Is making Partner worth the hype
For those who have made it to Partner - is making Partner worth the hype? The "carrots" seem to be the omnipresent golden handcuffs and perks that at a minimum stroke the ego. What else is there? What additional exit options are available once you become Partner?
For those who stepped out before becoming partner, what was your tipping point? When's the best time to jump?
Fellow primates, your thoughts are appreciated.
You do know the demographic of this board, right?
You won't find any partners on this board..
Being a partner at a consulting firm isn't as appealing as it seems. Most partners I work with have dysfunctional relationships with their wives/families, spend most of their time flying or in hotels, dealing with corporate BS, etc.
When I'm 50.. I don't want to spend half my time at airport security and having fights with my wife over email.
Regarding exit opps; some go to industry in sectors they specialize in and to a lesser extent some go to PE firms. I've also seen quite a few partners jumping around to other consulting firms lately, but not necessarily better/worse in terms of brand name - I guess some firms are just filling gaps in expertise. I've never seen a partner leave to start his/her own business - this usually happens at lower levels. I guess a partner has too much family/personal responsibility to take on entrepenuerial risks that late in the game.
Thanks Riffs..it is the family dimension that has me thinking. That and the longer you are in consulting the more trapped you become - you don't really have the industry experience for the seniority you would like and financially it becomes harder to match your consutling income/maintain your lifestyle.
That's why you go to PE: more money faster.
PE in general is a lot more exciting, and more importantly, you work on your own terms rather than running after clients' needs all the time. The money is great, but after a certain age you should look to enjoy what you do.
What is the best way to move from MBB to PE? Pure and simple networking, or do we have to give interviews...please explain!
At the partner level, pure networking. However, that doesn't mean you skip the interview process. Networking usually gets you the interview, anything after that depends on you. At McKinsey you go through interviews, case studies, etc. even coming in as a partner ;) I'm sure a lot of PE firms have similarly rigourous, if not more rigourous, procedures.
Prior to partner, I would still say networking is the best way to get into PE (or to get any job to be honest). Other than that, an MBA is your best bet.
Bain has a very reputable PE arm called Bain Capital. However, I have no information on how easy or difficult it is to move from their consulting practice into this. Booz is also planning on setting up a PE fund apparently.
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I can confirm this. I work in f500 strategy and the heads of several of our divisions are former partner level consultants that maybe had at most 1-2 other industry jobs before coming here. They come in and we scramble to brief them for a couple months on the business but at that level its mostly about soft skills and relationships so they don't need to know a lot of specifics to run a department. Some of them are good and some of them aren't that good but it is a really popular model at most major corporations when looking to get outside talent.
partner is definitely worth the hype. i dont know about you but i wouldnt mind making $700k+ /yr. (obviously depending on the firm). i want to be rewarded for the hard work i put in, i believe partner is that reward.
PE pays 700k+ at the VP level already including carry.. Straight Post-MBA KKR/BX pays 500k/yr, compared to 175k at MBB at the same level.
Monetarily, PE is just way more money faster with just as bad a lifestyle. Sticking around until you make partner is fine for some people, but if you are at that level at MBB and have the chance to move to PE then partner isn't worth it monetarily at least.
And even though being a partner at MBB is incredible, I still doubt that (or being a head of corporate strategy) pays as much as Partner/Principal positions in PE, generally 3-15 million per year at large funds.
What's the probability of landing a straight post-MBA at KKR/BX? I dunno much about this stuff because I'm still an undergrad, but judging from what I've read on here, even if you go to HSW, the probability of landing a job at those places is probably still 10%, and getting into HSW isn't a walk in the park to begin with. Getting into McKinsey is tough as balls too and then surviving all the way to partner would be an extraordinary accomplishment, but I'd still wager that making partner at McKinsey is significantly more probably than getting to partner or even a very senior position at KKR/BX. Once you factor in probabilities, I'd guess that in terms of payout, (3-15 million)(probability of becoming partner at KKR/BX) (1 million)(probability of becoming partner at MBB), which means that in terms of payout, you're more likely to become rich in consulting vs PE. I could be wayyyy off on my assumptions, but I do think there's a probability issue you're missing out on here.
probability one can get into MBB from HSW MBA from ANY pre-MBA field 20% (factor in for people that do not care about consulting or do not apply)
probability one can get into megafund from HSW without pre-MBA PE experience ~0.001% (its not much higher even if one had pre-MBA banking)
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Alright, but according to GLOCAP the average base+bonus for VPs in PE is 450k, and this is averaged over megafunds, large funds, MMs. Add on a few hundred thousand in carry, and that's pretty incredible money in your early to mid thirties.
