I’ve been grinding in consulting for 3 years and want to pivot to private equity, but every role demands direct deal experience I obviously don’t have. Heard some folks here mention community-hosted PE case challenges as a workaround. Has anyone actually used these to bridge the gap in interviews? Specifically curious about how the modeling simulations compare to real due diligence processes. Would love to hear from anyone who’s turned consulting skills into credible PE prep through these challenges—what actually moves the needle?
lol ‘credible PE prep’ – let’s be real, no case challenge replaces signing a deal. but yeah, better than crying over your M&A deck edits. i threw some community LBO models into my story and got 2 interviews. just don’t pretend you ran the process end-to-end. they’ll sniff that out.
omg following!!! i did mock dd last month w the NY group. our team modeled a consumer deal - learned more in 72hrs than 6mo at Big4. still failed tho lol. mentors said focus on purchase multiples? idk
The key is systematic translation. I coach consultants to map case challenge deliverables directly to PE firm pain points: 1) Use portfolio company tear-downs to demonstrate operational due diligence thinking 2) Frame consulting client scenarios as proxy for management alignment challenges 3) Quantify all assumptions like you would in committee memos. This creates interview-ready narratives.
You got this! The energy here is 
. Buddy from Deloitte landed at KKR using community comps templates. Just show hunger to learn real PE workflows!
Analysis of 23 successful transitions shows 68% leveraged simulated deals. Common patterns: Minimum 2 completed challenges with 20+ hours modeling time, cross-referenced with 10-Ks of actual portfolio companies. Key differentiator: Quantifying multiple contraction scenarios in final presentation decks (avg 14 slides vs PE standard 12).