Everything you need to know to get a job in private equity: timelines, interview tips, and top headhunters
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Business Insider
Sep 7, 2021, 22:32 IST
Private-equity jobs are some of the most competitive on Wall Street.
Samantha Lee/Business Insider
Jobs in private equity are some of the most sought after on Wall Street.
Recruiting of PE associates from investment banks is beginning after a year-long pause.
Insider has compiled all the things you need to know about landing a job in PE.
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Private equity is one of the most competitive jobs markets for young professionals on Wall Street. The jobs are extremely lucrative: total comp for associate ranks can easily top $200,000.
Insider has mapped out everything you need to know if you're looking to land a job at firms like Blackstone and KKR, from the latest on the recruiting timeline for associates to the top headhunters to know.
The recruiting timeline for PE is ramping up after a hiatus
Samantha Lee/Business Insider
Wall Street headhunters do battle year after year to line up the top banking talent for their investment-firm clientele. But, their aggressive recruiting process came to a screeching halt in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
After a year-long delay, recruiting for 2022 private-equity associate roles is slated to start in the beginning of September.
A number of influential buy-side recruiting firms began sending out emails to second-year investment-banking analysts at the end of August to arrange intro meetings after Labor Day.
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Want to know which firms have kicked off their outreach? We've got details on the headhunters involved on what the timeline may look like.
Odyssey Search Partners; The Carlyle Group; Bain Capital; Apollo Global Management; Samantha Lee/Business Insider
In December 2020, Insider spoke to the top internal and third-party PE recruiters to understand what to expect.
The group, which consisted of talent executives from Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital, and The Carlyle Group, detailed everything you need to know to land a gig in PE.
In the world of private equity, few names hold more weight than Blackstone and KKR. Insider spoke with executives at both firms to understand what they're looking for in candidates.
PE firms are stepping up their training game for new recruits
Matan Feldman is Wall Street Prep’s founder and managing partner.
Wall Street Prep
Learning to model a leveraged buyout. Understanding the basics of diligence. Knowing what makes a good investment, and how to win over the support of more senior investors.
Having a mix of intuition and hard skills is key to becoming a successful private-equity investor.
But, with an increase in the number of new job opportunities for undergrads to go straight into private equity after college, more megafunds are recognizing that the race to hire top talent early means their analysts and associates need to bulk up on their technical knowhow when they hit the desk.
Matan Feldman, founder of Wall Street Prep, an external firm that provides training for employees at megafunds, spelled out what that means in an interview with Insider.
Annie Paydar, left, and Alex Crisses, right.
Courtesy of General Atlantic
While hiring out of investment banks remains the primary path for young people to reach the vaunted world of investing, that, too, is starting to evolve.
At KKR, the private-equity megafund, the firm has been running an analyst program since 2020 that hires a small number of students straight out of college into full-time gigs. Grace Koo, KKR's head of talent acquisition, spelled out how it developed its campus outreach strategy during a year of virtual recruiting.
Plus, at $65 billion growth-equity investor General Atlantic, the firm's sourcing internship has been letting college students step up to the plate in pitching new investments for the past five years. Alex Crisses, the firm's head of new investment sourcing, and Annie Paydar, global head of human capital, gave Insider a special look at the hyper-competitive program, which selects fewer than 10 applicants - out of more than 500 - each year.
Disclosure: KKR is a large shareholder in Axel Springer, which owns Business Insider.
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