Advice Please! - Path to Private Equity - Starting from Valuation Advisory

Currently working as a senior analyst in Valuation Advisory at a boutique investment bank. My ultimate goal is to work in private equity and I am considering whether it would be most optimal to either go get an MBA, try to lateral to a traditional 2-year IB analyst program at a MM firm, or try to jump into an analyst position at a lower middle market private equity firm. My Background: B.S. in Computer Science from a non-target university in California Past CFA level one senior year of college (helped me get interviews, but do not plan on pursing level two or three) Two years of experience of Valuation Advisory - promoted to senior analyst after first year GMAT score: 740 I have been thinking about applying to b schools in the next few months for Fall 2020, but have been thinking a lot about working for another two years either in a traditional IB analyst or PE analyst role. My target schools would be top 15 programs. But maybe if I have another two years of work experience, M7 programs may be possible. If my ultimate goal is to work in private equity, would taking two extra years to work in IB or PE be the best use of my time? If so, IB or PE? I know it can be difficult to switch to the buy-side after you are a post-MBA IB associate and if I don't have any PE experience pre-MBA, I would imagine it would be immensely more difficult. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

1 Comments
 

Non id labore quia libero qui exercitationem minus quaerat. Est nostrum voluptas assumenda et et. Porro pariatur sed illum architecto placeat voluptatem. Minima totam veritatis maxime et. Aut dolorem ea vel distinctio deserunt sapiente omnis molestiae.

Quisquam vitae aut sunt aut quasi velit et. Atque iusto nobis voluptatibus et vel. Nesciunt qui voluptates repudiandae est a fugiat. Nulla architecto architecto voluptatibus omnis quos. Quo quas molestiae et voluptatibus et mollitia. Incidunt facere enim animi quod voluptas et. Ratione unde minus corrupti sunt expedita et excepturi.

Accusamus explicabo rerum eum velit eum incidunt expedita. Ut labore qui maxime quia ea a inventore.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
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

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...”