BA Offer vs. Banking/PE/HF Recruiting

Hi all,

I just got an offer to join McKinsey. I mainly applied because it is one of the top sophomore programs and has strong return/FT conversion.

Now I’m trying to figure out how to approach recruiting going forward. My main interest long term is in investing, either public markets or private equity. I’ve also heard that going directly into a hedge fund can be risky since you can get pigeonholed, and if it does not work out, exits are limited outside of other HFs or business school.

On the consulting side, I know the pay is lower than banking but the lifestyle is generally better. McKinsey also has strong exit opportunities and MBA sponsorship, which is something I eventually want to pursue.

So my questions are:

  1. What are the realistic exit opportunities from McKinsey after 2–3 years, especially into IB/PE/HF?
  2. For someone interested in investing, does it make sense to still grind banking/PE/HF recruiting this fall or winter, or would that be redundant if I already have McKinsey locked in?
  3. Has anyone faced a similar decision, and how did you weigh consulting vs. banking/PE/HF early on?

Would really appreciate any perspective from people who have gone through this decision process.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I'll take a stab at this, the disclaimer is that I've never considered consulting as a career - I've just started at one of the large platform hedge funds out of undergrad, but nevertheless:

  1. Some PE firms hire consultants; there have been some threads on WSO about which ones and the processes for them. I've seen some ex-MBB guys at various pod shops, but most of them did a stint in ER before jumping; a couple I saw didn't.
  2. If you want to invest, getting investment experience is always going to be useful, so there's no harm in applying to opportunities.
  3. I never really considered something outside of L/S, but I would say the concerns about being pigeonholed and lacking exits are fair if you join the grad programs at HFs. I've mainly seen people move to other HFs, banks, AMs and even quant prop firms, so the "exits" are primarily tailored to the publics. From what I gather, speaking to people senior to me, the more time you spend covering a sub-sector, the more you're being bought for that expertise. I see it as specialising earlier, and building expertise in the niche/job I know I want to do, while my peers are in banking doing something else.

With that being said, if I didn't get HF, I'm not sure I'd be pursuing a career in finance, so my POV might not map onto you.

 

1)

  • IB definitely possible at the post-MBA ASC level (but banks won't buy out your MBA sponsorship). I haven't really seen any BA to Analyst laterals (I'd guess very few people want to make that change). I've seen BB Analyst -> MBB BA a few times, though (people who hated banking).
  • PE possible but competitive ... make sure to get plenty of Commercial Due Diligence experience at McK. Ideally join the PEPI practice.
  • HF less common, but I've seen it enough times ... this will be networking driven.

2)

Do you want to do banking or consulting?

3)

Consulting gives you much more optionality than banking. I'd argue it's superior.

 

Sit cumque quis ut. Sint delectus quidem aut et. Tenetur voluptas magni aut dolores.

Eum sit dolore rerum ut quia. Quod iusto accusantium dicta perspiciatis eligendi. Quia vero ut itaque occaecati expedita dignissimos quia deleniti.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • Millennium Partners 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Blackstone Group 96.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.1%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.2%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.3%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (240) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (28) $146
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”