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Breaking into megafund from MBA
 

myblackberryblinks's picture
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 1:07pm

Hello,

I think a lot of people who go to megafunds do 2 years IBD -> 2 years PE -> Top MBA -> Megafund.

How is p/e recruiting at top bschools? I assume there is a lot of competition for these slots. If someone were to go to bschool directly from banking would he be at a significant disadvantage to those who had the extra 2 years of PE? Is it even possible to break in at an associate level?

Since many pre-MBA associate PE firms require 2 and out, what's the point of doing pre-mba PE (with the exception of getting into bschool) if one wants to do post MBA pe?

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breakinginnew's picture

my understanding: there are

AM
(Orangutan, 304
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 2:09pm

my understanding:
there are less post mba pe jobs than pre mba -> unless there is a ridiculously good economy there will be people with banking and PE experience competing with you even if you are at a top MBA program...

acronymous's picture

Am also curious about this.

(Baboon, 110
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 2:34pm

Am also curious about this. Is there formal PE recruiting at b-school (for VP hiring) or is it more through your network? Thanks a lot

HerSerendipity's picture

Yes, you would absolutely be

PE
(King Kong, 1,031
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 3:59pm

Yes, you would absolutely be at a disadvantage to those who had 2 years of PE (versus those who only have banking experience). Funds definitely prefer post-MBAs who can 'hit the ground running' and have experience with origination. That's not to say they don't hire people with only banking experience, especially given the number of funds out there, but if you're looking to reputable / established shops, they definitely look to people who had pre-mba PE experience first.

I'd say that if you knew that PE was the only thing you wanted to do, you would probably go to a shop that didn't have a 2 year and out program.

For PE shops, hiring MBAs is already costly enough; they really don't need associates that would need hand holding for the first year. Second, most shops hire senior associates/VPs based on need and openings. There is no formalized 'class' for these positions.

Eric Stratton's picture

Huge disadvantage without

(Gorilla, 583
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 9:46pm

Huge disadvantage without pre-mba PE experience. Heck, some people with pre-mba PE experience go back in to banking (since they don't want to take a pay cut coming out of an MBA) because there are far fewer post-mba PE spots.

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ddmonkey's picture

interesting. two

(Monkey, 40
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 11:38pm

interesting.

two candidates:

GS/MS good group > HBS
vs
MBB > growth equity (5-10B) > HBS

which one will megafunds prefer?

Faustus's picture

Question: what if you worked

IB
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 11:49pm

Question: what if you worked in PE as an undergraduate (during school and over the summer) and then went into banking and then back to b school -- would this be seen as similar to the guy who did two years PE after banking (I realize that the experience would probably not be seen exactly the same)?

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.

WallStreetOasis.com's picture

BBA wrote: Question: what if

EN
(Human, 12,074
 
Points)
 on 11/12/10 at 11:56pm
BBA:

Question: what if you worked in PE as an undergraduate (during school and over the summer) and then went into banking and then back to b school -- would this be seen as similar to the guy who did two years PE after banking (I realize that the experience would probably not be seen exactly the same)?

don't think an internship at that point would be given much weight. Two years into banking, what takes up (or should take up) most of your "Experience" section are your deals.

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wamartinu's picture

WallStreetOasis.com

IB
(Baboon, 135
 
Points)
 on 11/13/10 at 1:52am
WallStreetOasis.com:
BBA:

Question: what if you worked in PE as an undergraduate (during school and over the summer) and then went into banking and then back to b school -- would this be seen as similar to the guy who did two years PE after banking (I realize that the experience would probably not be seen exactly the same)?

don't think an internship at that point would be given much weight. Two years into banking, what takes up (or should take up) most of your "Experience" section are your deals.

Dont you think the "Experience" section is over-rated? Most of the PE interviews take place 1 year before the start date, so in most cases (assuming you're doing a 2 year stint), after just 1 year of IBD, sometimes even earlier (megafunds this year started recruiting in May), 10 months. So taking that into consideration what "Deal Experience" would a PE firm expect from a 10M-1 Year IBD analyst? I mean honestly, even in the best groups on WST, I dont think you'll get any deal experience as a (barely) 1st year analyst. And if you get deal experience (not even thinking about closed deals here) it would be very superficial, the more interesting stuff being done by 2nd /3rd year analysts-makes sense as they are more experienced. This was my observation after talking with countless analysts from some very busy groups. thoughts please?

Slaying Alpha's picture

I worked in Pre-MBA PE at a

 
Points)
 on 11/18/10 at 12:08am

I worked in Pre-MBA PE at a sizable PE Fund before my program ended... I can speak to post-MBA recruiting at the mega ($10bn+) and larger funds ($5bn+), coming from the direct route (lateraling), I was in the pools of recruiting with MBAs recruiting for fund jobs.

Most of the funds you would consider "mega" or "top-tier" rarely recruit through the career center. They'll get the resume book and cold call students who they think have the right background and recruit very stealthily.

