Can a Private Equity internship be seen as negative?
Hi,
I'm doing a private equity internship and was wondering whether this could be seen as negative if I want to get a job in banking. My reasoning is that they might assume I don't want to work in banking for more than 2 years and make the switch to PE as I have experience there, and thus not want hire me.
What do you think? How can I turn the PE internship to my advantage even when looking for jobs in banking?
Thanks in advance!
It depends on how you spin it. Just make sure in your interview that IB is what you want to do. Nothing else. Ever. Do not hesitate when the interviewer asks you. I think you'll be fine if you can convince them that you ONLY want to do IB and that you won't consider PE at any point later. Just my $.02
I wouldn't think it would hurt you if you can talk about it well in interviews.
You could say you were simply exposing yourself to different fields in finance but ultimately decided IB was more up your alley. But you could still say the PE internship provided you with valuable experience, etc.
Thanks guys, great comments! Any further potential ways I could turn it to my advantage? I was thinking about how PE projects are more long term and I prefer the higher deal turnover in banking (I guess the opposite of this is used by a lot of people who make the move into PE from banking).
I think that a PE internship would only be looked upon negatively from a bank, as they often times fear that candidates come in just to exit as soon as possible to a PE (which is justified, given the number of people actually interested in PE but starting out in Banking). When I interviewed with banks I was always asked whether PE is something that interests me, so I always had to play the "no i want to be an advisor" card. I would advise that you also tailor your responses around that idea and tell them how you really want to be an advisor in the future and think that you can do that pretty well now, given that you seen the buyside.
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