How to Apply to Perella Weinberg Partners

11 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 10 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Perella Weinberg Partners is an elite independent M&A and restructuring advisory boutique — NASDAQ-listed (ticker PWP), ~700 employees, ~$900M revenue, headquartered at 767 Fifth Avenue, NYC, peer group is Lazard, Moelis, Evercore, PJT, and Centerview.
  • The ATS is Workday Recruiting at wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/pwp/PWP_Experienced_Opportunities — verified live with 9 active requisitions as of publication.
  • Hiring is dominated by target-school recruiting: Wharton, HBS, Michigan Ross, and the rest of the usual target list for both undergraduate analyst and MBA associate programs.
  • CEO Andrew Bednar succeeded co-founder Peter Weinberg in December 2023, signaling the firm's transition from founder-led to next-generation leadership. Hiring momentum is strong coming off a record 2024.
  • The interview process is classic IB: phone screen, superday of 8+ interviews, partner round, and a 24-48 hour case for MBA associates. Technical bar is high.
  • The firm's prestige, partner-led staffing, and thin deal teams are real — and so are the 80-to-100 hour weeks, weekend work, and zero lifestyle balance during live deals. Go in clear-eyed.
  • Exit opportunities after analyst or associate tenure are excellent: private equity, growth equity, hedge funds, corporate development, and continued advisory career at PWP or peers.
  • Use ResumeGeni to build a single-page Workday-compatible PDF resume, tailor it per requisition (Restructuring vs FIG vs Healthcare vs Corporate), and run the ATS optimization pass before submission.

About Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: PWP) is an independent, publicly traded global advisory firm headquartered at 767 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Founded in 2006 by Joseph R. Perella, Peter A. Weinberg, and Terry Meguid — all senior alumni of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs — the firm was built to be a conflict-free alternative to bulge-bracket banks. PWP does not lend, does not underwrite, does not trade, and does not have a research arm. It sells advice. That's it. And it sells that advice to corporations, boards, financial sponsors, governments, and sovereign wealth funds on some of the most complex mergers, acquisitions, capital structure problems, and restructurings in the market. The firm employs approximately 700 people worldwide across offices in New York, Houston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Calgary, London, Paris, Munich, Abu Dhabi, and Wellington. It generated roughly $900 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year — a figure that puts it in the conversation with peers like Lazard, Moelis & Company, Evercore, PJT Partners, and Centerview, though it remains smaller than the true heavyweights on headcount. PWP also owns Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH), its energy-focused franchise based in Houston, which operates with its own brand in oil, gas, power, and energy-transition advisory. In December 2023, co-founder Peter Weinberg stepped back from the CEO role and Andrew Bednar — previously Co-President and one of the firm's most productive M&A bankers — became Chief Executive Officer. Bednar represents the next generation of PWP leadership: a career advisor, not a founder, which signals the firm's intent to operate as an enduring institution rather than a founder-led partnership. Joe Perella remains as Chairman Emeritus; Peter Weinberg remains on the board. PWP punches above its weight in restructuring. The firm advised on some of the most prominent reorganizations of the past cycle — Hertz, Revlon, Vice Media, and complex cross-border situations — and its restructuring practice is widely regarded as top-three on the Street alongside PJT and Houlihan Lokey. On the M&A side, PWP ran a strong 2024, with industry-defining transactions across healthcare, financial institutions, energy, industrials, and technology, and has been consistently ranked in the top 15 for announced global M&A advisory by deal value. The firm reported record revenue in 2024 and has been actively hiring managing directors and partners laterally from bulge brackets and from peers. Culturally, PWP markets itself on lean deal teams, partner-led staffing, and direct client exposure earlier than you would get at a Goldman or a JPMorgan. Analysts and associates routinely sit in client meetings, model independently, and build pitch books that partners present without a three-layer revision chain. This is the boutique advisory pitch, and at PWP it is largely true — the flip side, which recruiters will not print on the careers page, is that fewer bodies on a deal means 80 to 100 hour weeks during live transactions, constant weekend work, and very little meaningful separation between personal life and the deal. If you want predictability, this is not the firm. If you want prestige, compensation in the 99th percentile of your graduating class, and a launching pad to private equity or hedge fund buy-side seats, PWP is exactly the firm.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Navigate to pwpartners

    Navigate to pwpartners.com/careers. Experienced hires (associate, VP, director, partner) click through to the PWP Workday instance at wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/pwp/PWP_Experienced_Opportunities. Campus and internship candidates use the Intern & Graduate Recruitment page, which routes to campus recruiting events, on-campus interviews through target school career services, and direct application links.