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lolercoasterrr's picture

^^^ Yeah I assume that was

PE
(Orangutan, 328
 
Points)
 on 11/18/10 at 10:24am

^^^ Yeah I assume that was the case. Probably easiest way is to join one of those VC/PE clubs at your bschool, get your name in the resume book, attend their "speaker events" and hope for phone calls.

apprentice7697's picture

BBA wrote: Question: what if

(Baboon, 102
 
Points)
 on 1/25/11 at 1:37pm
BBA:

Question: what if you worked in PE as an undergraduate (during school and over the summer) and then went into banking and then back to b school -- would this be seen as similar to the guy who did two years PE after banking (I realize that the experience would probably not be seen exactly the same)?

This advice comes straight from Oxbridge, Glocap, and SG: they only care about FT experience. Your internships and pre-graduation work means nothing, because they are wise to the fact that it was mostly bullshit.

CorporateRaider83's picture

acronymous wrote: Am also

(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 1/27/11 at 9:22am
acronymous:

Am also curious about this. Is there formal PE recruiting at b-school (for VP hiring) or is it more through your network? Thanks a lot

VP hiring from school? Are you smoking dope???

Guys, PE hiring depends on firm culture and region...

Pre-MBA PE definitely with advantage, but very good bankers and consultants well considered

If MBA, then please HBS or Stanford, maybe Wharton or Columbia

Everything else is not a bonus...

And there are always exceptions...

International Pymp's picture

1. There are less spots post

RE
(King Kong, 1,882
 
Points)
 on 1/27/11 at 9:45am

1. There are less spots post MBA and they are certainly highly competitive - no matter what program you are in (though 99% of the time you'd be at HBS or StanforD)... You should read the legendary post by 10x leverage. He goes into this in depth and discusses how 80% of the megafund hires out of MBA were all megafunders pre-mba... on occasion, he mentions, there'll be a kid who was as MDP or some other brand name (but non-megafund) firm that get's hired... an "underdog" of sorts (with an mba from harvard, 2 years at goldman and 2 years at MDP... lol)

You can find that post on the highest rated posts under something like "former MS M&A...."

2. There are VPs hired out of business school at times, but it's definitely not the usual and I don't know if they do that at Megafunds with rigid hiring/staffing practices... these people are like 34 and have 2 years banking and 6-7 years in PE before attending school though - and it's not common.

International Pymp's picture

lolercoasterrr wrote: ^^^

RE
(King Kong, 1,882
 
Points)
 on 1/27/11 at 9:57am
lolercoasterrr:

^^^ Yeah I assume that was the case. Probably easiest way is to join one of those VC/PE clubs at your bschool, get your name in the resume book, attend their "speaker events" and hope for phone calls.

working through your contacts / people you already know working at those firms is another primary method... because as discussed above, they typically won't do standard resume drops and all that even at best schools

bankbank's picture

myblackberryblinks

 
Points)
 on 1/27/11 at 11:49am
myblackberryblinks:

Hello,

I think a lot of people who go to megafunds do 2 years IBD -> 2 years PE -> Top MBA -> Megafund.

How is p/e recruiting at top bschools? I assume there is a lot of competition for these slots. If someone were to go to bschool directly from banking would he be at a significant disadvantage to those who had the extra 2 years of PE? Is it even possible to break in at an associate level?

Since many pre-MBA associate PE firms require 2 and out, what's the point of doing pre-mba PE (with the exception of getting into bschool) if one wants to do post MBA pe?

Yes, someone who goes directly from banking to MBA is at a significant disadvantage vs. someone with pre-MBA PE experience when coming out of MBA and trying to land PE job.

The point of doing pre-MBA PE if one wants to do post-MBA PE is that top PE firms will only hire MBAs with PE experience.

Faustus's picture

apprentice7697 wrote: BBA

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 9:26am

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.

drf741's picture

What if you have pre-MBA

(Monkey, 53
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 7:47pm
International Pymp's picture

if you went straight into the

RE
(King Kong, 1,882
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 11:59pm

Huh? From me reading the

SpencerMakesBank (not verified)
(Chimp, 0
 
Points)
 on 1/31/11 at 1:53am
Marcus_Halberstram's picture

SpencerMakesBank wrote: Huh?

PE
(Neanderthal, 3,438
 
Points)
 on 1/31/11 at 5:34pm

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HFFBALLfan123's picture

What about Pre MBA all PE

PE
(King Kong, 1,371
 
Points)
 on 1/31/11 at 5:41pm
HFFBALLfan123's picture

I realize my above question

PE
(King Kong, 1,371
 
Points)
 on 1/31/11 at 6:00pm
Ukon's picture

Moving to megafund post MBA

PE
(Orangutan, 370
 
Points)
 on 2/7/11 at 2:09am
TheBenevolent's picture

to me it seems like if you

IB
 
Points)
 on 2/8/11 at 3:24pm

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