Post pretty frequently on my other account, but I made this one for the sake of anonymity. I'm leaving one of these BBs (will tell in a PM) and thought I'd answer any questions you might have because I have some free time this week. I can answer any questions about my PE recruitment process or my bank (although I'm pretty reserved about posting exactly which one I worked at in the titleAsk away.
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Thanks for doing this. How much would you say the desk you worked on helped you get this PE position?
I'll quickly tackle a few and elaborate more if necessary. The deals I worked on helped the most. And those were a function of the bank and group I was in. I don't think people cared so much for the name, but they certainly did care about the experience. The whole process was a lot less pretentious than you would think. So if you're in a group that will give you exposure to solid live deals, and you can speak about those experiences intelligently, you'll be cool.
So would you say being exposed to live deals is more important than the actual deals you get to work on? I ask because everyone says TMT is the way to go to get placed in PE. I'm more interested in Industrials, specifically Aero&Defense, and was wondering if that would hurt my PE chances.
Experience > prestige, but it's not a trade off. A lot of people will be able to marry the two, and that will put them in higher demand. People don't hire people because they worked at GS/MS/JPM. They hire them because they worked on great stuff while at those firms and can demonstrate it. For example, in five years if there is an analyst that can speak intelligently about taking Uber public, then he will certainly be in high demand. But if he's an idiot, then the shops will find better talent elsewhere. As far as needing to be in TMT or something similarly "sexy" to break into PE...that's utter absurdity. For example, the FIG group at my old bank placed very well in both non FIG and FIG PE shops. One of the industrials kids and two of the HC kids went to MFs. Etc, etc, etc. Again, its more about being a good person who can articulate the deals they've worked on.
And remember - a lot of TMT kids work on shitty telecom deals if they're based in NY. It's not all glamor and taking sexy tech firms public.
How technical or rigorous were your PE interviews? What do you think allowed you to get the offer over others?
Like banking interviews it depends on the shop, really, so there's no blanket answer I can give to that. I think I got the offer for a variety of reasons. Good experience, the ability to explain why I wanted to move to PE, senior people picking up the phone, etc.
Do you know if anyone started directly in PE right out of undergrad? It seems like the consensus on here is that it's near impossible for a top PE or HF.
At your location specifically
Rare but it happens. Most places take a few analysts per year that feed into associate programs. There are a lot of benefits (namely, you have a spot in the associate class if you don't mess up) but also a few detriments to this. Make no mistake, a deep understanding of the sell side process in invaluable if you're looking to call the shots some day.
Thanks for your generosity. I have a few:
Did you finish your two-year stint or did you quit early?
How many months into your IB job did you begin the PE recruitment process and have the first-round interview? 6 months?
How did you manage to juggle work responsibilities with finding the time to network, prepare for interviews, go through several rounds, etc.? Did you invent excuses to get out of work?
How many firms did you interview with?
Did you hire a headhunter to do most of the work for you or did the opportunity present itself through your own network? Or both?
It starts earlier and earlier each year. I wouldn't start freaking out until after Christmas. Some of the more neurotic kids freaked out long before that. I don't think it helped them.
It's really, really rough, and I'm lucky to have been at a shop and a group that was supportive. Without that kind of support, I don't think I would have been nearly as successful.
You hit a limit in terms of capacity at the end of the day. I had a lot of interviews lined up that I had to cancel because second rounds had to be scheduled over them. All in I did 4, but I went on the earlier side. I know people that did more. Also people that did less (usually girls if you're into candor).
Most people use headhunters.
Thanks for your response. A few more if it's not too much of an issue:
I have heard that school name and college GPA might hold more weight to the headhunter as they look for candidates with certain backgrounds and academic performance levels (like GPA's above a certain threshold from certain target schools paired with a top BB), whereas PE shops might be more focused on your IB experience and may be more likely to place lower importance on college related stuff. Does this seem accurate?
I've always been surprised at how the PE recruitment process often begins 18+ months before position start dates given IB analysts have only been on the job a few months and might not have a ton of experience to display yet.
Did PE interviewers ask if you had been reviewed yet performance-wise at JPM/MS? If so, how did you answer? (Because I imagine that you hadn't received word on whether you were top bucket for bonus purposes or anything of the sort.)
How soon after starting at MS/JPM did you begin searching for a headhunter?
End of first year? So you're planning on staying a third? You should be pushing for more live stuff. I had stuff within a few months which is why I was comfortable recruiting in my first year.
I'm not going to dish out on specific headhunters. A lot of them were fantastic. Some of them sucked. PM me if you have specific questions about specific headhunters.
That is way too general. Hone it down a bit for me.
Again, pretty general. You could replace "PE recruiting" with "banking recruiting" and you'd get the same answer.
Sorry I couldn't be more help to you, but you're painting with broad stokes.
Could you give me a rough idea of the size of PE fund and what your comp will be? Trying to benchmark myself. I can let you know what I and the guys in my group are getting. PM works too if you don't want to share publicly
Would top groups to get into PE be M&A for both banks?
They're both great groups, but not necessarily. Healthcare, TMT, and FIG placed extremely well too. You should not be picking your group solely on perceived exits. You should pick a group where you like the people and they like you. An environment of mutual respect is key. You'll get placed on great deals, you'll develop great relationships with senior people, etc.
You're kidding yourself if you think headhunters and firms will think, "Wow that kid sucked...but he worked at JPM/MS M&A! That's a great group we have to take him!" That's just as sad as the loser that gets a banking job and thinks all of the sudden chicks will dig him.
What other roles have your peers in PE came from, other than banking?
Consulting. Only one consulting guy in my incoming class and he was rom McK. Apparently there's someone at the senior level who they hired out of PwC, but I haven't seen any accounting kids in any of our associate classes over the years. I see a lot of BB kids and a some top boutique kids
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time off to do the AMA. I was wondering if you could share on whether your peers' perception of PE changes after working in banking for 2 to 3 years (whether they would prefer a MM shop over MF where they are required to work long hours as usual).
Thanks.
I'm not at a top bulge bracket (like GS/JPM/MS) but at a lower tier (Barclays/BAML/Citi) bulge bracket. But I am in the top group at one of those banks. Do I stand a chance of getting interviews and winning offers at megafunds or will that be a uphill battle for me?
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