I've just seen that name come up a lot when talking with VC's. More so I think they have a lot of connection within the community.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

[quote=whateverittakes]H&W outright state on their site that they go to bat for their analysts if they're looking into PE, bschool, corp dev, etc. Sounds like a freaking sweet deal to me.

http://www.harriswilliams.com/careers/an_rec.php[/quote]

Whateverittakes, a quick note on your comment from the other side of the table. Having recruited analysts for private equity (including those at Harris Williams), the fact that MDs go to bat for their analysts is only one part of the equation. While it is true that the MDs at Harris Williams will initiate contact and essentially "get the analyst an interview," that is not the sole reason that Harris Williams analysts place well into PE.

While interviewing HW candidates, one of the partners at my firm was comparing the HW analyst experience to that at the large banks (CS in particular). He said that the analysts at HW get full exposure to the entire deal cycle and are therefore extremely familiar with the M&A process and the documents involved prior to even starting their PE jobs. More importantly, he said that HW analysts receive the guidance and coaching from senior professionals as to how to act in front of management teams, which is absolutely vital to the job. We have dinged numerous candidates who had top notch credentials but simply lacked the ability succinctly communicate their point and carry on a standard communication. It is shocking but so much of obtaining a job really comes down to fit and from what I've seen, Harris Williams teaches their analysts how to "be a good fit."

As for the rest of the points mentioned above: I know very little about Sagent. We don't invite them to pitch our companies and I didn't see a single resume from their analysts during recruiting. That's not to say they don't have very successful outplacement, but it is another data point for consideration.

Given you are so early in your career, I'd advise you to pursue opportunities that are interesting and exciting to you, but ultimately also open the most doors as well. I didn't even know what PE was when I started my first day in banking, now I consider it as my top choice for my career.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
Best Response
CompBanker:
It is shocking but so much of obtaining a job really comes down to fit and from what I've seen, Harris Williams teaches their analysts how to "be a good fit."

I agree - this is a great point that is often underestimated and hard to quantify. In fact, I think this is probably the biggest difference between a MM IB experience and a BB - a BB will train you to model and crank out analysis, while a MM will teach you some of that, but you get a more well rounded experience, though often at the expense of brand recognition.

As a general rule, most BB analysts may be slightly better investment bankers, but MM analysts tend to make better private equity associates.

- 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
 

Those two firms have better brand equity than Sagent and HW, but within the MM banking industry they are still quite reputable.

I would say go with HW. You might get blank stares from people when they ask you where you work but besides brand recognition it's a solid place to be. You'll be able to get quite a few transactions under your belt at the end of your two years and will only be pitching a small percentage of the time.

 

HW is good, hours are still long since they stay busy, but as everyone has noted, if you want to do PE, you can get a great experience at HW and that is probably the best shop to do it from, assuming you want to do MM PE.

Sagent is pretty different, similar M&A focus, but I think they do a more balanced amount of buy-side m&a vs sell-side m&a, but given that they have only been around for 4-5 years, its hard to compare exit ops. Hours are not what they used to be 2 years ago, but the firm has grown a ton recently, opening four more offices.

The last class sent a few kids to medium sized shops, where most of the pre-MBA Associates were from BBs, which may or may not say anything. Granted, it's hard to compare when you have analyst classes less than 5-7 each year.

I had offers at both places and a few others, and may or may not work at either one. Best advice is to meet the people and see if the culture fits. No place is worth doing 2 years if you're going to be miserable or don't mesh with the people.

Kind of unrelated, but to CompBanker's point on how much fit can determine a job.....I didn't realize how much they played a role in interviewing with some PE shops. One of the guys who left my firm to a pretty good shop - he wasn't a superstar by any means, but really easy going guy who could get along with anyone, and did way better in terms of interviews that the superstar analyst, who was pretty socially inept (but was ironically the strongest modeler)

 

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