Apollo delays private equity associate recruiting for 2028 class

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Apollo delays PE associate recruiting

Highlights

Apollo will delay on-cycle recruiting for its 2028 private equity associate class, postponing formal recruitment until candidates complete nearly one year of investment banking experience.
The company encourages other private equity firms to follow its lead, referencing last year's 2027 class delay that influenced similar pauses by competitors like General Atlantic.
Industry pressure grows to reform early recruitment practices, with JPMorgan threatening termination for analysts accepting future-dated offers and Apollo aiming for a more thoughtful process sector-wide.

Recruiting timeline shifts for 2028 associates

As first reported by Business Insider, Apollo told prospective candidates on Thursday that it will not take part in on-cycle recruiting for its 2028 associate class during this calendar year. The firm says it intends to wait until candidates who began their investment banking jobs over the summer are closer to completing one full year of professional experience before starting formal recruitment.

The message was signed by David Sambur, co-head of private equity, and Antoine G. Munfakh, deputy global head of private equity. In the memo, Apollo says giving candidates more time to build skills, gain experience and better understand their interests should lead to better decisions for both applicants and employers.

Apollo also says it hopes other private equity firms will follow the same approach. The firm points to last year's delay for its 2027 associate class, after which other firms, including General Atlantic, also paused their processes.

Industry pressure builds to rethink on-cycle hiring

On-cycle recruiting, in which private equity firms hire bankers one or even two years in advance, became increasingly compressed after the pandemic until 2025. The practice has been controversial because it can force young professionals to make career decisions very early in their banking roles.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has criticized the system as unethical. After concerns last year that recruiting for future classes could begin before some students had even graduated from college, JPMorgan introduced a policy under which incoming analysts could be terminated for accepting future-dated private equity offers.

With questions building over whether the 2028 cycle would start early again, Apollo's latest move signals another attempt to reset expectations across the sector. The firm says it will continue meeting potential candidates and presenting career opportunities in the meantime, while promising a more deliberate process once formal recruiting begins.

In our earlier article on early-career job-hopping, we reviewed research showing that switching roles in the first years of work can be a major driver of wage growth and a pathway to better long-term job matches. The piece argued that, despite cultural skepticism about short tenures, evidence suggests young workers may sacrifice earnings and fit if they avoid mobility—an important backdrop as finance employers and candidates rethink how and when early-career moves are made.

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