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The Pulse Part 2: Buyside Associate Recruiting
On May 25th, we will be launching our Buyside Associate Recruiting Platform.
Private equity, hedge funds, private credit, venture capital, and growth equity. We will cover it all! This platform will be tailored to fresh graduates and analysts who are thinking about jumping from banking / consulting over to the Buyside.
Little Sneak Peek of What We Are Cooking
There will be three legs to the stool:
Jobs. Full access to ALL Buyside jobs. Headhunters currently control who sees which jobs, we are changing that. No more searching, no more guessing. We have everything
Models + Case Studies. 15+ real case studies with answers across PE, PC, HF, and VC/GE from firms like Apollo, Oaktree, Blackstone and more. Elite practice to ace your interviews (yes, you need to do models / cases for Buyside associate recruiting)
Organization. Everything you’ll need to navigate the Buyside associate recruiting process will be found on our platform
Fill this out for elite access: Buyside Associate Interest
Recruiting Timeline:
Banking:
Where We’re At:
SA 2026: No updates here. 101 firms are recruiting for SA 2026.
FT 2026: No new updates. 2 firms are actively recruiting for FT 2026
If you need some interview support or just need a place to vent, check out our Coaching Program: Coaching for banking, consulting, and buyside recruiting | The Pulse. 95%+ of those coached for the summer 2025 recruiting season received offers!
New SA 2026 Applications:
None
New FT 2026 Applications:
None
See below to gain access to our premium database, updated weekly, which houses the application processes for over 300+ banks/consulting/buyside firms! Gain an edge over everyone else by not having to spend countless hours tracking applications and deadlines.
Consulting:
Where We’re At:
McKinsey and Bain released their full-time and summer analyst roles two weeks ago. We expect BCG to release its application within the next 2-3 weeks.
SA 2026 released apps:
McKinsey - Summer Business Analyst (SA 2026)
Bain - Associate Consultant Intern (SA 2026)
FT 2026 released apps:
McKinsey - Business Analyst (FT 2026)
Bain - Associate Consultant (FT 2026)
Buyside:
Where We’re At:
SA 2026: Foxhaven Asset Management opened its app this week. Currently 97 buyside firms are recruiting for SA 2026 seats
New SA 2026 released apps:
Foxhaven Asset Management: LO AM (SA 2026)
Premium Database:
The database is updated weekly and contains 300+ Investment Banking and Consulting internships/full-time positions along with:
Interview tips for specific companies
Interview prep material
Applications and deadlines linked so that you can apply with one click
Insider information about the application process
Professionals to network with
Buyside deadlines, interview prep, and people to network with for the sweatiest of students
We send the updated dataset every week with the latest banking and consulting job postings. We released our 102nd update today.
Students we have been helping have already landed roles at Blackstone, Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Citi, and Solomon.
To get access to the database and the weekly updates, you make a one-time investment of $65 Credit Card / Debit Card: (ThePulsePrep—Stripe.com) that grants you annual access to the updated database (please reach out for additional payment options). If you don’t find our services helpful, we simply ask for feedback on an area we can improve upon and will refund your $65.
This is a small investment for a huge payout when you secure your dream offer!
Premium Database——>Database for banking, consulting and buyside roles | The Pulse
Market Update:
Bargaining Power & Castles
Let’s play a game. 2 truths and a lie.
This is all about reducing the trade deficit and bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
This is about strengthening our bargaining position
This is about reducing the federal debt balance
What do you think? Bullet one is a lie.
When trying to understand the rationale behind challenging the status quo of setting tariffs, the default answer has been that Trump wants to a). reduce the trade deficit and b). restore manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
U.S. corporations and their consumers have the deepest pockets in the world. Trade deficits won’t be eliminated by setting a few tariffs. We simply buy too much shit and we have the capital to continue buying. We hung up the cleats on manufacturing long ago. Instead, we pivoted to an economy focused on service and innovation (i.e. utilizing manufactured goods to execute a mission).
We can’t even fill fucking potholes, do you really think we are about to build a bunch of new factories?
Before I go deeper, I want to note that this write-up is by no means meant to pick a political side. I actually don’t really follow politics and I don’t vote. Those are my personal choices.
What I want to accomplish here is a present a view of a scenario with a non-zero expected value.
My view is that Trump is really just angling for a stronger bargaining position, or may I even say a fair bargaining position. Take a step back and think about it.
Why was the UK, an island with an economy 10x times smaller than the U.S., ever allowed to impose higher tariffs on us? Especially when the U.S. is the number 1 buyer of U.K. goods. It doesn’t make sense to give your top customer a bad deal.
