Losing offers over brand name?
ASO at a MM fund in NYC. Have been trying to move upstream to a bigger platform for 4-5 months now and have gotten cut from 1-2 final stage processes because of lack of brand name and just lower deal flow overall.
This is super frustrating because it’s not something I can change - I’ve spent hundreds of hours refining behavioral, grinding deal walkthroughs and modeling tests. Feedback on commercial packaging has genuinely been positive.
Has anyone else been in the same boat in this market? How’d you finally land that next role?
All of these places have explicitly told you that you are not getting the job because of a lack of brand name firms on your resume?
There's only 2 firms but yes. It's dumb because I've always found that your actual role and quality of reps matter more than brand.
Maybe it's a function of where we are in the cycle. Headcounts haven't expanded a ton and I'd imagine it's easier to defend a bad hire if they're coming from a blue-chip firm.
That’s brutal. I’m surprised they gave any reason with how risk adverse firms are these days. I’d chalk it up to the market as well though. They are using brand name to cover their ass if the hiring decision doesn’t work out.
It’s another example of the type of extreme risk aversion polluting corporate America these days. Executives and middle management don’t care about being right anymore or making the bold choice. They just care about not being wrong. If you hire the guy from Goldman, or the girl from Harvard, or you take the advice from McKinsey, if ever they have to answer for the decision they can justify their decision making by pointing to their process.
I suspect that you are not being hired for other reasons. If a prospective employer was going to make a decision based on your resume, they wouldn't be talking to you in the first place.
It’s a valid point, Ozy.
Not to sound defensive, but just because You clear the floor for experience at selective shops doesnt mean you’re winning the job… especially if the whole team is from
“prestigious” backgrounds.
Disagree. I think it is common for there to be a split decision between candidates and at that point it is easy to just fall back on certain resume items to make the decision.
I really, really don't think this is the case. If you're in a final round, and have passed all the competency tests and met all the team members, you're long since past the point where names on your resume matter. That matters a lot when you're winnowing down a giant field of candidates to a manageable number to interview. If you've made it to a final round, then obviously you're competent and qualified, so where you worked previously is totally immaterial.
That's just how it goes in this industry -- want to feel like somebody good has done the vetting for them. It's significantly easier to move downmarket than it is to move upmarket, even though it's obviously a terrible proxy for experience quality.
Your best bet is likely to try and go to a newer platform that will be (or has the trajectory to be) bigger than your current shop.
Why do you want to move to a bigger company so badly?
In the same boat as OP. I’m at a multifamily firm that launched in 2022 and focuses exclusively on California acquisitions. The platform doesn’t have much brand recognition, but the role has given me a ton of responsibility and exposure across the full asset lifecycle.
For me, the desire to leave mainly comes down to expanding my long-term options and getting experience at a more institutional shop with larger and more complex deals. There’s also a decent chance I move back to the East Coast within the next 5 years, so moving upstream now could give me more flexibility in a future job search than staying at a regional operator.
Bump
Deal flow trumps all. If you're not seeing or closing deals, while others are, why should they hire you?
On this, for AM roles does "deal flow" matter like that? Feel like I have a lot of AM experience but only in one sector so its limiting me for broader AM roles
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