  • Why specifically THAT fund/niche that interests you?
  • How are you talking about your specific deals in IB?  do you sound like an investor
  • On the longer cases, are you surprising them (positively) with them with the depth of your diligence knowledge?

It is so incredible brutal recruiting while trying to work in IB, so it may make sense to just take a break for a few weeks and start pushing back on your IB to carve out some time for yourself to reset.   

The other reality is even if you are great in these interviews (you are likely well-prepped if you are making it to final rounds), you still need luck on your side.

Good luck!

Patrick

 

^^^ their interview guides and video tutorials are amazing, easily worth more than 2-3x what they charge. Have multiple friends in PE now who swear by them.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

0/3 or 0/4 isn't bad at all. I think I interviewed at 12-15 places before landing with a firm I liked. Not everybody is going to like you... and that's okay because 1) you're not a fit for every firm, same as not every firm will be a fit for you (and it's way better to discover that now than after you start the job!) and 2) you only need one to hit. Chin up, try to take away good lessons from your interviews, and just remember it's a numbers game

 

Thank you very much for the encouragement! Agree 0 / 3 or 4 is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Have to say one of the 3 which rejected me after final round was actually very selective and they are known to be intense so I guess it’s a blessing in disguise I didn’t get it and I took away from the process with some very positive feedback and development points.

Will definitely keep grinding and not lose hope!

 

PE-biz-dev

0/3 or 0/4 isn't bad at all. I think I interviewed at 12-15 places before landing with a firm I liked. Not everybody is going to like you... and that's okay because 1) you're not a fit for every firm, same as not every firm will be a fit for you (and it's way better to discover that now than after you start the job!) and 2) you only need one to hit. Chin up, try to take away good lessons from your interviews, and just remember it's a numbers game

100% you're so on point. The journey to PE for most is marathon, not a sprint.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Glad to see the encouraging posts and hearing some of their breakthroughs. I'm in the same position as you, although not interviewing for PE. Talked with several banks for ER roles, P72, and a small FO. Got far with every single one of them but most of them ultimately went with someone with more experience. One of the ER teams didnt even get back to me after putting in ~60 hours on a case study.

I feel like I'm at my wits end, since I quit my job ~7 months ago and have been having consistent interviews every since. Hopefully we have breakthroughs soon.

 

It might not be applicable to your situation but before I joined my BB (CS/BAML/Citi) as an IB analyst, I have been rejected by every single company I have interviewed for. This include positions that people on this site look down on, e.g. tax advisory at BDO, retail banking at HSBC etc. The only company that eventually accepted me, after every other ones thought I was not good enough, was actually one that I had always wanted to work for.

I’m positive that something good will turn up for us eventually!

 

Hiring isn't a perfect science, particularly with candidates that are early in their careers and have limited track records. It is ultimately a bit of a numbers game and luck does play a factor as you get later into processes. The glasses half full view of your situation is that you're getting deep into processes, which means you're passing the initial sniff test and you're not being dinged for obvious incompetence or being a complete weirdo. Take some comfort in that, but also make sure you're reflecting on reasons why you might have been dinged in each process. Self-awareness is an important trait.

3 or 4 processes isn't much though, so I wouldn't be overly concerned at this point.

 

not PE, but as I went through recruiting for IB last year, I went through 9 different interview processes (not to mention the countless banks that didn't even give me an interview) before I landed an internship for this summer at a group that kills it in a particular sector. I would just suggest that you keep the chin up and continue to work hard and introspect on the little things that might have helped you if you did it slightly differently. On the point about being showing excitement through zoom, I would suggest that you be more expressive with your hands and facial expressions. While it may seem a bit excessive to you, the guy on the other side won't think so. In the end, what helped me convert the offer on the 9th try was this expressiveness. 

 

Honestly, it sounds like you're doing very well if you've reached the final round that many times. I know it's a ton of work, but as others have said, keep at it and I am sure something will convert. 

For context: I have spent my career in the lower middle market ($500M -$2B funds), so it has been less competitive. Despite that, I went through 3 failed super days (that I believe were the final round) and 15-20 total failed processes before landing my Associate role. 

 

coming from a group with historically a lot of off cycle recruiting (albeit for HFs), i know several guys who interviewed with 25-35 different funds (and got quite far in some processes) before finding the right one. off cycle recruiting is an absolute slog and is completely disheartening at times, but you have to suffer if you wanna get that biscuit and end up at a sick ass place

 

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