It used to be the case that junior bankers were so desperate to work in private equity that the big funds could compel them to interview through the night. With private equity recruitment season around the corner, similar scenes may still occur at the biggest funds this year, but others are struggling to get bankers to interview even in daylight.

"Candidates are suddenly being very fussy," says one senior private equity headhunter in London, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They know that the worst place to be right now is at a fund that can't raise money, and so they're looking very carefully at whether a fund has had a successful fundraising in the past year." READ MORE