KKR vs Carlyle vs Warburg - URGENT
I have offers from the three firms above in their respective traditional PE/buyout groups and have to decide by tomorrow due to a pending deadline at one of them.
Locations are actually all different for the three but it's not a factor because I am willing to relocate to any of the three locations
Comp is fairly similar between the three - main focus is b. school placement and overall reputation on the street as I would like to get into HBS/SGSB after 2 years and return to private equity afterwards at a similarly large shop or a similar field. Culture is also a key determinant (hard to tell from the interviews, had good/iffy experiences at each firm, all depended on the interviewer, so I can't gauge overall company culture)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is not a troll post and any help would be very helpful!





Any particular sectors you're
Any particular sectors you're interested in covering? Could make a difference in certain cases.
Pay and bschool placement are very similar among the three.
Try to go out to lunch/coffee with a bunch of people at each and then just go with your gut after. You'll be fine regardless of your choice.
Go with KKR.
Go with KKR.
i would choose between kkr
i would choose between kkr and carlyle.
So many aspiring monkeys are
So many aspiring monkeys are so jelly right now. Probably beating it to your post too.
Anyway, tough call. All are great and congrats to you for landing them. Interesting to note that you don't have much of a post history (assuming you don't have another account) which serves my point that alot of people who get these positions naturally have what it takes and don't spend time asking 10000 easy-to-answer questions on here.
Again, congrats. I would probably go Carlyle but there really is not wrong here. If any are in Cali, go there.
"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
hats off, congratz make a
hats off, congratz
make a decision based on the location i guess
some can be better for networking and life quality/expenses than other
id say KKR vs CG, but there are people who can provide much better advice around here..
were you in a M&A group,
were you in a M&A group, coverage, or a principal investing group at your BB?
Am I the only one who would
Am I the only one who would go Warburg here?
I hate victims who respect their executioners
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BlackHat: Am I the only one
Am I the only one who would go Warburg here?
On this board, maybe. But in reality, the answer should be a clear no. Warburg is very very solid. Like I said, incredibly hard choice. If the other 2 were east coast and Warburg is west, I'd probably take it.
"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
Sorry to go off topic, but
Sorry to go off topic, but would you mind giving a bit of a backstory? Seems like you went/go to a semi-target and, with these offers in hand, I'm sure you'd be able to inspire a lot of prospective monkeys. Congrats! If I were in your position, given my sector interest, I'd pick Warburg.
Just saying...
Depending on the sector I
Depending on the sector I would go with KKR or Warburg.
thanks everyone for your
thanks everyone for your input! have spent a lot of time yesterday and today talking to friends in the industry to get insight, and think i have come to a decision (but of course any additional input is still welcome). a few responses to your posts above:
@frank_reynolds: would be focusing on a specific (already determined) sector at Warburg and Carlyle, and one of two sectors at KKR (not determined yet). all of these are sectors i'm interested in, so not a huge consideration. of course would want to meet with people at each firm and make a decision from there, but only got offers from each firm at the beginning of this week so timing/geographic restraints make it difficult
@Will Hunting: dont have another account but read this site a LOT in college prior to my banking interviews to get an idea of what they were like (was a STEM major with little finance background). didnt read the site much during my internship/senior year/first year in banking, but started reading a lot more recently to learn more about different PE firms but found it completely useless as most of the posts are clearly from college students or people who have no realistic perspective of the industry. actually went through and created an account recently to address this and another question i had with another group that i was in talks with (GS PIA - timing didn't work out with them). i imagine i'll be back to not reading this for a while until i apply to business school in 2 years
@ibanker12 - would rather not go into any details that could give away my identity. i'll just say i'm at GS/MS/JPM and not in a principal investing group (dont even know what that means in the context of BB IBD)
@turtles - please PM me if you have any specific questions, would rather not give away any personal info here. best advice i can say to people is to use common sense and don't look to posts on this website to provide you with magic answers that will solve your problems as most of the users are college students or just people who really have no idea what is going on.
flip between kkr/carlyle. kkr
flip between kkr/carlyle. kkr for better brand, rigorous associate experience/responsibility at low levels, carlyle for better culture/hours/dc location. take with a grain of salt but that's what seems to be general consensus.
semitargetstudent: thanks
thanks everyone for your input! have spent a lot of time yesterday and today talking to friends in the industry to get insight, and think i have come to a decision (but of course any additional input is still welcome). a few responses to your posts above:
@frank_reynolds: would be focusing on a specific (already determined) sector at Warburg and Carlyle, and one of two sectors at KKR (not determined yet). all of these are sectors i'm interested in, so not a huge consideration. of course would want to meet with people at each firm and make a decision from there, but only got offers from each firm at the beginning of this week so timing/geographic restraints make it difficult
@Will Hunting: dont have another account but read this site a LOT in college prior to my banking interviews to get an idea of what they were like (was a STEM major with little finance background). didnt read the site much during my internship/senior year/first year in banking, but started reading a lot more recently to learn more about different PE firms but found it completely useless as most of the posts are clearly from college students or people who have no realistic perspective of the industry. actually went through and created an account recently to address this and another question i had with another group that i was in talks with (GS PIA - timing didn't work out with them). i imagine i'll be back to not reading this for a while until i apply to business school in 2 years
@ibanker12 - would rather not go into any details that could give away my identity. i'll just say i'm at GS/MS/JPM and not in a principal investing group (dont even know what that means in the context of BB IBD)
@turtles - please PM me if you have any specific questions, would rather not give away any personal info here. best advice i can say to people is to use common sense and don't look to posts on this website to provide you with magic answers that will solve your problems as most of the users are college students or just people who really have no idea what is going on.
