Most new hires in private equity firms come from the investment banking divisions of major Wall Street firms like Morgan Stanley or Lehman Brothers. There, you’ll gain valuable experience and perspective on deal-making at a variety of levels and can see how both buyers and sellers in M&A manage their bids. You may even become involved in an M&A deal involving a private equity firm’s bid for the bank’s client, which not only provides valuable experience related to your future industry, but could also give you a few good contacts as well!

If you’re starting in a support role, you’ll likely be assigned to a handful of high-level staff. You can quickly become the “go-to” person for top managers if you can tackle your assignments with enthusiasm, accuracy and speed. In turn, you’ll make your managers look good. A few firms promote this kind of relationship through mentor training and the like, but for the most part, you should seek to develop a strong working relationship with your supervisor and manager. As you both succeed, he or she can take you with them to more and greater responsibility.

At the analyst and associate levels, or in any support role, you can expect long hours—8 a.m. to 7 p.m. wouldn’t be seen as onerous. But on the other hand, unless there’s something big pending, your weekends and vacation time can be your own. That said, if you’re supporting the deal-makers, and they’re deep in negotiations with a major publicly traded company, you’ll be expected to be right there with them on a Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.

Most new hires in private equity firms come from the investment banking divisions of major Wall Street firms like Morgan Stanley or Lehman Brothers. There, you’ll gain valuable experience and perspective on deal-making at a variety of levels and can see how both buyers and sellers in M&A manage their bids. You may even become involved in an M&A deal involving a private equity firm’s bid for the bank’s client, which not only provides valuable experience related to your future industry, but could also give you a few good contacts as well!

If you’re starting in a support role, you’ll likely be assigned to a handful of high-level staff. You can quickly become the “go-to” person for top managers if you can tackle your assignments with enthusiasm, accuracy and speed. In turn, you’ll make your managers look good. A few firms promote this kind of relationship through mentor training and the like, but for the most part, you should seek to develop a strong working relationship with your supervisor and manager. As you both succeed, he or she can take you with them to more and greater responsibility.

At the analyst and associate levels, or in any support role, you can expect longhours—8 a.m. to 7 p.m. wouldn’t be seen as onerous. But on the other hand, unless there’s something big pending, your weekends and vacation time can be your own. That said, if you’re supporting the deal-makers, and they’re deep in negotiations with a major publicly traded company, you’ll be expected to be right there with them on a Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.