  2. 2
    Create a Workday candidate account

    Create a Workday candidate account. PWP's Workday tenant is standard: email-verified account, profile fields for work history and education, and resume upload in PDF or Word. Use a clean single-page PDF built through ResumeGeni — Workday will parse it into the profile, and parse errors in investment banking screening are how good resumes die.

  3. 3
    Select your role and location

    Select your role and location. Current listings are heavily NYC-weighted (R0000004 Associate FIG Advisory, R0000006 Associate Restructuring Advisory, R0000029 Associate Healthcare Advisory, plus corporate functions), with occasional roles in Wellington, Houston, and London. If you are targeting advisory, filter on Advisory job category — corporate roles (IT, tax, operations) are a different hiring process entirely.

  4. 4
    Submit a thesis-driven cover letter

    Submit a thesis-driven cover letter. For a true boutique like PWP, generic cover letters are fatal. Name a PWP transaction you have studied, articulate why the firm's lean model and sector depth appeal to you versus a bulge bracket, and connect it to a specific experience on your resume. This is how you get pulled out of the Workday pile by a junior banker doing the first-round screen.

  5. 5
    Complete behavioral and technical assessments if prompted

    Complete behavioral and technical assessments if prompted. Experienced lateral hires typically skip assessments and go straight to phone screen. Campus and internship candidates at target schools are screened through their university career center first — the firm rarely responds to cold Workday applications from non-target programs for banking roles.

  6. 6
    Phone screen with a VP, associate, or HR

    Phone screen with a VP, associate, or HR. Expect 30 minutes: why PWP, why M&A advisory, walk-through of your resume, and one or two technical questions for banking roles (accretion/dilution mechanics, three-statement linkage, enterprise value bridge). Keep answers sharp — boutiques have no tolerance for rambling.

  7. 7
    Superday onsite or virtual

    Superday onsite or virtual. The classic IB superday: six to eight back-to-back 30-45 minute interviews across a single morning or full day. Mix of analysts, associates, VPs, directors, and at least one partner. Technical modeling, brain teasers, behavioral, deal discussion, and fit. For MBA associate hires there is often a mini-case with a 24-48 hour turnaround window.

  8. 8
    Partner round

    Partner round. The final conversation is almost always with a partner — and at PWP, partners have genuine sign-off. Unlike larger banks where HR and the MD have already decided, at a boutique the partner asks hard questions about your judgment, your commercial instincts, and whether you will represent the firm to clients. This round kills more candidates than the technicals.

  9. 9
    References and offer

    References and offer. References are called — seriously called, not box-ticked. Offers come by phone within days of the partner round. Compensation is all-cash for analysts, with an MD-discretionary bonus structure that trends above bulge-bracket medians in strong years like 2024. Expect a fast exploding offer for campus hires during recruiting season.

Resume Tips for Perella Weinberg Partners

recommended

One page, no exceptions

One page, no exceptions. PWP recruiters screen hundreds of resumes during each recruiting cycle and a two-page analyst resume signals you do not understand banking conventions. Use ResumeGeni's single-column investment banking template to force the discipline.

recommended

Lead with target-school credentials and GPA

Lead with target-school credentials and GPA. The firm recruits heavily from Wharton, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, NYU Stern, University of Michigan Ross, University of Virginia McIntire, and Duke at undergrad; HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, and Stanford at the MBA level. If you have a 3.7+ GPA and a target degree, place both in your education header. If you do not, you need a truly exceptional story below.

