Moving from East Coast to West Coast

First year analyst about to start working at a top tech group at a BB in New York. Being originally from the West Coast, I was wondering how difficult it is to exit into PE on the West Coast. Given that I'm working in NYC, will I be contacted only by recruiters looking to fill east coast positions? I'm specifically interested in working at a tech-focused private equity firms (Silverlake, Francisco Partners, Vista Equity, etc.) or possibly a growth equity fund in SF.

 
Best Response

Recruiting for west coast positions is very possible. Most of the top recruiters have employees that focus on different cities, so even if you initially meet someone in-person in NY who focuses on NY opportunities, they can easily put you in touch with someone from their west coast team. Given your situation, it is very important you start speaking with recruiters early in the process. Essentially, that means you should actually respond when those mass emails start coming around in November/December to set up preliminary meetings/phone calls. Don't wait for them to send follow-up emails in January before making contact. Make it very early on that you are committed to the west coast. A lot of shops on the west coast have well-established recruiting pools that are also on the west coast (e.g., former IB analysts who worked in SF groups) but that doesn't mean candidates from NY do not get a fair shake. Making your interests and reasons for the move known to recruiters early on will help ensure you are considered during the prime recruiting period, rather than after shops have already taken a first wave or two at interviewing local candidates.

I faced a similar process while recruiting for private equity (working IB in a different city than where I wanted to end up). Happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

 

You should have no problem getting interviews in any part of the country. My advice (as far as private equity is concerned) is stick to the big three - CPI, SG Partners, Oxbridge. They are usually on retainer with all the larger mid market and large cap shops and run a fairly organized process on behalf of their clients (so shops without an HR department can funnel candidates easily). A few people I know used places like Glocap, Search One or Dynamix...all with terrible results.

 
GameTheory:
You should have no problem getting interviews in any part of the country. My advice (as far as private equity is concerned) is stick to the big three - CPI, SG Partners, Oxbridge. They are usually on retainer with all the larger mid market and large cap shops and run a fairly organized process on behalf of their clients (so shops without an HR department can funnel candidates easily). A few people I know used places like Glocap, Search One or Dynamix...all with terrible results.

Good advice GameTheory - this thread marked for 2 years from now when I'll be in the same situation.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

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