Don't feel confident enough to recruit for PE yet? What to do...

So I'm ~6 months in my IB stint- it's going pretty well, already have a closed sell-side M&A deal on my resume and my team just won another pitch that I'm going to be on. The first few months of learning were brutal, I feel like I'm starting to stand up a little bit now, but still haven't had much modelling experience yet. I'm of the mindset that I don't want to just lock in to any PE offer just to get in the industry; trying to think bigger picture about long term career goals, geography, firm size/style, etc... and also thinking about going corporate in the future (maybe after a few years in PE). I don't have a strong traditional background so breaking into IB was a tricky path, but with that and my not 100% conviction to PE I just don't feel all that comfortable speaking with headhunters, going through interviews, etc. 


During IB recruiting I felt similarly but knew 100% I wanted to get my foot in the door, so I was spending a ton of time and energy studying, doing mock interviews, etc, but I don't feel that same drive right now. I think PE would be great as it would allow me to gain additional skills that I think are relevant to my longer term career aspirations, etc. Maybe I will wait to learn more/refine/sharpen my skillset before I attempt to get in the door? Anyone else felt this way/how did you handle it? I am in TMT M&A, and want to go do growth equity for tech companies most likely.

 

Feel free to prep in the background, but not really worth recruiting unless you are sure it's what you want. You still have around 13-14 months to land a good offer for 2025 start.

 

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