Best summer option for breaking into Private Equity post-MBA
Hi All -
Hoping for some advice on how to spend my summer to best position myself to break into PE. My basic profile is Ivy League undergrad, post-ugrad experience in management consulting, and currently MBA student at a top business school (H/S/W).
Goal is to break into PE after my MBA (immediately or a few years down the line, if necessary). Looking for your advice on what would be the best way to spend my summer (and beyond, as applicable) to make this happen:
- Accept summer offer at a top BB investment bank (GS/MS/JPM)
- Accept summer offer at private equity arm of IM firm that does fund-of-funds investing and some co-investments (not traditional direct investing model). Role may or may not include direct deal exposure (TBD)
- Decline both offers and hope that I can land a summer offer at a PE firm (risky move given how difficult it is to land a PE job without prior PE/IB experience)
Could really benefit from the group's advice. Thanks in advance for your help!
Option 1 is not a good idea IMHO. Plenty of MBA associates I work with talked about leaving constantly and had a hard time doing so. Whether this is due to their perceived hire-ability by buyside being lower, because they get less institutional support/leeway from their banking group (associates are 'supposed to stay'), or because they have less time to prep and interview than less encumbered analysts, they empirically had a hard time moving to PE. Option 1 also realistically means a commitment for multiple years (Summer + accept + start and work 1+ year) before even beginning to transition.
Option 2 has most of the drawbacks of option 1 plus some (less applicable skill set to PE, limited visibility on deal-flow / industry dynamics). It does have upside though (Meeting managers as part of manager selection = networking & an education, may get some good co-invest experience, buyside role). That said, I fail to see why it would be a better option than #3...
I don't understand why Option 3 is viewed as risky . Assuming you are interested in PE generally and not specifically megafunds, and ideally if you have some geographic flexibility (in the USA even), there's a big universe of funds hiring right now. I find it really hard to believe none of them are doing so through formal recruiting on-campus at an HSW business school. You're every bit as good a candidate (better even) for an associate role as a current post-undergrad MBB associate.
If your goal is to come in above the associate level though, maybe this is a different conversation.