WSO,
I am going to be brief. In short, I am exploring a transition to MBB from Equity Research.
Quick Background I am a sell-side Equity Research Associate with approximately one year of experience working for a well-known Analyst covering TMT. For the most part, I enjoy my job and my team. However, I am underpaid (relative to the rest of the Street) and in terms of career progression the upside is limited given I am not interested in becoming a sell-side Analyst. Long-term, my goal is to work at a top-tier PE firm (think KKR, Blackstone, Carlyle) or Corporate Development at a F500. Note that prestige is not a priority but I want to work on exciting deals and with portfolio companies that create value. Short-term, I want to put myself in a position to achieve this goal while involved in a key part of the M&A process and working in a more collaborative environment than Equity Research (little to no communication with team members, mostly sitting at a desk reading, writing and modeling). I am fine working long hours (current role is 60 hours on average but ramps to 80 during earnings season) and traveling is not an issue.
The Question After speaking with a few friends and connections about my interests, I was advised to look into Management Consulting. Admittedly, I am naïve to the industry therefore I have lots of research to do before comfortably networking and applying. Has anyone made a similar transition? And, what advice would you offer to someone in the initial process of making this transition? Any and all guidance is welcome and much appreciated. Thanks.
Wouldn't IB be an easier transition? Consulting is all smoke and mirrors, far fewer translatable and marketable skills than IB when it comes to PE recruiting. if you want to be in PE, I'd say shoot for tech growth equity now (since you're in TMT) then make the move to traditional if you don't like it. Why take steps backward unless you really want to do consulting?
I prefer not to move into IB given the hours (rather not work 100+ hours a week including holidays and weekends). Also, seems to me like consulting is more collaborative and strategic while including some quantitative support, which sounds appealing. Given my ER background, I wouldn't consider Consulting a step back as pairing ER + Consulting would round out my skill set (finance + strategy). To me, that seems ideal, especially for Corporate Development which I'm slightly leaning towards as my long term goal. My connections also referenced several colleagues who have done the same and been successful. Also, definitely looking into growth equity but a lot of good shops are in SF whereas I want to stay based out of NYC. That's just my thought process but feel free to correct me if I'm off-base.
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