Career Path Transition Advice

Hi all. So first time posting on WSO, but frequent reader. I am currently trying to work through a possible career transition (I am currently 29, 30 in January) and was hoping to get some advice from the community. My basic experience is as follows: • BB AM Analyst (3 Yrs) – Focused on HNW individuals/families specifically around investments and lending solutions • BB AM Associate (2 Yrs) & VP (~2 Yrs) [current role] – Specialty group focused on advising private business owners (mostly middle-market) on transitions (i.e. monetization events, governance, business succession, etc) • CFA Charterholder

My current role’s main responsibilities include: • Developing financial models and fundamental company valuations across a multitude of industries • Educating and advising business owners on transition options, pre-transaction planning strategies, valuation opportunities, corporate and family governance structures, favorable transactional deal terms and the current M&A environment
• Marketing efforts including coordinating and participating in business transition roundtables for business owners throughout the US (quite a bit of travel involved) • Producing white papers on key transitional topics for private business owners

Previously, I’ve explored some in-house lateral opportunities into IB M&A, which didn’t work out (possibly because they weren’t sure about hiring someone internally from VP to Sr Assoc, which I was open to). Additionally, I have not had much traction with headhunters/recruiters since my background is not formal IB and while I have transactional experience, it is not quite to the depth of someone who has worked in IB as an analyst/associate (although probably still comparable). I had originally been pursuing IB opportunities (focused on M&A) since I thought it would probably be a necessary step to move into PE eventually. However, given my non-traditional path/timing, I am not sure that is feasible at this point. Therefore, I’ve been considering the following: • MM PE firms that are looking for someone with a non-traditional background • VC or PE Secondary-focused funds • Consulting

Given the vast range of experiences on WSO, I was hoping for some thoughts/guidance on how to best pursue a transition to one of these opportunities. Feel free to be brutally honest. Thanks in advance for any comments and I would be happy to provide any additional info that might be helpful.