So I've spent a couple years in both consulting and middle market investment banking, and am planning on going to Columbia next fall. I'm trying to get a feel for my chances of getting into PE out of CBS, as opposed to getting post-MBA Associate experience at a BB IBD before trying to make the move. Would the incremental Associate experience be necessary, or is the move directly into PE doable? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. SBs for the help.
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Summer associate gig at a BB or PE shop's the ticket.
Most folks I know at top shops (BX, Carlyle, Silver Lake, etc) went straight from IB pre MBA.
Thought: are you interest in mega BO or MM PE? Honestly if you're thinking MM I wouldn't even worry about it... What was your consulting experience in (B/BCG/MCK?) any sector expertise? Yeah I know the recruiting line is balls deep at GS, etc for BX but I know plenty of people from boutiques that went to good PE firms after...
Also a thought: if you have specialized sector consulting/banking exp think about matching yourself to PE firms based on that...
Given your experience, definitely not necessary to do post-MBA associate banking. CBS is a solid bschool and since they're in NY, there should be plenty of opportunities available. That said, getting a post-MBA associate role in PE is very competitive and much more difficult to get than pre-MBA associate role, so I would make sure to apply to banking as well in case things don't work out.
Thanks for the insight. The plan is to really squeeze everything I can out of CBS's Private Equity Program mentorship network and leverage something into a summer internship. I'll also interview heavily for BB M&A internship. I'm just a little worried how I'll stack up against those with pre-MBA PE experience. I have good buy-side advisory experience with a lot of exposure to debt capital markets, so I hope that will resonate.
i'm at cbs right now and there's a fair number of classmates (more than i expected) with PE experience from top caliber funds - mega and large MM. but my guess is most of these guys would've gotten into hbs or wharton in a normal year (my year was one of the worst years to apply). some classmates with IB experience only were able to land at lesser known places this summer.
apparently applications are coming down so that should work in your favor. regardless, it will be an uphill battle competing with with no prior PE experience, but certainly possible. the onus will be on you to seek out opportunities via alumni, capital iq, etc. as not many legit funds recruit on campus or post on off campus. there isn't much of a PE program curriculum-wise but the PE/VC club does have some interesting events including an annual conference that is well attended and job postings from time to time.
my thought would be that you're likely to find a MM PE role so long as the MM bank and the consulting firm you worked at were legit (which likely they were since you're at columbia)... Mega PE firms are almost definitely out of the question - but they're literally out of the question post-MBA for fucking everybody other than ultimate super-stars (i.e. BB -> megafund -> HBS), so I wouldn't worry about it.
Pymp, I was thinking along the same lines. I don't think I'm really interested in the mega PE lifestyle anyways.
Lax, PMing you.
Any other current CBS students out there that can offer insight on PE prospects out of Columbia?
How did it finally pan out for you speedmerchant; how did your journey look ?
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