re: Interview tips for a Private Equity internship

Yep. I still remember your August 2014 threads at LINK and LINK.

I have strong sympathies with anyone trying to navigate non-traditional routes into PE or VC (and who is serious and diligent about it), because I know from personal experience what that road is like.

I got totally shut out of trying to leverage my limited PE experience into entering PE in the Houston area, but now I am taking a totally different route with trying to climb the risk modeling ladder into the hedge fund world. This road has been a very very long one, but now I've almost gotten everything lined up to finally make the last big jump.

frick, this shite is hard though.

I've interviewed a number of analysts for VC and Growth Equity roles, and just like everyone here said, knowing how to model, financial statements, etc are important. But to stand out, I'd do the following:

1) Research some of their portfolio companies. Know as much as possible about a huge win and a failure. Asking detailed questions about the funding rounds, sources and uses of the capital, lessons learned, etc. Most people want to talk about their excel and ppt prowess, but be sure to do your diligence on the company itself.

2) Showcase your ability to add value outside of microsoft office: networking abilities, work ethic, entrepreneurial attitude, etc. Have stories to show how you demonstrated going above and beyond.

Good luck to you. This is one industry that is incredibly hard to break into, but the access to senior level management and C-suite executives is second to none. I learned more about what makes a business successful in 3 months on the job than i did 2 years in biz school.