M&A/Private Equity in Energy/O&G Houston Fall Internship Help

I grew up in Houston where Energy/O&G was always one of the top industry choices for careers. I, however, chose not to follow that path until now. Sometimes I wonder if I am too late.

I did my undergrad at a target school focusing on Economics. I ended up working for almost four years at a top global bank in CDOs being promoted 3 times during my time there, with my last two in management positions, one of the youngest managers if not the youngest. Then I had a wacky dream to go save the world since I was still young and joined the Peace Corps turning down a possible fourth promotion that was in the pipeline. After 1.5 years of service, the country I served in was evacuated due to a war. I went on to volunteer at various positions by backpacking across Eastern to Western Europe before returning home to America. Due to the timing of the evacuation, I had to make a quick decision by starting my MBA a year early and I ended up at a non-target school, but with a solid GPA. During my MBA, I continued my passion for development work leading a project that was eventually selected to attend a well known conference formed by a ex-president and his foundation. I am currently interning at a Fortune 50 company as an investor relations associate seeing the firm grow through M&A and communicating with sell-side analysts, but in a non O&G firm. For my love of tennis, I became a USTA certified umpire to promote fairness and sportsmanship. Recently, I was recognized for not only my corporate banking experience, but also my non-profit work. I was selected to be part of the Board of Directors for an established non-profit at such a young age.

I am looking for some feedback as to whether people think my background is unique enough to enter the M&A/Private Equity field of O&G with no O&G experience. I am hoping to find a Fall 2014 Internship in a PE O&G firm (large/mid/boutique) as I finish the 2nd year of my MBA, but these internships seem very hard to come by. I do not see a career section on most websites (for smaller firms) or even contact info making me believe that connections are the key to these firms in Houston. One day, I hope to work abroad more on the upstream side of O&G. I would like to get a little dirty on the Production and Exploration side every so often rather than sit in an office all day.

 

PE is going to be extremely difficult even if you are able to secure an internship. For a full-time role, PE firms will want some sort of transaction experience which will be difficult to obtain simply through an internship. PE is extremely competitive and most firms have plenty of applicants from top schools and more traditional routes.

Your best bet is investment banking but even that will be difficult. If that's the route you choose then I would probably focus on smaller firms. Another option is to target sell-side research and after a couple of years network into IB.

 
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