Can PE Internship help with Job hunt?

Hey all, I've been browsing WSO for quite a while and it's definitely helped me out a bunch so far but i haven't found any forums in regards to how to fully leverage a PE internship.

Background Info: I go to a semi-target school, Senior finishing up final semester with Economics degree, starting out super late in banking career because I thought I wanted to do corporate law (M&As as well) but realized during taking my LSAT that law is boring and instead wanted to pursue banking/finance instead. Have 0 experience in banking and have some experience working in Financial Services though as Market Research Intern.

Question: Can a PE internship at a super small fund backed by a wealthy family that works as a search fund help bolster my resume and increase my chances to break into PE? Can having this experience on my resume break into IB where I can then move on to PE?

I've seen tons of forums saying PE internships are super rare and that they should generally be taken over an IB internship. I've missed all recruiting opportunities for IB because I was so focused and determined for Law and Law School that I paid no attention to it. I screwed my self over i know, but fuck it I can just sit and mope like a loser or get to work and find a way to win. I prefer the latter.

Thank in advance all!

 
Best Response

I personally did an internship at an upper MM PE shop. When I went thru IB recruiting, and was doing my research, this was the sense I got in terms of hierarchy of internships and how they were perceived:

1 - Top BB/EB IB & megafund PE 2- Other BBs 3- MM IB and upper MM PE (assuming the fund has name recognition) 3b- Rest of MM PE (greatly depends on legitimacy of the experience however) 4- Local small IB/PE 5- Search fund

To answer your question - a search fund won't knock people out of the chairs but it's something to put onto your resume. Again, it really depends on the experience you have and the responsibility they give you.

 

Thanks for the response! Basically the responsibilities are company valuation, deal evaluation, and creating lists of potential companies to take on.

To me it seems like the experience can help, i'd like to hear your thoughts on this if possible lol.

 

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