Deciding between staying at small growth fund or take MM IB job for PE recruitment (post IB layoff)?
Hi all - just wanted to hopefully get some perspective from people here as I try to make a pretty important decision. I was previously a first year analyst at a top MM bank (think HL, Baird, Jefferies, etc.). The firm I was at had massive layoffs earlier this year and I was suddenly thrust into this (not so great) hiring market.
At first, I was trying for IB jobs at similar or hopefully better firms, but that didn't entirely pan out. I ended up taking an analyst job at a small growth equity shop (think sub $500M fund size) and in a city that I don't see myself staying in long term.
My plan has always been to recruit for buyside, PE jobs at ideally a bigger fund and in a large city (NY, Chicago, LA, etc.). While being an analyst here, I have been in contact with headhunters and passing along my resume but tbh have not gotten great traction. There are a few firms that I feel like I would have a good shot at from this growth fund (including smaller VCs and growth shops), but I am now presented a potential offer to join a similar top MM bank as an IB analyst (not the one I was at earlier obviously, lol). Worth mentioning that this job is in a Tier 1 city. If my goal is PE recruitment, do you think it is worth taking that offer and leaving this job so quickly.
Would this make headhunters that I've been in contact with for PE recruitment drop me entirely for quitting the growth fund job so quickly? Is it worth me staying here for another 6 months or however long to see if I can snag something for an Associate start in 2024? Is it stupid for me to want to go back to banking after "making it" to the buyside? What would you do? Any thoughts would be helpful.
What’s the city you’re in now? And is there a path to promotion in 1-2 yr at your current group?
Asking as some analyst programs are 2-3 yr then people get booted
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Got it - what’s the difference between moving now vs moving in 8-9 months?
I'd go back to banking for the training and optionality. However, maybe you really like the GE team and see a trajectory there (would only know through communication).
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How long were you at the GE firm? You could always leave it off your resume. I think recruiters understand this environment and I would make sure to stay the full 2 years at the MM IB before moving again into MM PE.
I would not go back to banking. Not sure what level you’d come in at but either way you’d be a non- new joiner and would need to spend a lot of time getting up to speed in your new bank and working banking hours. Recruiting will be tough and you won’t have any references for a little while. Depending on the MM bank PE recruiting probably isn’t lights out either so will be an uphill battle.
Id try to lateral now selectively and also be open to a longer term start for an associate. Just try to get the best investing seat you can (be open to growth or buyout, sectors, etc but try to go for a larger fund / bigger city). There are plenty of points to move again after an associate stint (MBA, lateral as senior Associate, etc) and I just worry if you want an investing seat, why leave to go back to banking (where everyone is trying to leave for an investing seat)
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Did you include the growth equity firm on your resume or were you still recruiting as a laid off analyst?
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Got it - so you started interviewing for the banking gig before you started your latest job, and without the growth equity position on your resume? Just trying to understand the sequencing and how you positioned your resume given I'm in a similar spot (ie recruiting with a short stint). Started a corp dev job post IB that turned out to be very different from what I expected and I'm trying to find either another corp dev role with real deal flow or a more traditional buyside job. I've been getting no interviews since putting this job on my resume and am trying to understand if it's a) because I'm at a less well-known firm/made the move to corp dev so am branded differently now or b) because my stint at my current firm is <1 year. Considering taking the role off my resume and just saying I'm a laid off analyst even though I left my last role voluntarily for this job
I agree with above, do your best to recruit now but I would not go back to banking. I'd also just breathe for a second... yes you should be recruiting but I would not leave so quickly, 2 months is a really short red-flag stint. Be on the look out for ASO spots in 2024 or even early 2025, these may come on short notice but I wouldn't be in a huge rush to leave your current place within just a few months. No reason to keep leapfrogging around from job to job right now. If you do go back to IB and then jump to investing, that'll be your 4th job in... 3 years? 4 years? Even with some of the moves being understandable or out of your control it'll label you as a jumper.
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I think you're right on. People won't fault you as much for getting caught up in a layoff, you just might need to be more proactive with HHs/funds themselves and be open to a fund that is a step up but maybe not a huge growth fund or your dream firm quite yet.
Accidentally posted this as a follow up to a comment - posting as a standalone here.
I think it depends on how you feel about banking and the new team. If you like banking, you think you would want to stay for 1-2 years, you strongly feel there's more to learn, and the bank has good exits, it could be a sensible move.
As a counterpoint, I actually did something similar, although it was forced on me (fired from my PE position and moved to a M&A role at a MM) and I ended up having a horrible experience. I thought that I would get more modeling reps, better training, and another shot at PE recruiting by moving to banking, but the reality ended up being making pitchbooks until 4am and shitty hour adjusted comp given the current deal environment. My experience with MM banking is that most deal work is heavily focused on marketing materials and creating a "story". This could include CIM building, refreshing buyer trackers, pitch work, and other mundane workstreams that I personally don't feel are valuable for improving the investor skillset relative to the work I did in PE. This issue may have been unique to my bank, but have heard this frustration from multiple people in my network who work or worked in MM IB.
With that said, I don't think M&A roles everywhere are the best training ground for investing, particularly MM roles. MM deals are often low complexity (non-public, founder owned, and simple cap tables) and consequently require less technical know-how. You're just not going to need to build a 40 tab LBO for Johnny's Apple Farm doing $30M of EBITDA.
If you said you had an offer at an EB like PJT or Evercore, sure, that's a slam dunk - you're going to build valuable modeling skills, improve branding, and open up more doors for buyside. But since it's a MM I'm definitely more on the fence about it and would heavily diligence what you'd be doing. That means calling former analysts/associates who have exited and understanding from them what buyside prospects are like, and getting their candid feedback on what the overall culture and experience is like.
Without knowing the above, I think the skills you'll learn in your growth equity job are much more transferrable to another buyside job (building operating models and assessing returns, running market diligence via expert calls with consultants / industry experts, creating IC memos and forming / defending an investment thesis, etc.). than the skills you'll gain from refreshing the team page on a $300m EV car wash business based in Iowa (no hate on Iowa).
That's my 2 cents as someone 3 years out of undergrad who has had a pretty fucked up career path so far, so def take that with a grain of salt. Ultimately would suggest just talk to your mentors and people with 10+ years of experience rather than crowd sourcing opinions on WSO, but thought I'd add my thoughts since I've sort of been in your spot and regret taking the path I did.
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