Ironically with all your offers and common sense, you are asking "college kids" for advice on what firm would be better. May be you are showing off or maybe you are dreaming...no offense intended.
Do what you want not what you can!
bossman: semitargetstudent:
thanks everyone for your input! have spent a lot of time yesterday and today talking to friends in the industry to get insight, and think i have come to a decision (but of course any additional input is still welcome). a few responses to your posts above:
@frank_reynolds: would be focusing on a specific (already determined) sector at Warburg and Carlyle, and one of two sectors at KKR (not determined yet). all of these are sectors i'm interested in, so not a huge consideration. of course would want to meet with people at each firm and make a decision from there, but only got offers from each firm at the beginning of this week so timing/geographic restraints make it difficult
@Will Hunting: dont have another account but read this site a LOT in college prior to my banking interviews to get an idea of what they were like (was a STEM major with little finance background). didnt read the site much during my internship/senior year/first year in banking, but started reading a lot more recently to learn more about different PE firms but found it completely useless as most of the posts are clearly from college students or people who have no realistic perspective of the industry. actually went through and created an account recently to address this and another question i had with another group that i was in talks with (GS PIA - timing didn't work out with them). i imagine i'll be back to not reading this for a while until i apply to business school in 2 years
@ibanker12 - would rather not go into any details that could give away my identity. i'll just say i'm at GS/MS/JPM and not in a principal investing group (dont even know what that means in the context of BB IBD)
@turtles - please PM me if you have any specific questions, would rather not give away any personal info here. best advice i can say to people is to use common sense and don't look to posts on this website to provide you with magic answers that will solve your problems as most of the users are college students or just people who really have no idea what is going on.
Ironically with all your offers and common sense, you are asking "college kids" for advice on what firm would be better. May be you are showing off or maybe you are dreaming...no offense intended.
I don't think he was intending to get answers from college kids and wanted more input from experienced/in the industry posters. Since the other PE threads (Would you choose mm over mf) were filled with PE associates, he could very well get useful insight. Unfortunately, these firms are highly regarded on here and the sheer appearance of their names with the word "offer" next to them get undergrads dicks hard and they immediately want to know how he did it.
"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
Will
thanks everyone for your input! have spent a lot of time yesterday and today talking to friends in the industry to get insight, and think i have come to a decision (but of course any additional input is still welcome). a few responses to your posts above:
@frank_reynolds: would be focusing on a specific (already determined) sector at Warburg and Carlyle, and one of two sectors at KKR (not determined yet). all of these are sectors i'm interested in, so not a huge consideration. of course would want to meet with people at each firm and make a decision from there, but only got offers from each firm at the beginning of this week so timing/geographic restraints make it difficult
@Will Hunting: dont have another account but read this site a LOT in college prior to my banking interviews to get an idea of what they were like (was a STEM major with little finance background). didnt read the site much during my internship/senior year/first year in banking, but started reading a lot more recently to learn more about different PE firms but found it completely useless as most of the posts are clearly from college students or people who have no realistic perspective of the industry. actually went through and created an account recently to address this and another question i had with another group that i was in talks with (GS PIA - timing didn't work out with them). i imagine i'll be back to not reading this for a while until i apply to business school in 2 years
@ibanker12 - would rather not go into any details that could give away my identity. i'll just say i'm at GS/MS/JPM and not in a principal investing group (dont even know what that means in the context of BB IBD)
@turtles - please PM me if you have any specific questions, would rather not give away any personal info here. best advice i can say to people is to use common sense and don't look to posts on this website to provide you with magic answers that will solve your problems as most of the users are college students or just people who really have no idea what is going on.
Ironically with all your offers and common sense, you are asking "college kids" for advice on what firm would be better. May be you are showing off or maybe you are dreaming...no offense intended.
I don't think he was intending to get answers from college kids and wanted more input from experienced/in the industry posters. Since the other PE threads (Would you choose mm over mf) were filled with PE associates, he could very well get useful insight. Unfortunately, these firms are highly regarded on here and the sheer appearance of their names with the word "offer" next to them get undergrads dicks hard and they immediately want to know how he did it.
@bossman: haha touche! obviously my wording was poor but i'm sure you know what i was trying to get at. my resources are limited in getting more info on these firms so basically making a desperate attempt at getting info from wherever i can, even if its from "college students" lol.
Will Hunting: Interesting to
BlackHat: Am I the only one
Don't forget to consider
Not going to opine on where
If you've not made a decision
If I may ask, what was comp
^agreed, would be very
akybaky: Not going to opine
Curious to hear what the OP
Agree with seamlessftw, but
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As for the person asking
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