Succeeding in Private Equity

The following is a list we compiled of the skills you need in order to succeed in private equity:

Quantitative Skills

Private equity is all about valuing companies and seeing if they would get a good return if you buy this company. As you might imagine, that requires a lot of quantitative skills, which is where Investment Banking prepares you very well, as you are doing a lot of modeling as an analyst.

Critical Thinking Skills

Private equity is also very strategic. Once you buy the company, you have to think about how to make it more profitable. This requires a lot of critical thinking and many of the skills you would get from Consulting and the advisory side of Investment Banking. Even as an analyst, you are encouraged to provide insights on why this may be a good/bad investment, how to make the portfolio company more profitable, etc.

Communication and Presentation Skills

At the end of the day, like any other job in finance/business, Private Equity is people-driven. If you cannot communicate or present well to your client, they will not trust you to buy their company and you will not be able to lead them effectively. These are also skills gained from working in another industry first.