I would say “quite low” because even people with directly relevant/traditional experience have trouble getting into PE. If your experience seems less relevant, it will be even harder. Yes, your chances would improve if you moved into private credit first.

Some PE firms have “Operational” or “Value Creation” teams, yes. But they are usually looking for experienced executives and don’t necessarily recruit a lot of entry-level people for Analyst/Associate roles there, as you can’t really do much as a 25-year-old with no industry connections. These areas do not get covered because there’s no money to be made from selling interview guides, modeling courses, etc., as technical skills do not matter much.

That’s hard to hear but the exact clarity I required. Thanks a ton!

Many thanks for your response and the extermely useful content provided as always!

I think it would be quite difficult to work on deals in PE at this point unless you switch careers again and move into investment banking or something closely related. so I would recommend focusing on the operational side unless you want to switch jobs or do a top MBA or something similar and then have to switch yet again from a deal-based role into PE.

Hi Brian, I worked for several years as a Business Valuer running DCF and Comps in both M&A and other contexts; I then switched over to doing Commercial Due Diligences at MBB to get a different view of the investment process. At this point, I’m in my early thirties and sort of at the crossroads of deciding whether to build more towards a career in PE Deals or PE Ops – do you think PE Deals is a path still open to me? Or do you think I should instead pivot to more operational projects and focus on positioning myself as a kick ass PE Ops candidate with deep understanding of the diligence and deal process? I am based in Asian markets for context. Thanks!

Like most sectors in finance, PE is “up or out.” So if you don’t do well enough at your fund to advance, or the fund is not expanding or has performance issues, you may have to look for roles at smaller firms. Recruiters can sometimes be helpful if you match the exact profile they’re seeking, but most job searches are done via networking.

It’s always easier to win new offer and get promoted when the firm is raising a new fund, so yes, that is true, as they’ll need to fill more positions to operate the new fund.

Great post! Thank you for sharing of this information. I’m already in a PE as Senior Asso after a being an Asso at a BB. Although I like the PE work, feel the anxiety when you said Asso / Senior Asso may need to downside to advance. Can you share a bit more how that will likely happen if one decides to go that route? Similarly via recruiters or one needs to reach out more to expand the network to smaller shops when she/he finds internal promotion is not likely to happen easily?

Also heard some people said it’s easier to ask for promotion during new fund raising, do you see it’s still the trend in today’s market?

Thank you for your time and help!

At the junior levels, no, not really. But you do have to travel more as you move up to meet up with portfolio companies. I can’t estimate the hourly commitments at each level, but many MDs/Partners are gone for significant percentages of time.