Private Equity Interview Preparation
Common questions, top firms, salary comparison, career paths, and free AI-scored practice for private equity interviews.
£75,000 base
Avg salary
200+ firms
Firms covered
~2-5% offer rate
Competitiveness
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Overview
What private equity interviews look like
Private equity interviews are rigorous, multi-stage processes designed to identify analytical rigour, commercial thinking, and investment decision-making ability. Most PE firms conduct phone screens with investment professionals, followed by a case interview testing your ability to evaluate an acquisition opportunity, and finally a final round with multiple partners discussing your investment thesis and cultural fit.
Case interviews in PE are fundamentally different from banking interviews. You are given limited information about a company and asked to recommend whether to acquire it at a given price, at what price it should be acquired, or how to structure the investment. These cases test your ability to build a financial model in your head, forecast cash flows, estimate returns (IRR and MOIC), and develop a coherent investment rationale. You must balance optimism about operational improvement opportunities against downside protection.
PE interviews also assess your ability to think like an owner, not a banker. Partners want to understand how you would improve operations, identify synergies, understand customer dynamics, and manage the exit. You will be pressed on assumptions, asked "what ifs?" about the market and competition, and evaluated on how you handle uncertainty. Smaller, more selective PE firms (e.g., Blackstone, KKR, Apollo) are exceptionally competitive; mid-market PE offers a more accessible entry point for graduates.
Questions
Common private equity interview questions
- 1Why private equity?
- 2Why this fund?
- 3Walk me through a leveraged buyout.
- 4How would you value this company? (case)
- 5What is IRR and MOIC?
- 6Walk me through the returns in an LBO.
- 7What is a dividend recapitalisation?
- 8Tell me about a deal you've followed.
- 9How would you improve operations at this company?
- 10What is the difference between 3x and 5x leverage?
- 11How do you assess management quality in a target company?
- 12Tell me about a time you influenced a business decision.
- 13What due diligence would you conduct?
- 14How would you identify acquisition candidates?
- 15What exit strategies exist for PE investments?
- 16Tell me about a time you handled ambiguity.
Free practice
Practise a private equity interview question
Practise a real private equity case interview. You receive company information and must recommend whether to acquire at a given price, or at what price you would acquire. AI evaluates your financial assumptions and investment thesis.
BlackRock — HireVue Practice
Your question
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That was one PE case. Megafunds (Blackstone, KKR, Apollo) test harder on financial modelling; mid-market PE focuses more on operational improvement; lower mid-market emphasises deal origination. Intervyo has fund-specific cases. Start free trial →
Technicals
Key technical knowledge
LBO Mechanics
Acquire company with debt, improve operations, exit at higher multiple. Returns = (Exit Value - Debt Payoff - Initial Equity) / Initial Equity. Two value creation levers: debt paydown and EBITDA growth.
IRR and MOIC
IRR is the annualised return; MOIC (Money Multiple) is total return as a multiple of invested capital. If you invest £100M and exit for £300M, MOIC is 3.0x; IRR depends on hold period.
Financial Modelling
Build a 5-year forecast of revenue, EBITDA, capex, and free cash flow. Project exit EBITDA, apply exit multiple, deduct debt, calculate equity proceeds. Sensitivity analysis on key drivers.
Sources and Uses
Sources of cash: equity, debt, asset sales. Uses: acquisition price, transaction fees, working capital, capex. The sources must equal the uses. Know leverage ratios (Debt/EBITDA).
Operational Improvement
Revenue growth (pricing, volume, market share), cost reduction (COGS, SG&A), working capital efficiency, and capex optimisation. Articulate specific, measurable improvement levers.
Exit Strategy
Trade sale (selling to another company), secondary sale (selling to another PE firm), IPO (going public), or dividend recapitalisation (refinancing debt). Each has different return profiles.
Deal Sourcing
Pipeline development, build relationships with investment bankers, target lists, broken syndications. Understand how deals get identified and why PE firms compete to acquire them.
Risk Management
Downside protection, leverage levels, management retention, working capital requirements, competitive dynamics. Know how PE firms mitigate risks beyond financial projections.
Firms
Top private equity firms
Largest PE fund globally. Highly selective. Strong infrastructure and credit practices.
Elite PE arm within GS. Highly competitive entry point.
Established PE division. Strong technology and healthcare focus.
Large PE platform. Infrastructure and energy focus.
Corporate PE platform. Growing acquisition focus.
Advisory-focused. Opportunities in principal investing.
European PE focus. Mid-market and lower mid-market.
Pure PE platform. Competitive pay, strong culture.
Compensation
Private Equity salary comparison
| Firm | Graduate | Intern | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone | ~£80,000 | ~£65,000 pro-rata | ~£40K-60K |
| Evercore PE | ~£78,000 | ~£63,000 pro-rata | ~£45K-65K |
| Goldman Sachs (SSG) | ~£75,000 | ~£60,000 pro-rata | ~£35K-50K |
| J.P. Morgan Partners | ~£75,000 | ~£60,000 pro-rata | ~£35K-50K |
| Morgan Stanley Infrastructure | ~£75,000 | ~£60,000 pro-rata | ~£35K-50K |
| Lazard Principal Investing | ~£72,000 | ~£58,000 pro-rata | ~£30K-45K |
Career path
Private Equity career progression
Financial modelling, deal analysis, investment research. 2-3 year tenure before MBA.
Deal sourcing, due diligence leadership, investment committee presentations.
Leading deal origination, managing investments, portfolio company oversight.
Large deal leadership, fundraising assistance, partner track potential.
Firm leadership, fundraising, economics participation.
Getting in
How to break into private equity
Build a compelling PE case. Articulate why you want to own and improve businesses, not just advise. Demonstrate intellectual curiosity about companies, industries, and operational improvement.
Network aggressively. PE recruiting is relationship-driven. Attend PE conferences, reach out to alumni, and build relationships with GPs. Cold applications have lower conversion rates.
Develop financial modelling expertise. Practise building LBO models, sensitivity analyses, and valuation models until you can build them quickly and accurately under pressure.
Consider banking as a pipeline. Most PE analysts come from investment banking (2-3 years), corporate development, or management consulting. Breaking into PE directly from university is possible but less common.
Research your target fund thoroughly. Understand their ticket size, sectors, geographies, and recent deals. Tailor your application to show specific interest in how they invest.
Prepare specific examples of deal analysis. Walk through a real acquisition, explain why it was a good or bad deal, and articulate what value creation levers were present.
Demonstrate operational thinking. Beyond financial metrics, discuss how you would improve customer satisfaction, operations, or market position of target companies.
FAQ
Private Equity FAQs
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