Interview Cheat-Sheet Drop + What’s Changing in Private Credit Interviews

Good morning dealmakers,

Welcome to your Tuesday drop from career.credit, the go-to newsletter for building a career in Private Credit.

Today’s issue brings you a powerful new resource to help you prep smarter for interviews, a Private Credit Interview Cheat-Sheet and a breakdown of recent interview trends reshaping how candidates are assessed across the industry.

Let’s jump in.

📄 Career Asset Drop
🎁 New: Private Credit Interview Cheat-Sheet

We’ve built a first-of-its-kind interview prep guide designed exclusively for Private Credit roles, combining behavioural and technical questions, plus model answers to help you stand out.

✅ Role-specific behavioural questions
✅ Credit modelling & structuring questions with sample answers
✅ US- and UK-style frameworks
✅ Ideal for Direct Lending, Opportunistic Credit, and Special Sits

👉 Download the Interview Cheat-Sheet

Whether you're prepping for an Associate role or interviewing for your next VP seat, this guide helps you frame your experience like an investor, not just an applicant.

🔍 Deep Dive: What’s Changing in Private Credit Interviews

Interviews in Private Credit have become more rigorous and more nuanced. Here's what we're seeing across the board:

1. Case-First Interviews Are Becoming the Norm
Funds are skipping initial chats and jumping straight into investment case studies - often in take-home or live formats.

➡️ Tip: Expect to walk through a debt structure, identify key risks, and suggest terms - all in 30-60 minutes.

2. Portfolio Monitoring is No Longer an Afterthought
Expect questions on what you’d do post-close: covenant breaches, underperformance, amendment requests, etc.

➡️ Tip: Don’t just prepare for origination - be ready to speak like someone who owns portfolio companies too.

3. Emphasis on Decision-Making Under Pressure
Funds want to know how you think - fast. Role-playing and "what would you do" hypotheticals are more common, especially at the Senior Associate/VP level.

➡️ Tip: Practice verbalising trade-offs. For example: “Here’s why I’d structure this as unitranche vs split-lien…”

4. Fit Questions Are Getting More Sophisticated
"Why our fund?" isn’t a throwaway. Many firms are pressing for specifics:

• What do you think of our portfolio?

• How would you evaluate XYZ deal?

• Who else are you interviewing with, and why?

➡️ Tip: Deep-dive into fund strategy, recent hires, and deal flow. You’ll stand out if you you’ve done your diligence.

💬 Final Thought

Interviews aren’t just tests - they’re auditions for how you’ll think, act, and invest on the job.

The right preparation can shift your trajectory.

📢 Coming Next Tuesday:

A full Private Credit interview case study, including:

• A mock investment brief

• 3-statement model

• A sample investment memo

Stay tuned.

See you Friday with the latest market moves, team updates, and more.

James
Founder, career.credit