It's not like it's KKR or bust.
personally i'd be happy staying in consulting up to the point i make partner, then either sign on for a couple of years and retire or move to industry C-suite and make the money there.
but for the sake of the argument - at the partner level, you are pretty mobile. you know people and they know people and you can talk your way into many other senior positions in other firms. just start your career already. making partner anywhere is awesome if you're good.
however, the underlying problem with this conversation is that the likelihood of someone going from consulting to private equity is not that high. i mean, it does happen and it is the determination of the individual to make it into PE, but i just dont know how many people make that transition. i would love to do PE, easier said than done.
You just have to plan it ahead.
One of my friends went to Bain Boston straight out of undergrad because he wanted to keep the jump to PE open. After two years, he made the transition to PE pretty easily. If you can work at the main PE office for Bain/McK/LEK/ect and get PE clients, then getting interviews is easy.
i agree 100%, i on other hand will not have an opportunity to work at such elite consulting firms, not to say the ones which i got offers aren't bad, its just hard to compare McKinsey to a firm like ZS Associates (not that i am saying ZS is bad..) for the average consultant, i think attending a top MBA is needed to even get noticed by a PE firm.
I think it took me about three weeks of work at an M/B/B to realize that I'd never, ever want to be a partner. Just sayin'
Could you elaborate?
This was during summer of 2008 (not exactly a go go economy), so keep that in mind... but the partners on my case:
Pulled insane travel. It seemed like they were always getting pulled across coasts for something, or on a "normal" week heading to two different client sites in two different cities.
Were incredibly far removed from actually "doing" anything - their job (primarily) seemed to be CEO therapists. The principals were the ones actually overseeing the progression of the case - partners had minimal day to day interaction with what we were finding/proposing in the case. I guess this could be seen as a plus, but I would have found it frustrating.
Seemed exhausted/overworked/etc. I think trying to balance job/family was a big part of this.
I guess I'd enjoy being partner if I could do it at age 28. I'd just hate to do it when I actually wanted to get my family/life/etc settled.
A LOT of people, analysts on up, move to companies that are in the industry in which they work. It makes it so they don't have to travel 4-5 days a week, pays a little less, but definitely a lot easier.
Who's hyping making partner at a consulting firm? From my experience, partners had miserable lifestyles. Management consulting is a career where the lifestyle tends to get worse instead of better as you progress. While the hours in consulting suck at the junior levels, they don't get much better as you move up, and the travel gets much, much worse.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. I will certainly give PE a harder look though after several years in consulting...I will likely look to make it to the more sernior ranks before considering a switch.
As for the the Partner lifestyle...yeah it can be worse than jr years...it's still better than banking though with less pay...of course no one would scoff at 1-2M. @ Indentured primate, the way I would look at partnership is that getting there is an investment in network and decent payout for a few years, before cashing out.
If you make partner in consulting, you won't end up staying for a few years for a decent payout before cashing out -- that's not how it works. Your first few years as a partner will not pay that much more than you made as a manager. You have to put in your time and begin building your own book of business before the real payouts as a partner come. Add to that the risk of making partner in a recessionary environment, when you may not get paid at all.
If you want to stay in consulting for a reasonably long time, then the points of exit are either at the point you're about to make partner, or after spending a very long time as a partner.
Can only concurr - point taken and thanks
Banker Porn: Making Partner at Goldman (Originally Posted: 01/21/2011)
What does it mean to make Partner (or PMD) at Goldman Sachs? Well, a shitload of money for one thing. But beyond that, there's the prestige of knowing that you've been selected as the best - by the best - according to this video from the New York Times (hat tip Barry Ritholtz). For those of you who dream of becoming the biggest of Big Swinging Dicks, grab your box of Kleenex and watch this:
Interesting video. The lady (man?)'s voice really freaked me out though.
Yeah. The narration was weird. And Paulson's face was SO red.
So, what does the average parter make? 5-7 million a year? Really, that's not much compared to a lot of money managers...
It's more far-left populist porn and NYT-readers porn than banker porn. Nobody outside the NYT and other than college kids salivates over GS
^^ haha couldn't have been put any better
The first speaker kept repeating himself. It can be summarized as " they will make a lot of money but that isn't their main focus." 3 minutes of life saved
Pretty much sums it up:
^^ Perfect, SB if I had any credits
there's definitely a lot more to aspire to in finance than becoming partner at GS
haha that is hilarious... sorry don't have an SB for ya
The guy starting at 1:46 looks like the cop from superbad
"i don't care, "
"the Goldman Sachs" LOL i love it
the golden sacks LOL
also this video makes UBS sound awesome (of course I know better than to believe everything on the internet!)
Why does the guy in the still of the video look high out his mind?
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