Hey guys - I'm a first year at GS/MS/JPM in one of our top coverage groups. I'm considering not going through buyside recruiting this season and waiting until next year, and I'm going to list my considerations below. For people who have gone through buyside recruiting (which I know is a very small number on here), what are your thoughts on waiting to do recruiting in your second year rather than your first?
Reasons to wait:
- Feel unprepared for PE technicals as of now (modeling), I could study but feel like you need more on job experience than studying guides to really do well in interviews...
- Feeding off the last reason, my group has done almost all equity since I started, so my deal experience has no closed M&A and my modeling experience is very light
- On a three year contract now, so my group isn't super receptive to recruiting
- All around would be more prepared for interviews by waiting another year
- I love my group, and we work pretty great hours for banking, so staying three years doesn't seem like an awful fate, I wouldn't mind it too much
- Once you interview, you aren't getting another with that firm, so you need to make them count
Reasons to recruit:
- Obviously no matter how much I like my group, getting to the buyside ASAP is a big consideration. Higher comp, better hours, and advancing my career by a year rather than being "stalled" in banking for an extra year
- Building off of that, the idea that I could wait a year in banking, and ultimately get the same job that I would have landed by recruiting this year, is something to think about. Will I really be THAT much more prepared after one more year than I am now? No way to tell how much M&A my group will do in the next year...
- Its what pe funds expect you to do. I don't know how they will look at a second year analyst recruiting with all the first years. Does anyone have experience with that? Do they care at all about that/will that be a red flag?
- Though I love my group, most of the juniors who I'm closest with will be gone after two years, so the whole culture could change in that third year were I to stay
I'm targeting megafunds, upper MM, and VCs if that makes any difference. What are you guys' thoughts?
Better hours? Just stating that you said your hours at your current BB are pretty good, I doubt transitioning to the buy side will be "better". But you should consider things like: Do I enjoy the current work I'm doing? Do I want to learn more at my current position to further my specific knowledge/skillset (which could possibly help you be a better analyst wherever you go), etc. You're better off reaching out to Alumni you have in the buy side or friends you have in the buy side.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm also at GS/MS/JPM in a top coverage group (...and we've done a decent amount of equity...wonder if we're in the same group! haha).
I spoke with some friends in PE and they advised against it. They said while there's definitely more than a handful of examples to the contrary, people seem to have more success now than waiting an extra year. Seems to be the case in my group as well.
Something that really hit home that they said was that MFs are always a crapshoot. And that from a probability standpoint most of us will end up at MM PE shops. And because there are so many good ones, might as well go through recruitment now and if it doesn't work at some, just try again the next year (although they said the quality of options would diminish if you go through twice).
Still haven't made up my mind completely. But food for thought.
You don't need to start studying until after the holidays, so there's no reason to believe you're unprepared.
How many M&a transactions do you really think most people will have closed in their first 5 months?
All fair considerations. IMO success in PE recruiting is 100% about the prep you put in. Deal experience not a deal breaker as long as you know how to talk about your experience. You dont have to close a single deal to get a MF offer, but like you said, if you dont prep well enough and meet with 20 firms, you're not going to meet with those firms the year after
I agree here - people on this board seem to overweight deal experience. Frankly, given how early PE recruiting occurs, deal experience at the time of recruiting is not that big a factor since it's assumed you'll have plenty over the course of 2 years.
To OP, regarding technicals/modeling: there are at least 2 months until recruiting should start. That is plenty of time to learn how to build a three statement lbo model quickly. Also, if you're targeting VC firms, then the modeling is completely irrelevant anyway.
Side note: You should figure out whether you want PE or VC. Headhunters won't like it when you are wishy-washy on what you want (though being in a top group certainly mitigates some of that.)
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