Why are people so focused on IB?

I understand that IB is kind of a requirement to get in to hedge funds, but why don't people go straight in to VC or PE if their end goal is there and they hate working in IB? Seems counter intuitive to me or is there something that I am missing about IB that is good? I kind of FOMOed into IB, but as someone who doesn't know what to do in the future, I just don't understand why everyone is so down bad for IB.

4 Comments
 

Because PE units prefer people who have had some large scale experience before. Especially VC.

We do have entry level roles in our VC unit, but the majority of people are still ex IB. The experience, the network, the deals they worked on, etc.. just very important to have.

 

Because it's very difficult to do so, MF PE is just starting to expand their analyst program but even MM/UMM would prefer to hire fully trained IB juniors than teach a brand new analyst how to model. Same with VC, there are few analyst spots out there. The 2 years of IB really pack in an incredible amount of training and that is what is valuable to these firms.

You also miss out on legitimizing yourself with a big brand name and known training program. Doing IB is kind of like a stamp of approval, it will open doors for you years down the line.

 

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