recommended

Quantify every bullet

Quantify every bullet. Deal value, revenue impact, percentage gains, sample size, multiples. 'Built LBO model for $2.4B take-private of ticker XYZ, stress-tested across three leverage scenarios (4.5x / 5.5x / 6.5x EBITDA)' beats 'Built LBO model for healthcare transaction' every single time. This is a firm that exists to quantify things for clients.

recommended

List relevant transactions explicitly

List relevant transactions explicitly. If you interned in banking, name the mandates you worked on — even by sector and size if confidentiality prevents you from naming the counterparty. 'Sole analyst on a $1.2B sell-side M&A mandate for a mid-market industrials sponsor' is a strong line.

recommended

Show modeling and technical depth

Show modeling and technical depth. Include a Technical Skills line that names the specific tools: Excel (advanced, including Power Query, dynamic arrays, sensitivity tables), PowerPoint (pitch book construction), Capital IQ, FactSet, Bloomberg, Pitchbook, Refinitiv, Mergermarket. Avoid listing 'Microsoft Office' — it reads as a filler.

recommended

Include a differentiator

Include a differentiator. PWP partners like to hire humans, not resume clones. A serious side interest — competitive athletics, a published research paper, a foreign language used at native-or-near-native level, a meaningful entrepreneurial venture — gives partners something to ask about in the superday fit round. Leave it in.

recommended

Use ResumeGeni's ATS optimization pass

Use ResumeGeni's ATS optimization pass. Workday's parser is competent but not perfect. Avoid tables, columns inside bullet lists, header images, and graphics. Save as PDF unless the posting specifies .docx. ResumeGeni's Workday-specific template avoids the layout patterns that cause parse failures in the Workday Recruiting module.

recommended

Tailor the resume to the role

Tailor the resume to the role. The Associate, Restructuring, Advisory role (R0000006) and the Associate, FIG, Advisory role (R0000004) look for different things — restructuring wants credit, bankruptcy, Chapter 11 familiarity; FIG wants insurance, banks, specialty finance depth. Use ResumeGeni's job-description tailoring to reorder bullets and surface the right keywords without fabricating content.

recommended

No typos, no awkward phrasing, no ambiguous dates

No typos, no awkward phrasing, no ambiguous dates. A boutique will throw your resume out for a single date formatting inconsistency because it signals the same carelessness that would show up in a client model. Proofread three times, then have someone else proofread.

ATS System: Workday Recruiting

PWP operates its recruiting through Workday Recruiting on the wd1.myworkdaysite.com tenant, specifically at wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/pwp/PWP_Experienced_Opportunities for experienced hires. Workday is among the most common enterprise ATS platforms and parses standard single-column PDF and .docx resumes well, but it punishes non-standard layouts, text in images, complex tables, and headers/footers with critical content. Candidates create a persistent profile, can apply to multiple roles without re-uploading, and receive status updates through the Candidate Home dashboard. The PWP Workday instance currently shows 9 live requisitions (R0000004 through R0000035 range), heavily concentrated in New York with occasional Wellington postings.

  • Use a simple single-column PDF layout — Workday parses columns poorly and will scramble your work history if you use a two-column template.
  • Save the filename as FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf. Workday indexes the filename and recruiters filter by it.
  • After uploading, manually verify the parsed profile. Workday will auto-populate employer, title, dates, and education — check every field and correct any parse errors before hitting submit.
  • Reuse the same Workday candidate account across applications — PWP recruiters can see your full history, and re-applying with a sharpened resume is a valid strategy if your initial application did not advance.
  • Do not embed links inside resume text that Workday will strip during parsing — put LinkedIn and portfolio URLs in plain text, not hyperlinked icons.
  • Set your notification preferences to email-all in Candidate Home so you never miss an interview invite — PWP moves fast during live recruiting cycles and a 24-hour delay in responding can cost you the slot.

