Getting a Job in Private Equity

Private equity investment refers to investments that are made to private companies or conducting buyouts of public companies that result in a delisting of public equity.

There are different roles at private equity funds.

• Analyst. They are the junior professionals and mainly provide deal support such as deal sourcing, market research, company analysis, financial modeling, valuation, and due diligence.
  
• Associate / Senior Associate: Associates have more interaction with senior professionals (principal and partner) and sometimes supervise analysts
  
• Vice President: They lead execution tasks and some initial deal negotiation
  
• Principal: They run the daily deal process and oversee investment professionals
  
• Partner: They raise funds, build teams, and set fund strategies
  

But how to get a job in private equity? It has been shown that the following people have a higher chance of getting a job in private equity.

• Investment banking analysts with around 2 years' extensive financial modeling experience
  
• Consultants with strong analytical skills and excellent market research, strategic thinking, and decision making capabilities
  
• Those people who have extensive operational experience in some particular industries such as health care, alternative energy, etc.
  

You may learn from others who have successfully got into the private equity industry. Here are some examples.

• A engineering graduate with with consulting experience in technology got a job with a technology-focused private equity fund