What is takes to work in private equity

In my consulting role I see many, very senior people who express an interest in working in some way in the private equity field, most as CEOs in private equity backed companies. So what qualities are needed to work in such companies? First the candidate must have in-depth specific industry sector experience. They ideally should have had P&L account responsibility for their company or business unit and have driven the company through growth, with experience of acquisitions and expansion into new markets (product and/or geographic), and steered their company successfully through troubled times. Clearly they must be capable of leading a highly-performing managing team which can demonstrate its ability to roll-out the business proposition behind the private equity firm’s investment.

It is going to be a 24/7 job. Working at executive level in a private equity backed portfolio company is not a role for someone looking to work part-time to supplement an early-retirement package.

Private equity firms may also seek people to work at COO and FD level in their portfolio companies and in Chairman and Non-Executive positions (where in these non-executive roles full-time working is clearly not required). Other Board-level and management positions are usually filled through the efforts of the CEO rather than the private equity firm and its recruitment consultants.

With the industry currently in some turmoil and many private equity firms laying off between 20% and 30% of their staff, opportunities to work in a private equity firm itself, eg as an investment executive, are few and far between. There may be opportunities for consultancy work in connection with investment due diligence if the candidate has exceptional sector focus. If you have strong turnround experience consultancy or interim work in helping to rescue and manage underperforming portfolio companies may be a possibility.

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