What do PE Associates do post-MBA?

Seems like lots of PE associates go to get their MBA, but PE recruiting out of MBA programs is incredibly competitive.

So (not including those who are planning to return to their old firms) what do PE Associates do after their MBAs, if not PE? Is MBB consulting a common path? Or corp dev?

16 Comments
 

I would say most (60% or so) end up back in PE. The remainder do all sorts of things, pretty much every path is open to you. I’ve seen brand management, chief of staff roles at start-ups, corporate development / strategy, search funds, EB restructuring, VC, academia, asset management, consulting — all sorts of things. It’s really more about what you’re interested in doing than an defined path at this point in your career.

 

If some dude is happier doing that, I don’t think he’s thinking about how it looks on his LinkedIn. In any case most people end up doing pe if they want if. Out of my associate class 50% are in pe. 15-20 hf 15-20% great portco roles 15-20% Corp dev. Of the 50% not in Pe, a few actually had offers to stay on they turned down. The people who went to hf went to tiger cubs/top shops (I.e. could’ve likely done pe).

 

Would you happen to have more info about those who choose academia? Did they need a masters/PhD? Were they professors, “fellows,” etc? And if professors, what subject + course level did they teach? Appreciate it.

 

~Majority end up back in PE and rest get scattered across other typical post-MBA yuppie biz paths (i.e. consulting, corpdev/strat/bizops, search funds, other private capital strats, fundamental hfs, startup early employee, startup founder, lifestyle biz founder, fp&a/corpfin, product management, product marketing, brand management etc). Heavy emphasis on biz roles at tech companies, consumer and media/entertainment.

 

Ditto other user - would love to see a list of these CXO/exec training programs at PE shops

 

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