2011 SA decision

So I received two SA offers so far and I have to pick one of them. The first is for a MM Ibank and the second is for a diversified pe fund. The MM ibank would give me exposure to banking, but deal flow might be light and I would be doing more pitching than modeling. The PE fund is making some big co-investments at the moment with KKR and the like, so that I am guaranteed LBO and other modeling experience (talked with SA there last year). I should note that the pe opportunity pays significantly more for SA and FT analysts.

If you guys were in my shoes, what would you pick?

7 Comments
 
Best Response

This isn´t a question that hasn´t been discussed a ton, and it isn´t really a question to begin with. If you want to do banking out of school, take the banking gig. "Investment Banking Summer Analyst" on your resume will open far more doors for FT recruiting (since you don´t want to stay at the MM shop after your summer) than MM PE will. Plus, IBD now that leads to FT IBD will better help you get PE than a PE SA gig unless you´re at one of those rare shops that gives FT offers from its summer class.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

Nonono.. the PE internship will open at least the same doors as the MM IBD gig. You would also have an excuse for choosing this over BB SA when it comes to FT recruiting (and no need to give arguments why you could only land an MM gig). The only upside of the MM internship is the possibility of a straight FT offer, if you even want to work there. There are always tons of candidates with MM and boutique IB experience when it comes to external FT recruiting at Bulge Brackets, it's nothing special. But brand-name PE sticks out.

 

probably depends on MM vs. PE fund in my opinion...assuming that the MM might give you a full-time offer and the PE won't it might be safer to go with the MM

That being said if you want to go for a bulge bracket banking job after no matter what the PE fund might look better, but if you want to be safe and have a job after grad MM

would probably depend on the PE fund too...if it's a below $1 billion fund vs. a top MM like New Mountain Capital or Madison Dearborn

 

Assuming they both had the same opportunity for a FT offer, I would go with the one that gave you the better technical and modeling exposure, which appears to be the PE shop. Whether it's banking or PE, being able to talk about that in FT interviews will help you a ton.

Of course, however, I would assume that the MM IB would have a greater chance of leading to FT. If this is the case, you need to think about how confident you are in your network to land FT interviews. I'd go with the PE gig, but definitely not clear-cut as others would make it seam.

 

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