Hi all,
I have been scheduling calls with a few firms over the past few months. I am an IB analyst at a decent-sized firm with very good deal experience looking to get into the MM / LMM buyout space.
In addition to going through recruiters, I have been having side conversations with (mainly associates) at PE shops that invest in the verticals in which I have deal experience.
How do I "sell" myself to them in these conversations? What do these guys like to hear? Most often I discuss my background, walk through a few of my deals and then have the opportunity to ask them a few questions. But for whatever reason, things go "luke warm" after and I don't think I am impressing them as much as other candidates.
Is there anything I can do about this?
Thanks
Hi Waymon3x6, the silence is deafening, sorry about that.... Any of the threads below helpful?
You're welcome.
The issue probably is that firms in the LMM typically only hire on an "as-needed" basis and don't follow a formal recruitment cycle like the UMM / MFs or like banking, so while the conversations you might have had went well, there probably wasn't anything actionable. Were those funds all on the smaller side? It may be a reflection of their needs at this time as opposed to anything "wrong" with your background or chat.
I’d agree with the above poster. They are most likely just trying to build their Rolodex and taking calls, but LMM firms run tight and only hire ad hoc.
You can ask them if they are hiring or to keep you in consideration next time they are looking.
I've lead hiring for our associates in the past, meant lots of screens with IB analysts, here are my high level thoughts.
Have a tight well rehearsed story. Nothing longer than 3-4 min, you'd be surprised at how many people ramble. A bad answer to "tell me about yourself" can almost kill the whole interview for me.
Be able to walk through your deals well, but also try and think of them from the lens of a PE or strategic. Why were they buying the asset, why was it a good deal, etc. I've had people tell me about how they owned the model etc, but I don't really care about that, I'm screening for general investment sense/knowledge
Have a good why xxx firm answer. I can tell if you're giving me a generic pitch on why PE. I want to see that you've done at least a few min of HW to figure out why you're specifically interested in our firm.
Most importantly, you need to come across as mature, confident, and charismatic. For a LMM/MM firm you're going to be taking on a broader set of responsibilities than associates at bigger shops. That might mean significant travel, board meetings, working with portco management, sourcing, etc. The test I always run in my head is "could this person travel to our portco at xxx location, run a project with the CFO/CEO, convince them that they know what they're doing(and can actually execute on what they have to do) and then after a day of work be able to go out to a dinner with said CFO/CEO and entertain them, hold a conversation etc.
This is truthfully where 90% of people fall out for me. A lot of the analysts seem too young and if I can't seem them confidently stepping into this type of role, I could care less about how many deals they've worked, pedigree, etc.
Anyways this isn't the be all end all advice, but this if what my firm screens for.
Thank you all, this was very helpful.
I think those are all very well-said points - thanks. I've been through my story quite a few times now and can articulate why I want to do PE and why their firm is interesting to me.
However, where I think I can impress them is by walking through my deals (and touching on the points you mentioned - the rationale, why it was a good deal strategically etc).
The issue is that many times, given that these are "informational-type" interviews, the associate on the other end won't ask me about the deals on my resume.
How do I walk them through a deal, if they do not ask? Should I loop this into my story? Or offer to walk them through one of my deals after I discuss my background?
Going off of the above, sometimes they won't ask me "why are you interested in our firm". Should I loop this into my story as well? I feel like these are selling points I can really nail, but they sometimes don't give me the opportunity to discuss these so the calls seem more generic.
My second question is, what are good questions to ask them? I usually ask them about their background, why they chose x firm and then maybe try to get a sense of associate work (how "hands-on" they are with their portcos, how much time is spent between working on new deals / portco work etc.) - am I missing anything major here? I try not to ask about fund performance or anything that might be a bit "aggressive" for an informational-interview.
Thanks
Adding to what was said above, know your audience. I’ll let your imagination run wild here, but try to learn as much about the interviewer pre-interview as an HR person would want to know about you. Blend common aspects of your backgrounds into the discussion by implying certain things, such as having studied field X before doing finance, having traveled to country X, etc. Connecting with the interviewer is by far the most important piece of an interview. Without it, I’ll forget about you. Besides, if you’re to conduct due diligence for me and you don’t know that I went to Italy last summer based on my barely active yet public instagram account registered under my full name, I know you didn’t do your homework. Anyone can learn technicals, but not everyone can actually pull a solid, easy-flowing conversation with an interviewer. Turning an inherently cold process into a slightly warmer chat will helps tremendously.
Ah, yes, MS for writing about a key aspect of interviews, one that helped me go from non-target to MM M&A analyst to a 5+ billion AUM MM PE associate within two years, beating people with MBAs to the punch.
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