Linkedin “Private Equity Summer Analyst”

Saw on LinkedIn a freshman from my school had a job update that listed their role as a “private equity summer analyst.” I was impressed, clicked their profile, and it turns out he’s literally an intern at a search fund and listed his experience as SA in PE. This is like the 3rd time I’ve seen this, also saw on WSO someone talking about doing the exact same thing on their resume.

Is it just me being a prick or is this really stupid and misleading? The whole point of a Summer Analyst role is that you can return as an actual analyst, since when is it a catch-all for internships that occur during the summer?

 

Yea dude I get your frustration. I know tons of kid who interned at search funds call themselves private equity analyst. I did an internship at a shop with solid aum and wrote analyst intern (which is what the offer titled). At the end of the day, idrc abt the title but rather what I did during the internship.

 
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Why do you care?

How does this affect you in the slightest?

I can only guess that you’re budding with jealousy due to imagining a scenario where this kid’s profile is lighting up with hundreds of headhunter connection requests as they’re practically begging him to take instant job offers at mega funds, all because his misleading them with his PE internship. Spoiler: this isn’t happening.

 

This -- it really doesn't matter and is just a misleading representation of what he's doing. I knew a girl who would do every possible thing to spice up her entire profile to the point where she tried to mask that she was a hostess at a restaurant as an "event coordinator" or something to that effect. It doesn't impact anyone but them and anyone who spends half a second of observing a profile or looking into what someone does (be it you or recruiters) it becomes pretty clear. Nobody cares about a LinkedIn flex and you shouldn't either. 

 

Really? You think that resume screeners can tell the difference between internships on the investment team of a $1-5bn fund and search funds when they probably spend a couple of seconds reading each position? Sure if someone is working at an MF or reputable UMM there is a clear difference, but not for a vast majority of firms.

 

I really thought this would be more obvious but it's because I am competing against these people for positions. I highly doubt people who read resumes have time to check whether the "PE SA" is working at an actual PE firm or not, so misleading people with overblown titles can make a difference.

 

So my assumption was correct. You’re jealous that he’s spinning his work experience in a way that makes him competitive against you for something that you want.

Guess what mate? That’s life. Spin what you’ve got even harder.

At the very least, take comfort in knowing that if it really is a big deal that he’s misrepresenting his experience, an interviewer will take one look at it and chew him out at the first round. If he doesn’t, then it clearly isn’t a big deal. Either way, stop concerning yourself with things you cannot change.

 

Look - it's all branding, as long as he can talk about tasks that are similar to PE - I would view this as acceptable - most of these internships don't give you a dedicated title, so just say whatever you want honestly. Say HR is reviewing a CV they may have no clue what a search fund is but may know what PE is - hence it's better to use the better known word.

 

Yeah the same way northwestern mutual calls their interns "financial advisors"

 

I don’t see why this should upset anyone. I’ve interned at a search fund and at an UMM PE fund, and truthfully, I found the search fund to be a much better learning experience.

I was able to run broker calls, draft offer letters, and build out preliminary models (all things that fall under PE). Meanwhile, my actual PE internship was basically a large step down from the search fund experience. Respectfully, I would say to get off your high horse and stop concerning yourself with what others put on their Linkedin. Literally nobody cares, and it will quickly become obvious in interviews whether someone actually inflated their job title.

 

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