Post-MBA PE Recruiting - Opinions?

I’m interested in the opinions of experienced PE professionals and those with firsthand knowledge of post-MBA PE positions, e.g. smuguy97, Game Theory, junkbondswap, numi, etc. I realize there will probably be many different answers depending on the size, history and culture of the fund, but any and all data-points are greatly appreciated.

1) How is post-MBA PE (LBO or Growth) recruiting handled?
2) How is this different for larger vs. smaller funds?
3) Is there much on-campus presence or do they use headhunters?
4) Which firms offer SA positions, and what is the timing of interviews/offers vs. IB?
5) What are the credentials of those who get SA and/or FT post-MBA offers, e.g. do they all have large cap PE pre-MBA experience, are they mostly at HBS, Stanford or Wharton grads, did any of them do IB SA internships, etc.?
6) What, if any, is the hiring like from post-MBA Associate/VP at BB IB to PE?

Also, could you please advise what would be the best course of action for me with regards to B-school internship and full-time recruiting? I will have 3.5 years experience at a small PE fund with no prior IB or consulting experience in Fall 2009. I think I have a realistic shot at “top-5” MBA admission, although admittedly somewhat of a long-shot at HBS or Stanford. While I realize it will be very difficult to get into a large fund, what kind of chances would I have to land at a reputable mid-market or large-cap shop? Would it be useful for me to do at least do a SA internship at a BB IB and then recruit for FT, or likewise try to transition after 1-2 years of post-MBA IB experience?

Thanks in advance.

 

I can't really comment on the post-MBA recruiting process, but with 3.5 years of PE experience (along with a 700+ GMAT), you surely will be a strong candidate at any school.

If you're already in private equity, switching back to the sell side won't really pay dividends for you. My advice - get a summer stint at a PE shop between your first and second year of b-school. If you don't end up securing at FT spot via that, go through recruiting at the beginning of your second year. You will definitely stand out due to your experience.

 
Best Response

I agree with mlamb93 that your work experience to date should make you a pretty competitive candidate for top business schools, and should also get you looks from PE/VC recruiters at the MBA level. I don't see how helpful it will be to switch to the sell-side and my sense is that if you do this, it could be even harder to move back to the buy-side. A lot of the people recruited to the sell-side at the MBA level have aspirations to move up the ranks at the investment banks, and you'll also have to explain your decision to leave the buy-side only to come back, as though your initial buy-side experience wasn't worthwhile (which you know can't be the case, otherwise you wouldn't even be thinking about top business schools).

As for your more specific questions about MBA-level recruiting, I'll have to defer to some of the more experienced PE guys to answer those. However, I will say that having pre-MBA experience in PE will definitely help you, as we have more senior professionals at our firm (about $2bn MM PE) from all different backgrounds, ranging from sell-side to large buyouts to boutique/MM buyouts. I'm not a recruiter and have not worked at a big buyout shop, but my sense is that a lot of the transacting is very process-oriented and I'm not sure how different the overall frameworks and approaches are between different sizes of buyouts. Basically, I think the overall experience of doing transactions is pretty transferable, but I'd be curious to hear what others thought.

​* http://www.linkedin.com/in/numicareerconsulting
 

From talking with their respective alumni (and only recent datapoints, since the PE recruiting is constantly evolving), PE on-campus recruiting is heaviest at HBS. Wharton comes in at a solid second, and Columbia a distant third. From there it trails off significantly:

1) How is post-MBA PE (LBO or Growth) recruiting handled? See above: Depending on what school you are at, it could be on-campus or through networking. 2) How is this different for larger vs. smaller funds? Larger funds tend to have a more formal recruiting process (e.g. on campus) than smaller. HOWEVER, from speaking with a 2nd year at Wharton currently who rattled off the list of on-campus recruiting for PE, I can tell you many small funds do come to at least Wharton, and I'd imagine just as many go to Harvard, as well. 3) Is there much on-campus presence or do they use headhunters? See above. 4) Which firms offer SA positions, and what is the timing of interviews/offers vs. IB? This I cannot answer for you, unfortunately. Our summer associate hires (if any) are returning pre-mba's or friends of pre-mba's with similar experience. 5) What are the credentials of those who get SA and/or FT post-MBA offers, e.g. do they all have large cap PE pre-MBA experience, are they mostly at HBS, Stanford or Wharton grads, did any of them do IB SA internships, etc.? At Wharton, I know at least 3 individuals managed to get FT PE jobs with no PE experience (but they did have banking/consulting), unfortunately I don't think anyone can accurately answer this question, the scope is too wide. 6) What, if any, is the hiring like from post-MBA Associate/VP at BB IB to PE? Slim, although I've seen it happen to very very good bankers.

To make things easier. Here is where I think you'd stack up (providing you attend either HBS, Wharton, Stanford or Columbia).

1) 3-4 years large-cap PE (straight from undergrad as an analyst) 2) 2-3 years IB/Consulting, 2-3 years large cap PE 3) 2-3 years IB/Consulting, 2-3 years MM PE

I imagine that these top 3 are very closely recruited and regarded against each other.

4) 2-4 years small cap PE (I'm talking no name recognition in terms of fund reputation) 5) 2-4 years of top tier IB/Consulting 6) 2-4 years of middle tier IB/Consulting

Huge gap...

7) Everyone else.

 

Thanks a lot for your input guys.

GameTheory: Looks like I’m in the second tier of candidates at #4--at least I’m not on the wrong side of the huge gap. Do you know when the summer associates, who weren’t pre-MBAs, did their interviews and got offers? When you say very, very good banker, do you mean guys that probably would’ve been able to get into PE pre-MBA but for some reason didn’t go that route? How impressive are the post-MBA bankers at top groups/banks? PE firns seem to regard Columbia very highly as compared to other similarly ranked programs.

mlamb93: I believe I will get into a top-5 school. I don't know how easy it is to find a summer internship in PE even w/ my experience, which is not exactly top tier PE. That is exactly what I’m trying to gauge with this thread. If it is as simple as you make it sound then I would obviously follow your advice, but I suspect it isn’t. I’ve heard that IB and MC recruiters are first in line at B-schools, and I don’t know if I could handle watching everyone get those offers while I wait to see if any PE opportunities materialize.

numi: When you talk about recruiters at the MBA level, presumably you mean headhunters? Can you elaborate more on how the post-MBA recruiting works for your fund, e.g. timeline, summer internships, etc.? Have any of the guys at your firm joined from banking at the post-MBA Associate or VP level?

I agree that going back to the sell-side doesn’t seem all that useful, and I’d prefer to avoid it if I can, but there are a few reasons why I would explore the possibility (please let me know if you disagree with any of these):

1) Resume: I’m not certain that my small PE fund experience will be viewed as favorably as BB IB experience when it comes to recruiting for MM or large-cap PE. An MBA would help solidify my credentials, but not to the same extent as the MBA and IB.

2) Market Knowledge: I feel that IB would provide me an increased knowledge of the transaction marketplace in that I’d obviously be working on a lot more deals over the course of a summer, or first year, than at a small PE fund. Also, it might be useful to see transactions from both sides of the table.

3) Relationships/Network: It appears to me that BB IB would establish a very solid base network. At what point in the PE hierarchy does the value-add start to revolve around your own relationships and network rather than analysis and transaction process management? With respect to fund-raising and proprietary deal flow this seems particularly important. Maybe I’m taking too much of a long-term view here, but ideally I’d like to position myself at a reputable fund that would also give me the best chance of making partner.

 

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