Hey guys,
I face a really hard decision. I already signed a contract with Booz/ATKearney and now a possibility opens up for me to have interviews with a megafund (Top 4) for their PE division. I think I might enjoy the diverse projects of consulting life more than PE, but seriously, how many people get the chance to join a megafund directly after ugrad? I already internet with the consulting firm before and I really liked the people and the lifestyle and I felt that the company was very keen on hiring me and that I might make good career progress, but I fear that I might throw away an opportunity which might never come back in my life and which I might regret later.
I am not sure in what to do now. I will not accept the interview before I am 100% sure what I would do if I should really get an offer from the megafund! So please don't give me advice like: "take the interview first and decide later". Furthermore, I am not sure where I see myself in 5/10/15 years. Of course money is to a certain degree important to me, but the consulting salary is, at least in the first years, very competitive and I see myself in a more quiet job once I have a family.
This is one of the hardest decision in my life so far, any useful input?
You are really jumping ahead of yourself on this one. You have not even interviewed yet but have already accepted an offer with the company who you interned with AND enjoyed. Stick with your agreed offer and see it through.
BUT make sure to explain to the PE fund the scenario to put you in the best light possible. Explain you have already accepted an offer and would not feel ethical backing out on your promise (they will like the loyalty), and explain you hope to one day move into the PE world, hope your paths can cross again in the future and to keep you updated on future opportunities as you stay in touch.
Try and leave the door cracked so you can easily open it back up when the time is right, so to speak. And make sure to keep in communication!
Edit: also burning bridges with the company who you interned with (references) would not be a wise decision, especially if you consider b-school in the future. Its different if it was a new company who you had no background with.
Good advice.
As a side note..what do you want to do - PE or consulting? There can be some overlap, or they can be very far apart.. Really 2 different paths that SOMETIMES, not always, overlap.
You got the interview now so you will probably be able to get more in the future. Basically it comes down to whether or not you want to gamble on this. One one hand you have a 100% offer from a consulting gig and on the other hand you have a 20% (or whatever you give yourself, probably less) chance that you get a PE gig and a 10% (probably a bit less, more like 1-2%) chance that your company will find out you went and pull the offer leaving you with nothing. What's stopping you from reapplying in a years time with relevant experience under your belt?
I'm going to disagree with the previous advice. It would be dumb to turn down a possibility with a PE megafund straight out of undergrad. The first job you take is extremely important, because after you take that job, what college you attended and how well you did there becomes less of a primary factor on your resume, and your current job takes its place. You can easily go from a PE megafund to a Booz/ATK tier consulting firm; the opposite might not be quite so easy.
You are considering turning down better experience, better pay, and better exit ops for some sense of "loyalty". You owe nothing to the consulting firm at which you interned. Yes, you accepted an offer, but only because they (essentially) threatened to withdraw it forever if you didn't accept right away.
This is a no-brainer. Having said that, don't burn the bridge any more than you have to. Assuming you get the PE offer, explain how you weren't looking, but the opportunity dropped into your lap, you're sorry, please let me know if I can ever do anything for you, blah blah blah.
"You are considering turning down better experience, better pay, and better exit ops for some sense of "loyalty". You owe nothing to the consulting firm at which you interned. Yes, you accepted an offer, but only because they (essentially) threatened to withdraw it forever if you didn't accept right away."
Without knowing the starting salary at the megafunds, I am sure my consulting net income will be higher the first 2 years as they pay very competitively and the job would be in HK/Singapore/Dubai, so in an extremely low income tax country (and after that, who knows? Many people are gone after 2 years anyway). I didn't mention this before, because it doesn't matter for me where I work. I agree with exit opps and reputation though. Telling someone you work for a megafund will immediately impress people, even the JPM/MS/GS guys, but most importantly headhunters. ATK and the likes won't do that.
With regards to experience it depends. I already have quite an impressive resume and PE experience at a well known firm. (Therefure I assume my chances are above 20% to land the gig. I am actually quite good at ACs as well and never failed one so far). Comparing both my previous experiences, I preferred the more diversified consulting work over the ever repeating PE stuff, although I would be gladly doing both. Furthermore I prefer the more collegial atmosphere rather than the hierarchical structure.
I really appreciate all of your good input. It really hurts to turn it down and I hope I won't regret it in the future but I think I will follow "yeahrights" advice.
You do recognize that you probably won't get an offer from the megafund, right? I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic. If you renege on the consulting firm, you'll definitely burn bridges, and you'll likely end up empty-handed.
how the fk did u get an interview at a megafund whilst thinking consulting pays better?
in case your not a troll op (which I highly doubt), interview with megafund, if you get offer take it and never look back.
the NPV of having a megafund on your CV compared to starting at a second tier consultancy is higher than the entire cumulative pay of a consultant.
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