Deciding between 2 offers…need help
Hey everyone,
I was very lucky and fortunate to land two PE associate offers that I’m frankly pretty deadlocked between. It would be really helpful to hear people’s thoughts. My main goal is to go to b-school (hbs or Stanford if I’m lucky). For context I (F) was a 3.8+ gpa at HYPSW undergrad
Offer 1: $1bn latest fund, not really a fan of the culture (not the nicest people, 5x a week in person which I know will make me miserable), BUT the area of industry focus is the industry I want to work in long term and there’s a couple of HBS alums who are well known by the school and could probably write me rec letters if I do well) (no guarantee it will get me in though)
Offer 2: $3bn latest fund, much better culture (nicer people, 3x in person which I love) BUT a bit more tech focused which I’m not thrilled about (i like tech but don’t know if I want to specialize) and there aren’t any alums from major b schools so while I feel I can do well and get strong letters, they won’t be from alums.
(Offer 2 is 10k all in more than offer 1)
I am honestly very lucky to have 2 offers to pick from, however they are polar opposites. I want to prioritize a good work environment (as my analyst program had a brutal culture) but I feel that taking option 2 may prevent me from getting into a strong b school program.
Would be awesome to hear people’s thoughts!
B school isn't guaranteed. I know several MF associates who were shut out from H/S this cycle and are headed to Wharton for MBA.
Go with wherever you'll be happier, which seems to be option 2.
Agreed with HF Analyst, offer two seems much more enticing. Places like offer #1 sound awful to work at, and you dont want your next two years to be hell. Take offer two and go in with an open mind, and I think youll be much happier down the road
Seems like offer 2 is clearly better, is this another humble brag post about landing two coveted offers?
Haha it is not but I can see why it sounds like it lol
This is so clear I’m surprised you are struggling with this, option 2 by a long shot. You need to work at places where you’ll be happy, and you’ll not only have a better life but do better work at places you enjoy.
B school isn’t guaranteed and also, why do you want to go? So often I hear people say they want to go to business school but it’s usually because they don’t know what else to do. It is “the path” that they have to take. It doesn’t make much sense to me.
Yea that's a great question, tbh a large part of it is building a network of people. I graduated in 2021 and my last 1.5 years of school were virtual which i feel like really ruined my college experience and ability to meet new people. Since moving to NYC I still feel like I've been spending time in my usual circles of people and frankly haven't rlly met a ton of new people especially given the hours. My dad is ex-military and so the military is fully paying for my first year of business school so it feels more financially accessible
Thank you all for the help! I do agree that this sounds like an easy decision on paper. The only things that's been holding me back is that the CEO of the Offer 1 company is a really really well known guy (like celeb status) who has done several talks at HBS. I am pretty unfamiliar with business school admissions so I'm not sure how much pull one person can have on getting someone into a good school. So I'm trying to figure out if his recommendation is worth the 2 years of going in 5 days a week / grinding it out in a very old-school environment. Would be great to hear people's thoughts.
I would definitely lean towards offer #2. I work in Tech PE and within the industry so feel free to message me if you have any questions about this firm specifically
You would sacrifice having a better lifestyle and culture for a perceived marginally better chance of getting into HBS?
rough compensation numbers for fund sizes?
at H/S now if you want to PM names I can give thoughts (please respond y/n so I can go back to an anonymous title post)
Basically the trade you're making is almost guaranteed misery & unhappiness for a marginally better chance at HBS. And marginal is the operative word, who knows how much sway that alum actually has. Also, who knows if you even interact that much with him. What is you make a minor mistake early on and the person doesn't think that highly of you? You've now scarified 2 years of happiness for not a whole lot.
People are probably the most important part of a job. This is anecdotal, but basically everyone I've known who has been on the fence about the people they're working with when going into a new job has regretted taking the role, myself included. Life is too short to work with people you hate, even if its only 2 years.
Option 2 seems like a no brainer. If you're worried about B-School, have a conversation with the people at Option 2, try and get 30 min with a partner, tell them you think like their firm is the best fit based on the offers you have, but you want to learn more about how they think about B-School as it's a potential option for you down the road and few/no one at the firm seems to have an MBA.
A few other things, unless option 1 is one of those legacy PE firms that has a very strong, almost guaranteed, track record of sending people every year to HBS/Stanford, I think you're giving too much weight to a letter of rec written by an alum. I think you'd actually rather have a stronger, more personal rec written by a non alum, who is really advocating for you. I would guess that most MBA consultants would agree.
Last thing, B-School might seem like the goal now, but plenty can change. HBS/Stanford are great, but they're not the panacea that people think they are. If you're already at a $3B+ fund, like and want to stay in PE, like the people you work with, and get promoted after 2/3 years to Senior Associate, you might decide you don't even want to go back.
Thank you so much for the detailed response!
Easy choice for me would be Option 2. Late enough in my career to know that culture can make or break an experience. I'd easily trade better culture for lower comp, and you don't even have to do that here. Am also personally biased about going the MBA route unless you have to, so again, easy choice here IMO.
The only situation in which I would choose option 1 is if it’s Kim Kardashians new fund and you want to go into fashion or beauty. Lol.
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