Interview Culture

The PWP interview process is unapologetically the classic investment banking gauntlet — and arguably harder than what you would face at a bulge bracket because the firm's smaller hiring targets mean every seat matters and every candidate gets serious scrutiny. Expect eight or more interviews across the process if you make it to the end: one screening call, a superday of six to eight 30-45 minute interviews, and a final partner round. The superday blends technical rigor with behavioral and fit, typically opening with two analyst or associate rounds focused on mechanics (how does a deferred tax asset flow through three statements, walk me through an accretion/dilution for an all-stock deal at a 20% premium, calculate the LBO return given these assumptions), then moving to VP and director rounds that test your deal judgment and commercial instincts (what do you think of the Hertz restructuring outcome, why would a sponsor prefer PWP over Evercore for this mandate, how would you pitch a cross-border defense to an activist), and closing with a partner round that is pure judgment and fit. MBA-level associate candidates often receive a take-home case — a live or sanitized deal situation — with a 24 to 48 hour turnaround and an oral defense on a follow-up call. The case tests whether you can build a clean, well-labeled model under time pressure, write a crisp one-page memo, and argue your conclusion without getting rattled. Behaviorally, PWP partners probe for what insiders call 'advisor DNA': intellectual honesty (will you tell a client no), commercial empathy (do you actually understand why this mandate matters to the CEO across the table), resilience under grinding work (can you deliver at 3am on hour 90 of your week), and teaming instinct (will junior bankers want to staff you on their deals). Arrogance, entitlement, and any hint that you view the role as a stepping stone get candidates rejected instantly. The firm wants people who love the craft of advisory — modeling, writing, pitching, negotiating — not people trading two years of hell for a PE offer. Dress is formal business for superdays in NYC; virtual rounds still require a suit and a plain background. Thank-you notes the same day are table stakes.

