Ahead of process kick-off, headhunters might schedule opportunities for you to engage with private equity firms of interest through "coffee chats" -- this replaces traditional "banking networking", as described in Step 3. Due to COVID-19, these chats were held virtually for my on-cycle recruiting process. While today, these are held both in-person and virtually, you should be thinking of these as much more than coffee chats. Coffee chat invitations are another good indicator, as mentioned in Step 5, of near-term on-cycle kick off -- they are essentially a soft launch. Many private equity firms use these 1-on-1's as a proxy for 1st round interviews, scouting talent prior to the process "officially" kicking off so that they know who to prioritize and expedite to the 60-90 minute modeling test (see Step 4). As you can see, not a lot of coffee involved... treat these as any other interview. It is also important to ask questions as well. Again, this is as much of a process of you interviewing the firm as it is them interviewing you.

​

Be prepared to interview at any time. Headhunters will let you know when the process officially kicks off, either emailing or calling you with the first batch of private equity firms that would like to have you interview. For context, on-cycle recruiting started at 9:30 PM on a Monday for me, with interviews going until midnight, modeling tests starting at 5:00 AM the next day, and interviews running through the rest of the morning -- I was participating in 2-3 firm processes. I was done by noon on Tuesday, having received and accepted an offer with Carlyle, my 1st choice.

The max number of firms I'd say you can realistically interview with at any one time is 2-3 just given how quick some firms move and whether or not they have you wait around for the next interview. With on-cycle moving as fast as it does, you should have an idea of what private equity firms you'd like to prioritize vs. others. Sometimes, you might feel pressured to taking interviews at firms from headhunters. Stay calm, remember it is your career, and do not be afraid to ask the headhunter for the full range of interview availability should you have conflicting interviews with other firms of interest.

​

In terms of questions, I have put together the “Top 10 Technical Questions” and “Top 10 Behavioral Questions” within the "Downloadable Resources" section as well as “Brainteaser Questions”. Your interviews leading up to and following the modeling test will be a mix of both technical and behavioral questions, with the majority of technical "screener" questions, including the Paper LBO (see Step 4), coming prior to the modeling test.

​

As stated, given on-cycle happens at the beginning of analyst programs, there isn't much deal experience to reference. That being said, if you'd like to reference the deals and projects you contributed to during your summer, I would highly recommend preparing "deal sheets", which are one-pager summaries of what the deal was, what you did, any important financial metrics, and your opinion of whether it was / wasn't a good deal / investment -- see the "Deal Sheet Template" in the "Downloadable Resources" section for an example I put together. The most important part of the deal sheet is having a crisp answer for your role in the project, as that will be what private equity firms are most interested in learning about.  

​

Finally, be prepared to go through 5-8 different interviews, including the modeling test, with any given firm. Sometimes, firms will require you to meet the entire team, which can sometimes span to 10+ interviews! Rest assured that if you make it past the modeling test, the firm thinks you are technically capable of the private equity associate position and believes that you are a strong fit. Do not, however, then take it easy -- the last thing you want is to be dinged just because you treated an interview as if you already had the offer. While a mentally and physically taxing process, treat every interview as if it was the one deciding the offer. You got this!