5 Comments
 

I'll try to rephrase with more details: I'm a freshman at a semi-target wanting to work at a top PE firm like Blackstone for my junior year internship. I'm have an offer to be a summer analyst at a middle market bank, or I could intern at a solid PE firm. Since I want to get into PE, am I better off with the PE internship experience? or is the summer analyst IB position going to put me in a better position for recruiting? I will get paid for the IB position but it's a non-factor

 

Student recruiting for those PE programs rn. Tbh from my experience it is a wash for sophomore internships, and I think it helps to say you kinda understand the PE space for the BX/KKR networking calls and has been kinda been helpful there and gives me a bit to talk about there. That’s just my experience though I think older guys will be able to give better advice tbh

 

People have done it from both. The quick answer is go wherever you think you'll actually be given the most responsibility and get the best transaction experience. For example, If you get the impression the PE firm is going to be just sourcing but the IB is going to let you actual work on marketing materials, then go with the IB.Also, you want to make sure you understand the legitimacy of each because not all PEs and IBs are made the same. Make sure the PE is an actual fund and not a glorified search fund, and make sure the IB does legitimate work and isn't a garbage business brokerage. I've seen CIMs come out of some LMM "investment banks" with spelling errors, broken sentences, and no real content. You don't want to work at a place like that.

 

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