What Perella Weinberg Partners Looks For

  • Elite academic credentials from a target school, typically 3.7+ GPA, and ideally a quantitative major (finance, economics, engineering, applied math, statistics) that signals the candidate can handle modeling work without remediation.
  • Prior investment banking, private equity, consulting, or equity research experience — for laterals, a proven track record at a bulge bracket or competing boutique is effectively a prerequisite. Campus analysts are expected to have at least one summer banking internship, often two.
  • Demonstrable modeling skill: three-statement builds, DCF, LBO, merger models, accretion/dilution, comparable companies, precedent transactions, and the ability to build these quickly, label clearly, and defend every assumption verbally.
  • Polished written and verbal communication. Pitch books, memos, and client-facing decks are the firm's product — sloppy writing or sloppy speech is an instant reject. PWP partners read carefully and expect candidates to write the way senior bankers write.
  • Commercial instinct and intellectual curiosity about deals. Candidates who can talk about live M&A activity in a sector, articulate a thesis about industry consolidation, or describe why a recent transaction was smart or foolish jump ahead of candidates who only know how to answer textbook questions.
  • Restructuring, sector, or regional specialization signals. If you are applying to the restructuring practice, familiarity with Chapter 11 mechanics, DIP financing, absolute priority rule, and credit analysis is expected. Healthcare, FIG, energy, and industrials coverage teams all have sector-specific knowledge tests embedded in the superday.
  • Resilience, work ethic, and genuine willingness to operate in an 80-to-100-hour-week culture during live deal execution. PWP does not pretend this is a balanced lifestyle — candidates who telegraph burnout risk or discomfort with the workload are screened out early.
  • Team orientation. Boutique deal teams are small — a partner, a VP, one or two associates, and an analyst — which means every person has outsize leverage on team morale and execution quality. Partners actively avoid hiring brilliant jerks because one toxic analyst can blow up a staffing rotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Perella Weinberg Partners use?
PWP uses Workday Recruiting, hosted at wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/pwp/PWP_Experienced_Opportunities for experienced hires. The careers page at pwpartners.com/careers routes all experienced-hire applications there. Campus and internship hires flow through target-school career services and direct event links.
Is Perella Weinberg Partners a good place to start an investment banking career?
Yes, if you want a prestige boutique path and you can handle the workload. PWP is widely regarded as one of the top independent advisory firms in the world. Analyst and associate alumni place into top private equity, hedge fund, and growth equity seats, and the partner-led deal team model means you touch real work earlier than you would at a bulge bracket. The cost is culturally real: 80 to 100 hour weeks during live deals, constant weekend work, and minimal lifestyle balance.
What is the base and bonus for a PWP analyst or associate?
PWP does not publish compensation publicly, but industry data places first-year analyst all-in compensation (base plus bonus) at the top of the Street — typically matching or modestly exceeding bulge-bracket medians during strong deal years. Associate all-in compensation is similarly competitive with Lazard, Moelis, and Evercore. 2024 was a record year for the firm, and bonuses reflected that.
Which schools does PWP recruit from for its analyst and associate programs?
At the undergraduate level: Wharton, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, NYU Stern, University of Michigan Ross, University of Virginia McIntire, Duke, and a short tail of additional targets. At the MBA level: HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, Stanford, Kellogg, and Tuck. Non-target candidates can break in but almost always via networking, a diversity recruiting event, or a non-traditional path that lands on a partner's desk directly.
How hard is it to get hired at Perella Weinberg Partners?
Very hard. Analyst program acceptance rates from target schools are in the single digits — roughly in line with the most selective bulge brackets and true elite boutiques. The firm runs a small analyst class relative to its peers, and every seat is contested. MBA associate recruiting is similarly competitive, with the additional filter of a case study component.
What is the interview process at PWP?
A screening call with a VP, associate, or HR contact; a superday of six to eight back-to-back 30 to 45 minute interviews spanning technical modeling, behavioral, and deal discussion; a take-home case with a 24 to 48 hour turnaround for MBA associate candidates; and a final partner round. Total interviews often exceed eight for serious candidates. Expect the full process to run two to four weeks.
Does Perella Weinberg Partners offer internships?
Yes. The summer analyst and summer associate programs are the primary path to full-time offers. Recruiting happens through on-campus interview cycles at target schools and through the Intern & Graduate Recruitment page at pwpartners.com/careers/intern-graduate-recruitment/. Internships are highly competitive and convert to full-time offers at high but not universal rates.
Is PWP remote-friendly?
No. PWP is a traditional in-office firm, five days a week in New York or the applicable office. This is standard for elite advisory boutiques. Junior bankers are expected to be at their desks or in client meetings — remote work is not part of the culture and candidates who prioritize it should look elsewhere.
What is the work-life balance like at PWP?
Honest answer: there isn't one during live deals. Expect 80 to 100 hour weeks on active transactions, weekend work, late-night turn times on pitch books and models, and client dinners. Protected weekends exist on paper in some groups but are routinely broken. Between deals, hours are more humane. If this tradeoff is not one you can stomach for two or more years, this firm is not the right fit.
Who is the CEO of Perella Weinberg Partners?
Andrew Bednar, who succeeded co-founder Peter Weinberg in December 2023. Bednar was previously Co-President of the firm and is a senior M&A banker with a long tenure at PWP. Joseph R. Perella remains Chairman Emeritus, and Peter Weinberg remains on the board.
Where are PWP offices located?
Headquarters is 767 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Additional offices in Houston (including the TPH energy franchise), Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Calgary, London, Paris, Munich, Abu Dhabi, and Wellington. New York handles the bulk of M&A and restructuring advisory; Houston handles energy through TPH; London and Paris lead European coverage.
What is the difference between PWP and TPH (Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.)?
TPH is PWP's Houston-based energy advisory franchise — wholly owned and integrated, but operated under its own brand for historical and market reasons. TPH focuses on oil and gas, power, renewables, and energy transition advisory. If you are targeting energy banking specifically, TPH is typically the better application path; general M&A and restructuring candidates apply to the PWP brand.

Open Positions

Perella Weinberg Partners currently has 10 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 10 open positions at Perella Weinberg Partners

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Sources

  1. Perella Weinberg Partners - Careers —
  2. Perella Weinberg Partners - Experienced Opportunities (Workday) —
  3. Perella Weinberg Partners - Intern & Graduate Recruitment —
  4. Perella Weinberg Partners - Who We Are —
  5. Perella Weinberg Partners - Investor Relations —
  6. Perella Weinberg Partners - Our Team —
  7. Perella Weinberg Partners - Transactions —