For those of you who did investment banking as an analyst (2 to 3 years) and then PE for 2 years at a top fund (think KKR, TPG, Carlyle, LGP, H&F, CVC, Blackstone, etc.), was an MBA worth it? I know it is becoming more common these days to stay through at some of these places but in general, you leave after 2 years. To elaborate, if you went to Stanford or HBS after one of these jobs would you have done it again or would you have just recruited for a senior associate role in PE directly?
I know this is a very targeted question but would be interested in any opinions on this.
Thanks everyone!
bump
Have talked to number of post-mbas at my firm about this.... the answer is generally somewhere along the lines of "MBA was awesome / fun but didn't learn much".
If you ask anyone who was from strong PE firm and went to HBS / GSB I don't think it'd be surprising if most people said "it was worth it" (after all, for the vast majority of individuals, even those at the top tier firms, most of the time there isn't a path towards direct promotion). The real apples to apples comparison is comparing what proportion of individuals that were offered a track towards partner and got into MBA chose to go to MBA. I'd venture that out of that population, the proportion of people choosing an MBA is small.
I have seen a few examples of this in PE, both at my firm and others, and the guys who try to skip MBA (that is, they went into "post-MBA") just end working a couple more years and typically hit a road block at Sr. Associate or VP because they're lacking "polish" and "presence". And because LPs like to see MBA degrees.
I'll give you a few anecdotes. A guy who was an associate a year ahead of me left at the end of his associate stint to join another firm in a post-MBA role as a Sr. Associate. Two years later, one of my MBA classmates is getting hired at his firm, over him (as a VP), with fewer years of experience. Another guy jumped to my firm in a post-MBA role without an MBA as a Sr. Associate, hung around for five years, and is now still a Sr. Associate at a different firm. A third guy I know has been stuck at the VP level for at least ten years, having to switch between 3-4 different firms in the process.
Is it cheaper to skip business school? Absolutely. But you may be doing long-term damage to your career since, for better or worse, most LPs still like to see senior people with MBAs. And in my experience, you'd be fighting an uphill battle for the rest of your career, since everyone else your competing with WILL have an MBA.
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