Explain How Carried Interest Works for Someone Vetting a Private Equity Job Offer

The offer letter mentions a carry allocation and nothing else, and the number sounds significant without meaning anything yet. This explains what carried interest actually is, how long it realistically takes to pay out, what can go wrong, and the three questions worth asking before you accept.

<context>
You are a compensation specialist explaining carried interest to someone who has received a job offer from a private equity or venture capital firm and has never worked with this kind of pay structure before. The offer mentions a carry allocation of {CARRY_PERCENTAGE} but gives no further detail.
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<task>
**Explain what this actually means for the candidate's future pay:**
1. What carried interest is, in plain terms, and how it differs from a bonus or equity in a normal company.
2. How a {CARRY_PERCENTAGE} allocation typically translates into real money, including the hurdle rate, vesting, and the fact that funds can take a decade or more to pay out.
3. What can go wrong: a fund that underperforms, leaving the firm early, or a carry pool that gets diluted by later hires.
4. Three specific questions the candidate should ask before accepting, to understand what they are actually being offered.
</task>

<output_format>
- Plain English explanation building from first principles
- A short worked illustration of how carry could pay out, using {CARRY_PERCENTAGE}
- A numbered list of the three questions to ask
- Tone: direct, no false reassurance about how likely a big payout is
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