Defeating the Top Groups Myth

Mod Note: Throwback Thursday: this post originally went up on 3/15/11.

So I've been reading these forums for a very long time - since I got to College really. They've been very helpful at certain points (certain people helping out with interview questions) but I found that there is such a massive amount of misinformation that seems to dictate how a lot of kids handle recruiting. I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment and figured I'd start posting here. Might even start a blog or something. FYI, I interned at two BB banks in IBD, including GS. I decided to jump ship to a better place and am just waiting to start now.

You have no real reason to believe me, but I got offers from GS, MS, Laz, and one more of the BB, where I interned my first summer (don't want to give too much away). Obviously I went to GS for my second summer.

In a nutshell, since the goal of a lot of kids who go into banking is to get a job at KKR/BX/TPG etc, here are a couple of clarifying facts:

1. Goldman Groups When the 2nd year analysts were all leaving, they send firmwide or division wide emails detailing their plans. Tons of kids were headed to the aforementioned PE shops and it was NOT majority TMT kids - they weren't even the most represented IMO. Tons of kids from Industrials, CR, FIG, NR, etc were in the mix and appeared just as frequently. I had met some kids from TMT that didn't do anything for their first 6 months in that group, making PE recruiting extremely difficult for them. Everything is a bit different there now that they've instituted their new policy on timing of recruiting and I'm not sure how that's affected people, but I imagine it's only hurting and frustrating a lot of analysts. Every industry group in GS does EVERYTHING. Capital structures, M&A, equity raises, anti-raid, retainer advice, LBOs, etc. You really just want to avoid groups such as credit and lev fin, along with sponsors which really does nothing at GS.

2. MS Groups MS M&A is a great group, no doubt. Doesn't mean because your in industrials or tech you are at any sort of disadvantage. I have friends at one of the toughest buyout shops to break into who were from MS but not M&A. And meeting their colleagues, you realize there are kids from the most random groups (ones that people on this board dismiss all too easily)

3. Moelis I'm assuming it's trolls that were going to start working there, but all this hype about MoCo is unsubstantiated. I don't have much to add to that. A couple friends interned there, I know one kid who left, but they seem to push this culture down your throat and everyone starts drinking the kool-aid while they are there

4. Lean shops Honestly, if your looking for the best experience, get into a lean group - most GS groups are like this, Laz sort of is, and a lot of the great boutiques (Greenhill, Evercore, PWP - although they are not good for PE recruiting) and I believe many of MS's groups too. You can chat all you want about this bank or that bank, but it's really about the experience you gain in two years and how that positions you for your next job