Question 1

What's the difference between contingency and retained search for private equity hiring?

Accepted Answer

Contingency recruiters earn a fee only when you hire their candidate, typically 20 to 25 percent of first-year compensation. Multiple firms often compete on the same role. Retained search involves an exclusive agreement with upfront and milestone payments totaling 30 to 35 percent, ensuring dedicated focus on a single mandate. For senior private equity roles—partners, operating executives or C-suite portfolio company placements—retained search dominates because these hires demand extensive due diligence, board-level discretion and deep network access. Mid-level deal team and fund accounting roles more commonly use contingency arrangements.

Question 2

What types of private equity roles do these recruiting agencies typically fill?

Accepted Answer

These agencies concentrate on investment professionals—associates through managing directors focused on deal execution, due diligence and portfolio oversight. They also place operating partners and advisors who drive operational improvements across portfolio companies. Beyond the investment team, recruiters fill investor relations roles, fund controllers, portfolio accountants and compliance officers. Some firms specialize in sector-specific searches for industrials, healthcare or technology-focused funds, while others maintain dedicated practices for venture capital, growth equity or distressed investing strategies that require distinct skill sets.

Question 3

What certifications or licenses do these private equity recruiters typically screen for?

Accepted Answer

Top firms prioritize the CFA designation for investment professionals and portfolio managers, as well as CPAs for fund accounting and finance roles. Many also screen for Series 7, 63 and 79 licenses when placing professionals who interact with broker-dealers or execute capital markets transactions. For operating partners and value creation roles, recruiters look for Six Sigma Black Belt or industry-specific certifications in operations management. MBA credentials from target schools remain standard across nearly all senior deal professional searches.

Question 4

How can I tell if a private equity recruiting agency is reputable?

Accepted Answer

Check whether the firm has placed deal professionals at tier-one funds and can articulate portfolio company operating models during intake calls. Reputable specialists maintain relationships with limited partners and understand value creation timelines across hold periods. Request references from both buyout and growth equity placements, then verify the recruiter's grasp of carry structures and fund economics. Review whether they've successfully filled operating partner roles requiring specific sector expertise. Firms with verified client feedback and demonstrated placement history across fund sizes typically signal deeper market access than generalist agencies entering the space opportunistically.

Question 5

If I apply through a private equity recruiter, do I lose negotiating power on my offer?

Accepted Answer

No. Reputable private equity recruiters present candidates without restricting their ability to negotiate. The firm pays the recruiter's fee—commonly 20 to 30 percent of first-year compensation on contingency—so your leverage remains intact. Top recruiters actually strengthen your position by providing market intelligence on carry structures, co-investment minimums and base-to-bonus ratios across funds. They also buffer direct salary discussions until you have multiple term sheets. The risk lies only with recruiters who oversell your expectations or fail to qualify the role's true compensation band before submission.

Question 6

How do PE recruiters handle conflicts when placing candidates at competing buyout or growth equity funds?

Accepted Answer

Reputable PE recruiters maintain strict information barriers between mandates, treating each search as confidential even when filling similar roles at competing funds. They typically recuse themselves from directly competing simultaneous searches—for example, refusing to work two VP-level healthcare buyout roles at once. Written engagement letters spell out exclusivity windows and off-limits provisions. The best firms proactively disclose potential conflicts before accepting mandates and maintain detailed records of who saw which candidates when. Most will also enforce temporary "cooling-off" periods before representing candidates to funds where they've recently placed other professionals in overlapping portfolio sectors.

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