How to Answer the Why not PE? Question in IB Interviews/ Coffee Chats

I'm recruiting for SA 26 and my past two summers have been in PE. Multiple analysts have asked me "why not PE" during coffee chats. My answer right now touches upon these points but I feel like it doesn't check out super well (I do plan on being in PE long term but I'm recruiting for banking for the optionality to do something else within finance or stay in IB) 

  • PE is constrained by the size of the fund – less learning opportunities versus banking where pitching/ live deals are constant and fast paced – touches upon why I want to do banking from my intro (learning)
  • Preference for advisory – touch upon previous experiences working on buying and selling social media accounts vs. managing them. Also talk about background in debate where you're given a topic to learn and argue about which is much more similar to creating sell-side materials, whereas the thinking in PE is very broad and focused on development
  • Like the idea of thinking about pitching/ thinking about synergistic relationships – landed partnerships w/ well-known companies with my startup through this kind of thinking and it was very rewarding. 
  • I found the deal-making aspect of PE the most interesting – also touch upon buying and selling stuff my whole life, and I'm not particularly interested in business operations as much. 

Sounds kind-of BS imo. Should I instead go for an approach along the lines of, "I don't know where I'll be in 2-5 years but I am not the type of person to be thinking about where they are going to be before they put their best foot forward in what they're currently doing" and then elaborate upon why I'm interested in starting a career in banking specifically? 

1 Comments
 

Qui provident non laudantium quidem. Voluptatem laborum tempora ratione a. Ratione commodi hic quo qui porro enim optio dicta.

Eum et iusto cumque maiores doloribus aperiam qui. Recusandae velit sed ut facere dignissimos et non occaecati. Neque rerum consequuntur et. Sed quis quidem sed recusandae saepe dolorem corrupti perferendis. Optio et quos quia.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • 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 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 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 (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”