Why Carlyle: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Explore Carlyle’s founding story, career opportunities, interview process, and compensation

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Carlyle Overview

The Carlyle Group (also known as Carlyle) is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management, and financial solutions corporation based in the United States.

The firm’s specialization is private equity, real assets, and private credit.

In 2015, Carlyle was the biggest private equity firm in the world by capital raised over the five years as per the PEI 300 index. However, in the 2022 ranking, the firm had slipped to sixth place.

David Rubenstein, a Washington-based lawyer who worked in the Carter Administration, founded Carlyle in 1987. Currently, the firm’s headquarters is still located in Washington, D.C.

In May 2012, Carlyle went public in a $671M IPO and began trading on the NASDAQ stock under the ticker “CG”.

Carlyle AUM

Based on the most recent regulatory filings, The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) has a total assets under management of $202.1 billion as of May 5, 2022.

Carlyle Interview Process & Questions

Firms have the prerogative to change their interview process with each candidate. However, if you apply at Carlyle or similar firms, you can likely expect a few consistencies in their interview process:

You will undergo 4-6 rounds of interview.
For the initial part, you will be assessed by junior investment professionals, while the more senior staff conduct the latter rounds.
The entire process can take up to several weeks – except if it’s an “on-cycle” or “on-campus” recruiting activity.

During your interview, you will have to answer a mixture of fit questions, behavioral questions, and technical/investing questions so make sure to make the necessary preparations.

Check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide just in case you need help preparing for your interviews.

Why Carlyle

You are most certainly going to encounter the critical question, “Why this firm?”

If you have done networking prior to your interview and have met employees from the firm, this is the best time to mention whoever you’ve met and the positive impression they left on you.

To develop a standout answer to this question, consider exploring the firm’s background through the lens of its founders, management teams, and key personnels.

For example, here’s a great interview with David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group:

More interviews

Carlyle Case Study

Candidates at firms like Carlyle almost always have to perform case studies during interviews. Case studies help firms check if you have the technical knowledge and communication skills required to excel at the role.

Most case studies focus on investment recommendation and financial modeling. But if you’re applying for a junior role, you’re likely to get asked to do cold calling case study as well.

I tackle case studies in more detail inside my Growth Equity Interview Guide so you can better prepare for it.

Carlyle Salary & Compensation

The Carlyle Group offers competitive salaries to their employees. As per Glassdoor, Associates and Analysts at the said firm can earn an estimated total pay of $143,000 and $117,470, respectively.

These figures may vary based on your level of experience and qualifications, but these are a good enough baseline for your compensation when you work at Carlyle.

Associate

Analyst

Based on other publicly available data, recent Associates have earned salaries of $150,000 per year, while recent Analysts had $115,000 annual income.

Carlyle Careers, Jobs, & Internships

Check out our job board if you want to view active job listings at Carlyle and similar firms. We try to keep it updated and include interesting open roles from top firms.

Carlyle Portfolio & Investments

Carlyle has a diverse portfolio of companies in different industries and locations. As per Crunchbase, the firm has 48 funds under management and made 297 investments.

Some of Carlyle’s notable investments include CorroHealth, Hyundai Glovis, and Hurst Point Group. These companies provide a variety of solutions in healthcare, transportations, and finance.

Notable Transaction: Ant Financial

Ant Financial is the financial tech affiliate of the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, owned by Jack Ma.

In 2018, Carlyle, together with Silver Lake Management LLC and Warburg Pincus LLC, made a strategic investment of $500 million each to Ant Financial. The said investment was part of a larger funding round which raised a total of $14 billion for Ant Financial.

Since then, Ant Financial continued to grow and has become one of the largest financial services in the world.

Next Steps

The Carlyle Group provides amazing growth and career opportunities to their investment professionals.

But it also goes without saying that you need to pass their multiple rounds of interview and stand out from your competitors before you become part of their team.

That’s where the Growth Equity Interview Guide comes in.

It’s a self-paced online course that helps professionals like you who are looking to land a role in finance to ace their interviews through step-by-step lessons, mental models and frameworks, and expert tips.

Countless professionals have successfully made the jump into finance and land their dream jobs in growth equity with the help of this comprehensive course

Now, it’s your turn! Take the course and start learning today.