Prestige vs Experience

Thats a good question, but I think for bschool admission, brand name, extracurriculars and solid GMATs would be more advantageous.

But if you know whether ppl from the boutique have gone on to join BB banks, you could always do the same.

Frankly, my advice is get offers, then come back for advice - grad positions are thin on the ground right now.

Thanks newbie2banking.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. When I was going through students resumes from some of top schools, they all came from prestigious firms even if they weren't in IB/PE (IT, Accounting, Marketing etc). That makes me wonder if having a irrelevant experience at a pretigious firm would give you a bigger boost when MBA application time comes, than having a relevant quality experience at a small no name shop.

Thanks again.

People often make the mistake of thinking that prestige is everything. You do not need a prestige name firm to get into a top20 MBA. What you need is solid experience, as senior positions as possible, international experience (if you can), solid ECs, solid GMAT and GPA, or at least one of this last two. This is all you need to have in order to get into a top20 MBA. And of course great essays. One should also notice that outside of M7 MBA programs, the schools tend to become less and less selective the lower you go in the rankings. It is not impossible.

You should also separate your two goals: (i) top20 MBA and (ii) PE firm after graduation. In order to get into PE after MBA you almost MUST be in PE before, even if you are in M7. The only schools that can get you into PE without pre-MBA PE experience are H/S/W. The firms are very selective and once you are in the circle, it is easier to stay in...Also there are lot more people in those general positions at large multinationals, so it is harder to stand out than form a PE firm, even if it is small. If you feel it is a legit experience (you would hire yourself to your own company, if you had one), than I would go with the PE option. If PE is your goal, and you have the chance to get into, why not do it as soon as possible.

You are in a much harder position regarding MBA application if you come from a no name IB, as there are tons of applicants from BBs, and that holds a better prestige, that is true.

As a golden tip, I would say get into a postion that you love to do, excell in it, get promoted and hope for the best.

My list would be this:
1. no name PE
2. large corp. dev.
3. no name IB
4. large corp. fin.

Hope this helped...good luck

Wow, thanks IBWannaB for your insight.

Thank you for the tip on having to have pre-MBA PE experience in order to land a post-MBA PE position.

I have a follow-up question regarding your list above.
Is there a reason why you put "large corp. dev." above "large corp. fin."? What are the differences btwn those two? How do they differ in helping you get a post-MBA PE job?

Thanks again....very helpful.

...I think it's a lot about how you market yourself- does your experience show a natural growth/progression. The school is trying to determine if you'll add value to the classroom. Another interesting point- While working for a prestigious place does have its name recognition as an advantage- it also shows that you have solid "soft skills" (i.e. interpersonal skills, interview skills, poise, et al)

Thanks, opt8.

Interesting... I'm curious to know why you think so? Is it b'cause working at a larger/more prestigious firm tends to give you more chances to interact with many other divisions at the firm?
What if you work at a small regional firm, but have a high level of interaction with clients?

Thanks again.

How about reputed regional firms? I work at a bank that's very much up there with the bulge-brackets in the Middle East in terms of deal flow; would you be at a disadvantage if the business school you're applying to doesn't know your firm already, or can you trust them to do some research and find out more? I get the feeling the former might be true.

I second everything IBW said. I would also add, as he alluded to: having some sort of PE/IB experience, even if not prestigious, can change how good of a bschool you need to get into to acheive your post-MBA goals. You need to be thinking about the job search during bschool. Bulge banks and PE shops will first look to those with relevant expereince and those types will also perform better in interviews. So having the right experience even at a school ranked #15 is probably better than the wrong experience at a #10 school.

Thanks ibleedexcel. It looks like, right experience will position me better than not relevant experience at big name firm. And you're right, in the long run, having a right experience will eventually help me land a post-graduate position and having previous PE experience will definitely help me hit the ground running.

Thanks again.

you will learn so much more at a PE shop than you would in a support role at an i-bank. substantially, I do not see how a the role at the bank is more 'prestigious' than the pe shop

at the end of the day, the prestige of your employer will only take you so far. the adcoms at top b-schools will be less concerned with your resume having Goldman/MS on it if you spent two years booking trades. they're more concerned with the value you can add to their student body (both while you're enrolled and after you graduate). if you're experience is excellent, it will speak for itself. being the starting point guard for the nuggets is better than being a benchwarmer on the celtics (i know this isn't a perfect example, but you get the point. either way, sam cassell sucks).

as far as the pe shop goes - as long as the partners aren't scrubs and the firm is doing deals, go for it. it might not have the "name" of a bx or kkr, but the experience you'll get will be extremely valuable.