Hey everyone - I’m currently a 1st year associate at a UMM PE firm with previous BB IB experience.
I plan on doing 2-3 years in my current PE role. After that, I wonder what I should do next.
One option is to continue in PE. Most realistically, this looks like going to another (smaller) firm since VP promotions are incredibly competitive at my firm.
The other option, in my mind, is to transition to corporate finance (think FP&A, not interested in corp dev) and climb ladder to CFO. I’m thinking of either doing this at a F100 or a portfolio company but not sure yet.
A few thoughts:
- I can’t imagine getting an MBA and incurring the associated cost. Could imagine doing a part time or executive MBA later down the road though.
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I really want to buy a nice house in the suburbs in the mid Atlantic region. Definitely don’t want to be living in NYC / BOS in the long term
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Want to be able to spend time with my future wife and kids.
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Want to be making decent ($200k+) comp but not super comp sensitive.
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I tend to put a premium (maybe more than I should) on the size and recognizability of the company I work for. I don’t think I’d feel fulfilled working at a 20 person shop looking at smaller sized deals. The idea of working at a massive company, being part of a huge team that is doing important things in the world, appeals to me a lot more.
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Want job security and career optionality. Don’t want to be caught in a position where I’m laid off / stressed to be out of a job, if possible
Based on the above, what would folks recommend? Is there another path I should be considering? Thanks a lot for your invaluable input!
Thank you, and great points. On the reason I am more interested in ops — broadly, I think it aligns more with my strengths, which are to execute on things and produce analysis, rather than to do expert calls, make slides about commercial diligence topics, and play a “passive” role as an investor. I put “passive” in quotations because yes, while a PE firm does get involved in strategy and M&A of their portco, most of the deal-based work is based on assessing the opportunity and communicating those assessments in a structured way rather than actually building something.
Secondly, on your point about comp, point well taken. I would be happy with a upper middle class lifestyle, so I think $200k+ would be comfortable, assuming there is opportunity to get higher comp as you gain seniority.
I went through similar thinking in those days and planned to use the portco stint as an "option" to test out ops but still keep door open a crack to get back into PE. Got a direct promote and didn't find the right fit so I never ended up doing it, but I'm still a believer. Give it some thought.
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