Sophomore internship - boutique IB vs. MM PE
What do you think sets one up better for junior recruiting? I'd like to work in BB IBD.
The boutique IB is pretty busy and offers 2-3 live deals, while the MM PE firm is well-known in its niche and will involve mostly deal sourcing and some financial analysis. I think with the MM PE firm, I will have more free time that I can dedicate to prepping for recruiting, but I expect interviewers will question "why PE over IB". Or is this really a no-brainer and I should go with the boutique IB? Also should note I already did a boutique IB last summer, and this boutique IB is comparable.
Thanks.
Do PE: 1) Bankers look up to PE so they will like it more than boutique IB 2) Given that you had a legit experience, you will ace "harder" questions (i.e. questions related to LBO and the investments made during your stay as a SA. Note that although IB does offer you deal exposure, it's a different perspective you get at a PE shop as a buy-side monkey). 3) Why IB over PE is an easy question to answer. a) You want to get exposure to the biggest, the most interesting deals and that's why you wanna go BB, b) PE firm is narrow in scope (LBO & maybe specific focus in an industry), but you want a diversity of experience, and c) the absolute # of deals you do is significantly higher in IB than PE and you don't want to dedicate time managing operating relationships with the portfolio companies etc. 4) If you do comparable boutique IB, they will ask, so why did you do this when you did a similar thing last summer? Sure you can pull off "BC im committed to the banking industry," but I think it's more sensible to take PE and say that you wanted a breadth of experience.
My 2 cents.
@"DictatorCloudy", great response, thank you, SB'ed. Anyone else have opinions?
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Depends on the location too. If the BB IBD stint you have available is in NY and this MM PE is a no name shop in some off state you're obviously better off with the IB in NY. But, consider your long term future. Do you eventually see yourself in PE? If so, having your foot in the door early and getting that head start on networking may better serve your purpose later on in your career.
But again, to be completely honest, either experience won't really matter. You'll most likely get the interview (if you're a target or you network your tail off) and from there your sophomore year experience doesn't really matter. All that matters once you have your foot in the door is if: 1. Do they like you and 2. Do they think you're smart enough/capable enough of doing the job.
I did MM PE this past summer, and I've found it very helpful with recruiting. As mentioned above, you not only get the experience to different "advanced" financial analysis, you also get a wider variety of experience (combined with your boutique IB work) going into recruiting, which is something you can sell to recruiters that makes you stand out. Free time is also a pretty nice plus that will give you an edge for recruiting. At the end of the day, you've also already done boutique IB so at the very least PE will be a new experience that will give you a better understanding of the industry, buy-side thought/deal process, and so on.
Thanks, that was super helpful. If comparing MM IB vs. MM PE, do you think PE still wins out? Thanks again.
Personally, I'd say PE still wins out just due to the diversity of experience that you'll gain, and thats something that I think would be pretty valuable. Unless the MM IB has stellar name value and the work you'll be doing is much more in-depth or different than the IB boutique, PE is probably a better choice in my opinion. I may be biased just from my own experience though. Keep in mind there are a lot of variables that you should be looking at as well, such as the actual work you would be doing, the industry focus for the PE shop compared to your interests, the name values of the firms, etc.
When it comes down to recruiting I don't think one vs the other will have a huge effect on recruiting, both would look good on a resume, and it all comes down to which one would give better deal / industry / involvement etc. experience that you could talk about in an interview.
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