Hi all,
I've been working as a credit analyst in BB commercial banking for two years. I've been trying to get out for a while now as learning curve has leveled off in current group. I've been approached with two new career opps and i need some advice...
1. Mid-corporate banking within same company with proven and respected manager within brand new group. Different city. Probably two more years of analyst work, similar to what I'm doing right now. I'm not sure I want to remain on that career path, but the manager maintains will pay for MBA. Medium risk.
2. Start-up oil and gas acquisition and divestiture firm. Same city already in. Founder has started and sold company before. Been trying to break into O&G for a while without success. Big risk, possibly huge return. Any success company has will be associated with founder, not me.
I'd like to end up in O&G PE, so #2 looks more attractive from a "breaking-in" viewpoint. However, I've only been working for 2 years, so my resume may not stand well in marketplace after #2 opportunity ends. There are obviously a lot of other factors that affect my decision, but I'd like to get anyone's advice on choosing between prestige (#1) and a start-up (#2) this early on in my career.
Sorry for the long post. Appreciate any thoughts.
agreed with da chief. in terms of risk/reward, you have a much better play on #2 and #1. I like the idea that even if the opportunity sours or matures beyond its expiration date, you can always use MBA to pivot into O&G PE. It will definitely make your MBA application stand out from the rest of the cookie-cutter applications, many of which, would have taken #1 option.
Thanks for the advice guys. I've pretty well decided against #1, but still unsure if #2 will yield a future in PE, even after B-school. O&G acquisitions and divestitures is essentially the same thing as a real estate broker, but for oil and gas. So the transaction exposure could be interesting, but moving away from corporate finance worries me.
Do you guys think going from A&D -> B-School -> PE is a viable option?
I don't have any experience in either PE or O&G, so take this with a grain of salt, but I've faced similar decisions and here's what I'd say:
Anything is viable, the question is will it be probable? And for you, breaking into PE out of MBA w/out PE experience will be very tough. PE firms will, however, poach industry guys all the time. But, they will usually be from blue chip companies.
Going to a start up that is not in tech is very risky. Tech is different because the culture in the whole industry relies on and rewards those kinds of moves. Most other industries are not like that. They like name brands they can rely on. You've got a BB bank on your resume, which is a great start.
You have to evaluate this O&G opportunity as if you were an investor. After all, you are investing your career into this company. Ask the questions an investor would ask: What exactly is this guy's track record? What are his goals with this company? What is the company's strategic edge? What happens to this company if oil falls to $100? $90? $70? What will your roles be exactly? What will your exit opps look like? Will he write you great letters of rec or use his connections to help you out if things head south? etc.
At the end of the day it sounds like you want to get into O&G PE. I think you should wait for the right opportunity. Neither of these strike me as the right opportunity. In investing you've got to learn to pass. There will be hundreds of "OK" investments out there, but the great investments come to those who are working hard, watching, and waiting.
To put yourself on the path, try to break into one of the banks' O&G groups in IBD and go from there. Who cares if you have to start back at a 1st year analyst gig, the point is you'll be on THE most sure path to O&G PE. If that's not at all an option, I suggest going to your MBA at UT, then going to O&G from there - could be IBD, PE (less likely), or for a name brand O&G company.
Good luck.
People don't get rich without taking a risk.
Thank you bmcrhino. I understand how difficult it is to break into PE without the classic IB experience. The start up company would be dealing directly with PE companies as the main client. So the exposure and networking opportunities are very good. I'm really counting on making solid connections in order to leversge those into a PE opp. But like you said, unlikely.
Here's the main thing I'm worried about. I don't necessarily want to do a&d for a living, so I'm concerned that I'd pigeonhole myself even if things go well. I've been hunting for the typical IB gig for a while but things justt haven't worked out. So i'm sort of looking at this as a way to differentiate myself.
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