Should I take an operations role at a really good firm with the intention of breaking into the investing side?

I currently work on the investing side of my firm, but I just came across an operations role at a company with a very strong brand in our space. The compensation is excellent, and the job responsibilities—while officially operations—seem closely tied to investing based on the JD. I'd like to eventually lateral back into investing possibly by completing part-time MBA. I also have strong interpersonal skills and have conviction in my ability to make strong impressions on the folks on the investment team. 

Questions for y'all:

  1. Should I pursue this operations role, even though my ultimate goal is to be on the investing side?
  2. If I decide to apply, is it better to be fully transparent in conversations (or interviews) about my longer-term goal of moving back into an investing role?
  3. I am getting offers/interviews at smaller firms but this is possibly the best firm in the space. Would investing at a smaller firm be a better fit long term? 
9 Comments
 

What are you doing rn? Brother I would die to be in your shoes in an investment role. I did a year of trade support and it was humiliating. 

 

great username, I also take 5 black coffees a day

  1. yes, use it to network
  2. no
  3. can always re-apply/network for those roles if they seem interested in your background, so see if the operations path work or use that operations role for similar firms
incentives trumph ethics
 

I’d generally advise on the role you want at the smaller shop. Reason is the experience is relevant towards your career path. Also, ops can be a nightmare.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

So you're asking about going from a FO role to a BO, maybe MO role, at a top firm? I guess it depends on context if where you're coming from, and the potential new role. I'm coming from LO AM. There is no shot in hell anyone would or should go from an investing seat at say a tier 3 firm just to do ops at a tier 1 with the hope of eventually breaking into an investing seat. 

 

You’d be surprised. Less so about the ops role having extraordinarily high pay, but instead the investing seat having extraordinarily low pay

 

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