I’m trying to put together a portfolio of deal write-ups from my consulting work, and I’m stuck on what actually matters. I’ve got a few solid project experiences—some M&A support, a couple of operational improvements that added measurable value—but I’m not sure which ones I should package up and how to position them for PE recruiting.
The challenge is that most of my work was advisory-focused, so the narratives are naturally positioned from a consultant’s perspective. I’ve been trying to reframe them to emphasize value creation and downside thinking, but I’m not confident I’m hitting what PE teams actually look for in a portfolio.
Has anyone built a portfolio specifically to prep for PE recruiting? What made certain deal write-ups stand out to recruiters or interviewers? And how honest can you be about what you actually owned versus what you just supported? I don’t want to oversell my involvement, but I also want to make sure I’m not underselling the impact I did have.