Would you get wrecked going from top tier consulting to IB?
Currently working at an MBB and on the fence to try to recruit for banking. Reasons are manyfold but mainly I always thought about going to banking post undergrad but chickened out due to hours.
Realizing now that I cope with work hours quiet well and doing a lot of 'finance-related' stuff (i.e., PE DDs) and also having a solid background / understanding of corporate finance I wonder whether I should actively try to recruit for IB.
I am much more a numbers person and overall think would fit really good into banking.
My question is just: am I overly rosy / optimistic? I imagine banking as having much greater pay with slightly worse hours and better cultural fit (consulting is quiet nerdy). A lot of times recently I read here that hours are not bad at all (i.e., clocking off at 7-8 in the office and then work until midnight from home).
Would you think this is a good move? Should I ditch it and stop simping for being an I-banker and rather recruit for PE straightaway (I think it will be easier - tons of inbounds from PE HH, never from banking).
Honestly depends on your long term goal. What do you want to do?
If your long term goal is PE then you can do that without a switch to IB. I see loads of MBB and similar consultants end up as PE Associates. Mainly because the job of PE is as investors, rather than as advisers. Being able to get up to speed on a sector/industry quickly and do detailed DD well is the key skill at the lower levels.
If you actually want to be an adviser rather than an investor - then a move to IB makes sense from where you are. Although you need to make sure you land in a Sector group / Financial Sponsors or M&A. ECM / DCM / Levfin is probably not the future and probably not an easy fit for the skills you've built already.
I would say that hours at decent IBs are always tough. Shops with easy hours are a waste of time career wise, usually because the deal flow and experience you gain is sub par. So if it's WLB you crave then IB isn't for you. Some Mid-Market PEs have a really good time of it.
Not really sure tbh. I think finance is very interesting and like to be an advisor as consultant.
I always thought about going to PE anyway but now that I am in the middle of the nitty gritty details of evaluating investment decisions or steering portco transformations, it became much less desirable than I thought it would be as naive student.
Maybe I really catched "grass is greener"-syndrome and think that IB is much sexier than it is.
Tldr: I like advisory and think M&A advisory is more attractive than strategy consulting.
If you’re getting PE HH outreach, I would go direct to PE. I get that you feel like you’re missing something but the inbounds don’t lie. If you’re getting the right inbounds, you made it. Your experience will be more highly regarded and applicable there as well.
Am I just a pussy or is going home at 8 and WFH till midnight horrible? Is that considered good now? Jesus
You’re not a pussy, just young (I’m guessing). Older folks are comparing to pre-COVID work which was in the office every day until midnight or later with in-office work on weekends. Hours and working conditions definitely got better post-COVID.
IB sucks. My roommate is at MBB and his lifestyle is way better. Sometimes he works as much but on average way less for similar exit options. Way more career optionality out of MBB. Way more social environment and company events etc. my 2 cents, don’t switch. Aren’t your actually protected weekends amazing? Stick with MBB and do some interesting cases, if you’re at Bain do the 6 months abroad thing.
I did it (coming from Bain), but I wouldn't recommend to your average Joe.
Stay in Consulting and if PE is your end goal, pivot over.
Can you elaborate on that? How did you make the move and at what level? How far did they downgrade your MBB experience?
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