Engineering to Private Equity

Hi all,

Long time lurker first time poster. I am keen to get some advice from you guys on moving from Engineering to LMM PE. I graduated in 2018 with honors in Mechanical Engineering. I've had two years of Strategy Consulting within an engineering context and now 18 months in a Systems Engineering position at a major Defense Prime e.g. LMA/BAE/Raytheon. Over the last two years I've also been studying an MFin and will be finishing at the end of the year. I have an opportunity to move into the CD team in my firm and I expect there will be a number of transactions (both buy and sell) over the next 24 months. Ideally, I'd like to get to PE asap but realize my experience doesn't quite match yet. A few questions, would my background be of interest for the traditional IB route? Should I stay at my firm and work CD for an IB or PE exit? consider VC and transition?

Keen for your perspectives! Any insight form those who have made a similar transition would be really appreciated!

4 Comments
 

You should consider a full time T10 MBA.

Working in CD should help though if you don’t get one and want to try and just switch to PE

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Thanks Isaiah!

You should consider a full time T10 MBA.

I am in Australia and although I would love to, that is probably not feasible. MBAs don't hold much weight here so I opted for a Masters of Finance. How hard do you think it is to do CD>PE without IB in between?

 

Aut sequi explicabo non earum et dolorem. Molestiae tenetur officiis molestiae voluptatem. Ex provident voluptatem dignissimos maiores consectetur dicta. Dolores corporis iste excepturi. A laudantium ratione qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”