Update on On-Cycle 2025

Everything We Know

On-Cycle kicked off earlier than ever last night — Friday July 21 (Apollo and General Atlantic kicked off according to Gold Coast)

This caught everyone off guard - people thought they had until at least August / September, which by the way is still absurdly early to interview and commit to a job two full years out…

Majority of analysts are NOT prepared right now! UNDERSTAND this!

PE firms are aware that most analysts haven’t prepped - they are trying to scoop up the small number of analysts who have been OVER OBSESSED about PE and been preparing hardcore early because it might indicate they really want it.

Are you currently interviewing for On-Cycle 2025?

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Not ALL MAJOR PE firms are going to participate in On-Cycle, i.e. we haven’t heard much about Thoma Bravo or Vista Equity (correct us if we’re wrong here)… remember we don’t talk to EVERYONE, we talk to a lot of folks though. We’ve heard many firms are going to wait until the fall time…

Last year, On-Cycle was in August, and the years prior they were typically in September (COVID adjusted). We know that last year, not all associate roles were filled up during On-Cycle because PE firms did not find enough Homerun candidates. 

They saved a few spots for later in the cycle!

We expect this year will be same - since on-cycle is so early, it’s hard to imagine 100% of PE associate slots will fill up because there simply aren’t that many analysts ready to convert…

If you have been prepping (as our mentees have with our Coaches) and are ready to interview, we absolutely recommend interviewing this upcoming week! Understand there will MOST PROBABLY be an LBO modeling test, there will be a case study, you will be asked why you like PE, why you like XYZ firm, what’s your favorite portfolio company/maybe even least favorite…

Interviewing earlier is better because spots fill up on a rolling basis. If a PE firm has filled it’s class before you get a chance to interview, you’re out of luck!

Apax is apparently happening today…

Apparently Carlyle was going to happen last night but now is on Sunday for some… more of an update coming shortly, Twitter might be the best place to follow us for this.

How prepared do you feel for interviews right now?

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If you aren’t ready - get ready ASAP. Even if you don’t participate in the On-Cycle this upcoming week, DON’T GET CAUGHT OFF GUARD FOR THE NEXT WAVE! Recruiting is starting and it will CONTINUE for some time… expect that so don’t fret — you can 100% get a solid shop offer even if you’re starting from the 5-Yard Line right now!

Speaking of which, in the years prior a Former Mentee actually went through all 10 hours on our Crash Course within 4 days and got a Megafund Offer! How insane (she took off work clearly). Even if you start today, you COULD get an offer by end-of-week according to this math — how insane is that!

We speak with hundreds of analysts every year - they all want to know how to time the test. We give the same feedback everytime: Don’t Time The Test. We know what you will be evaluated on, and we have the materials you need to prep for it. Get the prep done as soon as you decide you want to recruit for PE - it will take 40-50 hours of prep total for most people. HOWEVER that is to get to 100% Completion — I think you can get multiple offers honestly this time around at just being at 60-70% completion because tbh so many are unprepared. Believe us when we say, everyone has been caught off guard.

Don’t leave optionality to interview whenever they happen — ideally you want to operate on your OWN TIMELINE however when things happen quickly, the quicker you can make a decision and move the better for you! I would easily start off with our $36 PE Platform Access below!