Headhunter Calls and Megafund Coffee Chats for 2024 On-Cycle

8/27/22: Headhunter interviews and early look megafund coffee chats are happening NOW.

TLDR:

1. If you’re doing On-cycle, schedule headhunter interviews ASAP
2. In the last two cycles, PE interviews have kicked off 1-2 weeks after initial headhunter outreach
3. Candidates who didn’t schedule the headhunter call early enough were excluded from On-Cycle
4. Megafunds have already started doing “early look” coffee chats with exceptional candidates
5. If you’re not doing On-cycle, there is no immediate need to schedule headhunter calls

As much of the Street knows by now, headhunters officially reached out to 1st year banking analysts this week to schedule initial screens for PE Recruiting for On-Cycle 2024.

If you plan on participating in On-Cycle recruiting this year to lock up a PE offer with a 2024 start date, it is imperative to have your phone screens ASAP.

If you do not plan on interviewing for on-cycle, there is no rush to get headhunter calls scheduled. Reach back out to them after On-cycle is over and you have more experience.

For the last two PE recruiting cycles, there were less than 2 weeks between initial headhunter outreach and PE firms kicking off official interviews. Many analysts who were slower to schedule headhunter calls did not get a chance to participate in On-cycle recruiting. Since headhunters are the gatekeepers who determine who gets to interview at PE funds, you have to speak with them to be considered for interviews. If PE firms kick off interviewing before you are screened, you’re most likely out of luck.

Many headhunter calls were happening throughout the past week and will continue into the weekend. If you haven’t talked to the core PE headhunters yet, we recommend reaching out to them and getting calls scheduled for Saturday and Sunday (or as early as possible).

Furthermore, we know multiple mentees who have started having coffee chats with Megafunds as “early look” candidates.

Firms often do early coffee chats with standout candidates in their network. Many outstanding diversity candidates are also considered for “early looks.”

Noteworthy this year, Blackstone seems to be doing their own thing relative to the other PE firms and stated in an email they won’t conduct interviews until after Labor Day, regardless of when other PE firms start interviewing.

You can find our Headhunter 101 guide here

This email is going out to platform users only. Make a free account here to stay in the loop with the most up-to-date On-Cycle news.

If you’re interested in ramping up over the weekend with 1:1 coaching, don’t hesitate to reach out. While our latest On-cycle cohort is full and our mentees are ready to go, we will open up a handful of spots to high-potential candidates.