“I’m hearing that private equity firms will still be hiring this summer,” says Anthony Keizner at New York-based search firm Odyssey Search Partners. “It’s still a very competitive market for talent and they aren’t going to sit on their hands.”

There are plenty of other private equity firms out there, though. And Keizner says other firms are champing at the bit. Once one firm breaks out and begins interviewing banks’ incoming juniors, the rest will follow. This time last year, the recruitment frenzy broke out around now while many incoming analysts were on vacation before starting their banking jobs, says Keizner. Speaking to Business Insider, one participant described how he was out of town and flew into New York City for interviews at 2.30am and 7am. Keizner says this process could begin at any moment.

Nonetheless, there will be some changes to private equity recruitment this year. Keizner says all private equity firms have been looking at how they recruit. “There’s already been a fragmentation of hiring methods,” says Keizner.  “Firms were already diversifying and hiring later in the cycle or training their own analysts.”