Does on-cycle only apply to top firms?
Incoming IB analyst at a MM firm and was wondering what the nature of on-cycle recruiting is for those not at a top bank.
All the stories I've heard on this forum are like "I got recruited from a headhunter and took a taxi over from my Goldman office to KKR office and interviewed from 7pm - 2am and got an offer for PE Associate two years in advance"
My goal is PE/GE (preferably MM-UMM) but seems like they care about prestige even more than banks do, in terms of school and current bank. Are there opportunities more down market that still recruit once you hit the desk and will I be competitive coming from a MM bank or should I just wait and see what shows up a year or two down the line?
I have interned for 1.5+ years at a VC/GE fund while in school and have worked on some cool deals so I'm hoping this helps with buyside recruiting.
Is it better to focus on lateraling to a higher tier bank after my first year (plan as of now is to grind it out my first year and focus on performing / learning rather than having one foot out the door) or to go ahead and build up the PE network for when the associate roles open up.
I appreciate any and all advice!
No, if your goal is MM-UMM PE/GE, there will be a handful of firms that recruit on-cycle and you should try to prepare to interview. Would provide names, but was a year+ ago and too lazy to dig through inbox, but by time on-cycle comes around you should know from these forums who's participating (and you can check past threads to get a sense).
Coming not from a top-tier bank will be harder, if you're aiming for UMM or a prestigious MM, would consider keeping an ear out for lateral opportunities at any point (remember, doesn't need to be at the one year mark, and since you haven't started, always opportunity to find a different FT gig before you start. Might get downvoted for that and generally don't think it's good practice but tbh for banking it shouldnt be a big deal).
You can both 1) do good work for your current job and 2) allocate time to recruiting prep/interviewing, you just need to be willing to cut down some personal time.
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