Been at a top consulting firm for about four years now, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m genuinely curious what private equity firms actually look for when they’re recruiting from consulting. Everyone talks about case skills translating, but PE recruiting is so opaque that I honestly don’t know if I’m building the right stuff or just assuming.
I’ve closed two client exits and led diligence on a third large deal, and I have clean instincts on valuation work, but I can’t tell if those projects actually signal anything meaningful to a PE firm or if I’m just another consultant who thinks their experience is more relevant than it actually is.
What did you actually do to telegraph that you were serious about moving into PE? Was it specific deal experience, relationships, network moves, or something else entirely? I’m trying to figure out if I should be more strategic about the projects I’m picking over the next cycle or if I’m overthinking this.
here’s what pe firms actually care about and what they pretend to care about. they say they want “deal instincts” but they actually want someone who won’t tank the ops integration phase. your exit experience matters, but what matters more is whether you can convince them you won’t just bail back to consulting when things get uncomfortable. the signal isn’t your best projects—it’s demonstrating you’ve got the appetite for the messiness of portfolio management. network moves beat project selection every time. know a partner. that’s the table stakes.
this is such a good question!! i’m only a couple years in at my firm but hearing about diligence experience sounds like that’s the path to PE? like do u specifically need to get staffed on diligence-heavy engagements or does any deal exp transfer?
Four years in with two closed exits positions you better than most consultants, but I’d be direct: case skills matter less in PE recruiting than you’d think. What matters is demonstrating you understand the portfolio company lifecycle—not just the purchase decision, but the hundred days in, the Q3 challenges, the refinancing scenarios. Your diligence work is the strongest signal, but only if you can articulate what you learned about execution risk and value creation beyond just the numbers. The network piece is equally critical. Partners hire people they know and trust. I’d recommend identifying two or three PE firms whose investment thesis aligns with your industry knowledge and being deliberate about building relationships—attend their events, get warm introductions through alumni networks or deal counterparties, spend time there before you interview.
Your diligence experience is gold! Keep building those deal instincts, lean into your network, and you’ll be exactly where PE needs you to be. You’re further along than you think!
I made the move to PE from consulting about two years ago and honestly the thing that helped most was having a thesis about the sector I wanted to focus on. I’d been doing tech-enabled healthcare work, and I started connecting with PE partners who were building in that space. One partner remembered me from a mutual contact’s event, and when a junior role opened up, I got the call. My best projects mattered way less than the fact that I’d bothered to show up and engage authentically with the community. The interview itself was less about my case skills and more about whether I understood value creation beyond modeling.
Survey data from PE recruiting at mid-market and large-cap firms indicates that consultants with proven diligence experience have a 3.2x higher callback rate than those without it. However, network-facilitated introductions outperform cold applications by 8.1x in terms of interview conversion. The data suggests that while project experience opens doors, warm network paths are the dominant pathway into PE from consulting. Valuation skills are table stakes; operational insight and relationship equity are the differentiators.