McKinsey to PE
Will be heading to McKinsey for full time and am interested in PE after a few years. Only issue is that I have absolutely no knowledge of or background in finance. Any advice on how to learn this on the job?
I can't imagine getting staffed for finance cases if I don't know any finance (I also imagine I would do a horrible job if I got put into an intensive modeling case and I don't really know modeling). So, how can I learn finance and modeling on the job to prepare for PE?
You can enroll for few courses or study by yourself. But be aware that there are hell lot of candidates with excellent finance and investment Management knowledge and experience. So think about the entire market and then Take a decision.
Just focus on being the best BA you can be. You'll quickly learn excel and some decent modeling skills, and if you get top ratings at McKinsey every consultant-friendly PE fund will be happy to interview you. Once you decide to recruit for PE, you can study some LBOs and stuff like that, but the bar of financial knowledge needed to get a PE job from consulting is honestly pretty low. PE funds that hire consultants test your consultant toolkit in interviews, knowing you'll learn the finance you need on the job once you make the switch.
Would the PE guys shove me into ops roles instead because that would be more inline to my consulting background?
There are ~15 high-quality PE funds that hire former consultants in a deals team role. Once you get to McKinsey the BAs above you will be able to tell you all about it. Just focus on recruiting for those, and you won't have to worry about getting shoved into an Ops role. That said, if you're interested in an Ops role, plenty of other top funds would love to hire you!
Right, that makes sense. Where are these firms located? I am based in Asia, to make things more complicated.
I know next to nothing about international markets, but in the US the consultant-friendly PE funds are mainly in Boston, SF, and NYC. Boston and SF tend to have a higher proportion of funds that hire consultants than New York does, as NYC PE funds are mostly banker focused.
When you get to McKinsey, ask the BA's a year or two above you about who those firms are / where they're located in Asia.
^^This. Be the best BA, and if you want to do PE start networking with the recruiters ASAP. PE recruiting is getting crazier every year.
Also, consultant friendly PE shops hire BAs for their deal teams, they won't expect you to have the same modelling skills as a banker.
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