My Story...
I did a summer in IBD in 2007 at a former BB (e.g. Bear, Lehman) and was extended a FT offer. I had that offer rescinded in mid 2008 but was fortunate enough to land an internship at a PE shop with roughly $10 billion in committed capital. I parlayed that internship into a full time analyst position and am currently working at the PE firm. This past fall I went through the recruiting process once again and was extended an offer into the IBD at a large BB (e.g. BofA/ML, Citi). For the past four months I’ve been going back and forth on whether I should stay at the private equity firm or take the banking position.
I know most people would argue that I should stay at the private equity shop, especially in this market. However, in the 6 months that I’ve worked here, I’ve had little exposure to the investment side and have spent most of my time on the fundraising side (the firm is launching its next fund in a month). That being said, I have spoken to the CEO and senior principals on numerous occasions about my position at the firm and my offer at the BB, and they have assured me that once fundraising is over with I would be able to devote 100% of my time to the investment side. However, even if I do transition to the investment side, my technical/modeling skills are limited and the firm doesn’t offer any form of training (I’m the only person that’s ever been hired straight out of undergrad so training has never been something that the firm has devoted time to) I can learn on the job, but I feel that most of the principals would rather staff an associate (all have prior banking experience) on a project rather than me. Also, the firm specializes in an industry that I’m not interested in working in so I’m afraid that if I stay here, my options in the future will be limited if I wanted to work someplace else. The only reason I wouldn’t take the banking position is because of the job security. I don’t mind the hours or the lower salary; I genuinely just want the experience. Any thoughts/insights would be greatly appreciated.
you should stay bro...grass is always greener. its obviously your career, but i wouldnt leave PE to go to a BB in this mkt for anything
I would wait as long as you can and then if you're position at the bank is still there come summer, move across. Much better to start at a BB than a PE where you're mostly working on the funds side and have no formal training.
On the positive side, after a couple of months, if you start to enjoy it more at the PE/begin to have a better experience, you can always stay there.
I assume you've signed the BB offer if you were recruited in the fall?
I think you're very perceptive about the set-up at your private equity shop, and you have very legitimate concerns about not getting much interesting deal experience because that stuff might end up going to the associates. Plus, the associates have the pressure to learn skills for themselves too, so rest assured that until they develop the technical skills they need, all you'll be getting is the work that they don't want to do or already know how to do.
In fact, if you have concerns now, those concerns will probably become a reality if you start working there full time. It sounds like your focus is on developing raw technical and modeling skills, and you're probably more likely to get that from a BB IB program than from the PE experience that you described. If you end up being stuck doing fundraising or deal sourcing at your PE firm, you are going to continually bemoan your lack of technical skills because I don't really see how you can actually be doing fundraising, sourcing, and transacting all at the same time -- and have solid experience in any one of them. That's just my take, though -- I'd love to hear more about your experience and what exactly you've been doing so far (as an example, are there REALLY that many funds available these days? If so, congrats on your firm's fundraising success)
Just a thought, funny how you mentioned the large bank especially being BOA and Citi, and you got internship from lehman / bear before.
Wait, so you began your FT PE position when? And you went through the FT recruiting process with BB after you began your PE stint? How did that work out?
I'm getting a bit confused on the time line of this whole thing.
Thanks for the insight everyone. To clarify the timeline I did a summer in IBD in 2007, graduated in May 2008, started at the PE shop in August 2008 and went through the recuriting process this past fall (my school gives alumni access to the interview database for roughly 6 months post gradution).
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