I've been working at a middle market investment bank for almost 3 years now.
Started as a contract worker in the back office, hired full time a little less than year into it and promoted to the middle office working directly on one of my firms trading desks.
I've made a friend out of a VP in our private equity department (a friend to the extent that he just invited me to meet him out in Colorado and stay at his house and ski with him for a few days).
He is the guy in charge of the hiring for the analyst program, however, he informed me that he doesn't see the demand for more bodies right now and doesn't know when that will change.
I threw out the idea of coming to intern for him for a few months and he liked the idea and could absolutely make that happen but said I would really have to consider the risks.
I come from a non-target, with a 3.3 GPA and no formal banking experience, but private equity is what I want to do and I'm pretty sure this is my only shot at breaking into the industry will be at this firm, through this guy.
Does 4 months of private equity internship experience move the needle for prospective future employers if my friend were not able to hire me full time?
Or does it look too odd and is it not enough experience to see on a resume that I worked full time for 2.5 years and then interned there?
Need advice. I feel like this will be my only chance to get this kind of experience that could help me get a full time gig in PE somewhere else, but not entirely sure it will actually make the difference to get me into interviews.
What do you guys think?
