Difficult situation - help needed
Hi gang,
Bit of a downer - I just got fired after 8 months at an UMM PE firm. I came from c.4 years at an MBB shop focusing on PE work and then landed this gig towards the end of last year.
I knew my modelling skills needed work and I was really trying to improve them but as luck would have it, I ended up mainly working with a neurotic/anxious VP who would literally go through every cell in my model and call me out for mistakes in formatting and make a big deal when I missed a niche part of the model. This feedback made its way to the head of the team who essentially fired me at my annual review (came as a shock!).
Don't get me wrong, I could have produced more error free work, but I do also think I came from a non-finance background so could have been cut some slack on the modelling and given more time. I also used to frequently hear the other associate in my team get similar feedback from the other VP/director but seems like that VP/Director was more thoughtful and less hyperbolic when it came to feedback to the partner.
First time i've been fired so feeling pretty down, especially given the market for hiring apparently is pretty slow (especially with summer around the corner). Any advice?
Thanks all
PE funds are not set up to take consultants unless it’s one that takes consultants in regular course - Bain, Advent, Charlesbank, etc.
dont worry about it - it happens, you’re not the first and not the last.
lateral market is pretty dead and there’s a vast overabundance of mid-levels. I’m going to hazard a guess that you enjoyed MBB culture more than you did PE. Not exactly gangbusters in MBB world right now - but consider moving back?
either that or corporate is likely the most straightforward move. Lateral to another fund is going to be extremely difficult right now and for the foreseeable future (it’s the market)
How is your relationship with previous employer/team?
Hey OP, I know many people who were in a similar situation. Happy to chat on best practices for improving your modeling (transitioning from consulting can be hard) as well as provide a lay of the land on lateral recruiting. I know a few firms looking for laterals right now, happy to forward those along as well depending on geo.
mind pm'ing re: the lateral roles?
Would recommend strategy & ops roles at later stage (well capitalized) startups. They'll value the MBB experience more than the PE anyways. Lots of big series B-D rounds seem to be getting announced so maybe that market is picking up
second this
My honest advice (please no MS) - maybe PE isn't for you. It sounds like you got an unfair shake with no 'second chances' / time to ramp, but it also sounds like modelling/financial analysis might not be your forte and it's unfortunately a really critical component of the PE job.
I'm a former consultant (MBB) turned PE, and I actually audit my associates' models really thoroughly (check most rows). Fine if there are minor mistakes, but I expect them to be fixed in the next iteration (once I share feedback) and then ideally not repeated in future work. I give leniency to consultants in the beginning but that rope runs out pretty quickly, especially if I'm not seeing quick improvement.
Other ideas for you:
Can you list common mistakes you find yourself seeing?
Absolutely, random collection off the top of my head:
^ Good list by SaasChimp
I used to these kind of cell by cell audits - it's just good hygiene, no arguing with that.
However, over time, I realized that almost all of the time, unless the model is just completely busted in a laughable way (like... you're exiting the wrong year), the model does not matter at all at least in its predictive power as to the ultimate outcome. I spend more of my time thinking about all the ways the business can create value or get screwed - and am I structurally set up to "win" from a probability distribution perspective (i,e, are there more ways to hit single / doubles than strike out?)
Warren Buffet literally does not model. And I ever owned my own firm, I'd make a rule that models can't be over 2-3 pages long period full stop.
Hope you feel better soon mate. Work at umm level fund and pretty sure getting fired next week. Hang in there
sorry to hear, what makes you think youre getting fired
how'd it go?
What was the feedback you got? It was just the small modeling nits and minor formatting mistakes? Nothing more egregious?
was this NewSpring?
First off, if you find yourself tying a lot of your "worth" to your job and/or this outcome, carve out some space to break that link. It isn't easy if that linkage is already established, but it'll provide you a lot more clarity and the ability to do an honest self-assessment. Leaving that linkage in place is a ticking time bomb for your health.
Secondly, don't rule out PE, unless you genuinely believe it isn't for you and you don't possess the skills and desire to do so. There are so many flavors of PE under the sun, (MF, UMM, LMM, Infra, and then all the sub-verticals within each those). Furthermore, you then have significant dispersion among firms in those categories AND then again further dispersion among partners and VPs. I'm assuming you were an associate (vs your title in your profile). Sometimes you get the wrong VP, in the wrong group, and there isn't much you can do to change that path. I've been there at different stages in my career.
Thirdly, when ready, do a sober self-assessment. How was your attitude? Despite your mistakes, did you resent the VP? Outside of what you've outlined from a technical standpoint, were you executing flawlessly on other things? How was your relationship with your peers and portcos? The goal here isn't to justify or find fault in a situation that's already happened. It's taking stock of making sure you know what you can improve upon. I don't have UMM experience, but from what I've seen in professional services, you typically don't get let go in 8 months for something that can be fixed generally quickly. Additionally, you then need to ask, how was the firm doing? Were you just a casualty of a business decision because the firm was performing poorly? Was the VP up for promotion and his portcos and deals seemed to be soft and maybe you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time? I know this may seem long-winded, but I hope you can see the core theme is to help you ultimately discover why it happened, you to generate an honest self-assessment about it, and move on to be successful in the future.
This is all just a small blip in your career. Be thoughtful, transparent, and push forward - lots of opportunities out there. Best of luck
dude has no shot in Infra PE if he is struggling with consumer / vanilla PE models
Do not listen to comments about how "PE may not be for you" - you need to build and work on developing "safe hands" - MBB fosters the exact opposite of this thinking and you were there for 4 years - you need time to wash the shit out of your brain - keep at it - keep committed to the industry - work on your safe hands - you got this
PS: I have worked in both MBB and top tier EB - I know exactly how the thinking differs between these two very different industries.
Can you advise on how to develop this?
What do you mean by "Safe hands"?
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