Right now, we are playing a game of Castle; very similar to a Medieval war. Those wars were often won by those who were simply able to survive the longest. A war of attrition.
Imagine this. I declare war on your kingdom. In your kingdom, you buy the grain from me and turn that grain into bread. Outside of the kingdom, I harvest the grains and buy that bread from you. Who is going to win that war? The party with the largest stockpile of bread!
There are striking similarities to the tariff game played by Trump. He is wagering that the strength of U.S. companies, the strength of U.S. consumers, and the world’s reliance on U.S. spending will cause other countries to cave to our deal.
I mean, the guy did literally write ‘The Art of the Deal.’
Apparently a Bestseller
He jacks up tariffs, other countries made a knee-jerk retaliation. Trade slows between the two. Then, the other countries begin to feel the negative effects of losing U.S. spending. They are now in a lesser bargaining position, and their hand is pushed to accept our terms before their economies begin to feel the heat.
Once again, flashing back to the U.K., their Central Bank had to cut rates in anticipation of growth decline due to the newly imposed tariffs. To stop the bleeding, they accepted our deal. Check out the terms below.
Some Highlights from the U.S. / U.K. Deal
To double down on our strengths of innovation and class A services, we need to have access to the best goods at the best prices. We pride ourselves on eliminating frictions to build new things and buying goods from others should be part of that frictionless equation.
Remember, the BUYER always pays the tariff, not the seller. This is because tariffs are not a corporate charge, but are instead a stream of income for the government.
Ok, so if the goal is freer trade then why are we maintaining any tariffs at all after close of the deal?
Well, we do have a ton of debt to repay and these tariffs will lighten that load. A little debt repaid can go a long way to open up cheaper costs of financing for future projects.
That gets me to the other truth: reducing the debt burden.
We have a golden credit card. Our treasuries are the pinnacle of solvency. To maintain this, we do need to manage our debt. Also, maintaining solvency is a key component of Trump’s angle to increase our bargaining position via tariffs.
Other governments love buying T-Bills. If they are no longer reaping income from tariffs placed on U.S. buyers, then they need to turn elsewhere to secure a steady income stream. Are you going to a). tax your citizens more or b). buy secure, cash-flowing assets? If you want to win the next election, you’ll go with option b.
Despite the recent market reaction where T-Bills were sold and the dollar dropped in value, this looked rather emotional than technical.
Who else’s bonds are you going to buy? Somewhere in Europe? Their growth sucks and rates are dropping, so yields are falling. Asia? Forget about it, you might never see your money again. Emerging markets? Lmao.
So, you turn to U.S. T-Bills to clip coupon. You turn to a country focused on managing debt and has the strength to keep rates high, pushing yields high, which makes you more money for buying the safest assets in the world.
I’d love to hear your take if you think the scenario I proposed has a 0% chance of materializing. He’s a second-term President, he can play a longer game than most.
Disclosure: Nothing written here is financial advice or should be used for investment decisions.
Learning Point of the Week:
The 5 Most Important Skills/Attributes for Consulting:
Effective communication - This is not just for consulting, but for any job. Communicating effectively is crucial. Whether it be with the client, presenting findings, or even your boss. An earth-shattering discovery/analysis is useless if not communicated properly. Also, throughout the early years of your career, there will be a lot asked of you. Communicating your workload and whether or not you can meet deadlines is a necessity.
Analytical/problem-solving Skills - Given that you will be working with companies to help them tackle problems facing their organizations, strong analytical skills are a must.
Technical skills -You don’t have to be a complete wizard when you start the job, but having strong Excel and PowerPoint skills is a huge asset. Almost every project you work on will require these tools, so becoming an expert provides huge time savings and can make the analysis more effective.
Time management - This one goes without saying, but meeting deadlines (or communicating that you can’t meet the deadline) is an important skill for consultants. You will have short-term, medium-term, and long-term deadlines, so being able to manage your time well (especially if on multiple projects) will make your life so much easier and impress your manager.
Collaboration - Consulting is a team sport. You will be working on projects with multiple team members, so being a good teammate will make the project run more smoothly and also help you develop a good reputation at the firm. A good team is worth more than the sum of its parts.
Going Forward:
Will You Be in NYC This Summer?
We want to host a happy hour and you’re invited.
Will You Be in NYC this Summer?Happy Hour on Us |
Free drinks on us (lets blow the fucking budget).
Please reach out to us with any questions about recruiting or if you’re interested in meeting the team! ([email protected])
We are happy to chat, review resumes, or help set up a coaching session
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“The Pulse” #102
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