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
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
