As a candidate for an Operating Partner role, it’s really difficult for you to do reverse referencing on the firm with which you’re interviewing.  Chances are that you’re new to this whole thing anyway. Relative to the firm itself, you’re operating from respective positions of power and weakness during the interviewing process.  You can be sure that they are doing their best to assess you via their expansive network.  But what can you do to build your comfort level that this is the right spot for you when everyone always “says” all the right things.  

What am I really getting myself into?

This is an inexact science, to be sure.  But over time I have seen some tactics that you might think about using as you get further into the process.  You may not learn anything dispositive, but it cannot hurt to probe on a couple of pivotal areas.

Consider getting to the bottom of these areas (but please try to do so in a sophisticated and diplomatic way).

What you ask: “Tell me how you’ve seen your peers on other deal teams partner with Portfolio Operations. Is there a North Star internally that you’re emulating?”

What you’re really asking: It’s fair to assume that various deal teams have different usage patterns across Ops.  You’re listening for whether there are certain teams that don’t use it all.  Decision making in PE firms is borne out of I.C.  Now, it doesn’t mean that everyone has an equal voice/vote but it is a tested way of arriving at decisions.  The same internal process will be engaged when topics turn to support/financing/integration of OP resources. If you have other deal teams who aren’t users, your “advocate” at I.C. will have an uphill battle to help your function make material changes – even when you’re 100% convinced that they’re necessary.

What you ask: “What would be your expectation for how frequently I’m sitting down 1×1 with the portfolio company CEOs?  How does that pattern of interaction manifest itself today between you and the CEOs?”

What you’re really asking: How interchangeable are we going to be in this “partnership”? Do I run the risk of you feeling alienated if I’m having 1×1’s with the CEO without you? Do you see this as a force multiplier on your time or as a threat to your role?

Side note: This is a time for your own self-awareness too. If you’re relatively junior in your career, you don’t really have standing to be a balanced and equal presence to the CEO alongside the deal partner, so don’t overestimate yourself in asking this question. For a more junior person, you’re looking for signals which you can then interpret against what legitimate opportunities you’ll have to grow inside this system.

What you ask: I imagine that on the deal team side of the house there’s a cascade of roles under you that people flow through as they gain seniority. Is it a similar dynamic on the Ops side?

What you’re really asking: Can I also get leverage and, if so, how?  Is this thing still in the experimentation phase inside the firm? Do we have a situation where we have things fully structured on the one side and left unstructured on the other?

If you end up getting fuzzy answers on the questions above, I’d give things some extra thought.  Your goal may be to get your career started in Portfolio Operations and see where things go from there, but your eyes need to be open to the circumstances you’ll inherit.  It’s not realistic to think that as an outsider you’ll change how things work in some expedited fashion.  

Best of luck!