Opinion on recruiting for PE after only 6mo internship in IB
Hi all,
the title says all, but here a bit more context:
- I am currently doing a 6mo internship in IB (BB) (in Europe), and the hours are starting to take a toll on me (never had less than 80h/weeks apart from the first month, avg is 85 to 90), and started to realize that the work is not that intellectually engaging, to put it this way
- I have always been interested in investing, that is my main goal and I am already quite certain to not stay in banking as a career
Thus, my aim is to transition to the buy-side (ideally to public markets investing, but since the skills you learn there are very specific, to avoid pigeonholing myself already at 23yo I have decided that PE is a wiser choice for now).
Now, the "issue" is this:
Since I have only interned in IB, I don't have much modelling / valuation experience, if any (though I can say to have some deal process exp) - thus my question: is this considered too short of an experience in banking to be considered for PE (FYI I'm not targeting only BX and Carlyle, I am open also to smaller shops) or do you suggest to try to get a FT offer at a bank, stay for at least 1/1.5y, get all the trainings and experience the bank offers, and only then switch to PE? this would make more sense but as said above the hours are a big deterring factor for me
On the other hand, if I target a PE internship, will I be able to learn also there the relevant skills for the job, without the need to spend at least a year in banking?
Thank you for your attention
If you still have another year of school you can easily transition. Banking isn’t for everyone. Lifestyle in PE may be better at times but you’re still competing with other analysts for performance bonuses so I would not go into any highly sought-after job thinking you can work less. Corporate jobs with work less hours and for less pay. “If you love what you do, you won’t think of your job as work.” You’re clearly bright enough to do many things, so why not focus on something that will more rewarding (regardless of the money)? You have plenty of time to change your mind or to chase money.
Interested as well
You can do PE right out of school but I'd caution you that the hours won't be a massive improvement, and no job is intellectually stimulating as a junior. You will do much of the same work in PE - yes there's more strategic work going on, but your focus as a junior will be knee deep in intense DD, portco work etc
Banks tend to go easy on interns a bit so if you are burnt out on hours just from an internship PE will likely also be very hard on you. It's a bit better than banking but you will certainly work 80+ hour weeks and I think your typical PE analyst is easy getting ~70-75 hours. I wouldn't consider PE as the golden land. Maybe public markets would be better since it is less hours.. and I really don't agree you're pigeonholing yourself there, you can exit to plenty of roles
Thank you for your response.
Ok so at a junior level the grunt work is still prevalent, however it isn't client driven with very strict deadlines is it? I've found all the late nights and mornings are always due to books being changed last minute the evening before the client meeting, and it's something I have not much tolerance for.
On the public markets point, I am interested in research roles (equity but also credit) in a fund, but am afraid that changing from this role might be very hard, as opposed to PE where you still have roles open like HF/LOs and also corporate development/m&a in large corporations (which in an industry that I like I would not exclude). Do you disagree with this take?
Thanks again
The difference in it being driven by you vs. the client is just that you can see it coming more... you know the IC date, while in IB client may decide to blow up your Friday with no notice - but there will absolutely still be late nights/mornings for silly little last-minute changes before investment committee, final deadlines etc. Not to minimize your experience but if after a 6 month internship you don't like these late nights with lots of nitty / grunt work and want lower hours, I would encourage you to look elsewhere as PE is not going to be vastly different.
You can definitely go to HF/LO from a research role at a top fund - if anything I'd say that work is slightly more relevant than if you started at a boutique PE firm. Credit will feed into credit roles but still a good career with interesting work. Corp dev will always prefer IB experience and it is not a common move from PE, unless you're at a UMM/MF with huge name recognition.
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