You have a working draft of your resume, have proactively signed up on headhunters' websites, and are regularly practicing LBO modeling. This takes a lot of time and dedication, and you should feel a sense of accomplishment. Now on to the process itself!

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If this past on-cycle recruiting process (occurred Summer 2023 to recruit candidates that would start at their respective private equity firms in Summer 2025)is any indication of the future, then you should prepare as if on-cycle recruiting will occur during August / September 2024 to recruit the candidates that would start Summer 2026. To give you context how this has played out historically...

• Class starting private equity in Summer 2022 (my year): On-cycle happened a year into my analyst program due to COVID-19, as highlighted previously in Step 2

• Class starting private equity in Summer 2023 (year below me): On-cycle happened ~8 months into the analyst program (March 2022)

• Class starting private equity in Summer 2024 (two years below me): Started late August 2022

• Class starting private equity in Summer 2025 (three years below me): Started late July 2023

As you can see, it has only gotten earlier and earlier, without fail. I don't want this timeline to induce stress -- I am simply trying to be as honest as possible so that you have an idea of what to expect... if you are set on doing on-cycle, better to diligently prepare than get caught off guard! It is nearly impossible to truly know when the on-cycle process will kick-off, but there are definitely some indicators, such as headhunter interviews (see Step 6) and coffee chats (see Step 7).

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When headhunters send around an introduction email, such as the below, this has historically meant that on-cycle recruiting would happen 1-2 weeks thereafter. As you can see, the below introductory email was sent on August 31st -- on-cycle recruiting then happened on September 14th. I have been told that headhunters are beginning to now email seniors in college (who have had investment banking internships / whose contact information has been shared via the current full-time investment banking analyst class, as highlighted in Step 3) at the beginning of the school year with emails like the below... on-cycle recruiting will definitely not happen during your final year of college, but it just goes to show that if they are reaching out THAT early, future timelines shouldn't deviate much from the past.

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Taking a look at the below, you'll see that they mandate registration ("Register with us" bullet). As outlined in Step 2 and Step 3, this is a step you can get ahead of with proper preparation -- they indicate that the registration process can be time consuming. This is true! The last thing you want is to not be able to participate in on-cycle recruiting just because you didn't have time to register with the headhunters, so get the administrative work out of the way as soon as possible.

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Making a strong first impression is critical. Be responsive to headhunters and showcase the highest level of professionalism -- aside from showing respect, it will go a long way in helping you receive interviews with your firms of interest.