Getting into big private equity firms

I'm a fairly recent (~1 year) MBA grad from a Canadian School (UBC) with an engineering background. I got hired at a private office PE company in Toronto and I'm looking to make a leap into the bigger private equity firms (ONEX or one of the pension funds in Toronto/numerous funds in New york) in the future (2-3 years) if this firm doesn't work out (I would like a serious salary raise after this time).

Working in a private office as a Operations analyst, I've had/will have the chance to part of the deal team for many of our future acquisitions. I do a lot of financial/operational analysis and forecasting in my work for these deals. However, our company is quite conservative and rarely considers LBOs. They generally buy out the target company with straight cash, and also buy out the target company's debt. They purchase companies for the long term (to keep them instead of flipping them in a few years for a profit). The deal sizes are fairly small because of this strategy. This model is very different than what standard PE firms do, and thus I wont be getting a lot of experience working with the modelling that goes into complex LBOs.

Based on your experiences would you think I have a fair chance at getting into one of these bigger firms? I'm planning to do an FMVA (CFI) certification in order to learn the things I might not learn in this job (link below). Has anyone done this particular certification/ can vouch for its importance ? My other option would be a CFA, but being 28 and already having done an MBA, I dont really want to pursue further education for 2-3 years.

Let me know what you guys think.

P.S this website isn't letting me post the FMVA link.

Edit: For more context, my current firm has an AUM of aroung $750M, deal size $10-$50M. The firms i'm looking to get into are around $30B AUM and larger deal sizes

1 Comments
 

Iusto laborum perspiciatis et ut. Deleniti similique molestiae ex sed rerum ab dolores. Sint facilis non vero molestiae ut et. Alias sed magnam sunt explicabo eos dolore. Animi voluptatibus velit quis repudiandae excepturi corporis.

Non quia enim dolorum recusandae et dolores illum. Modi soluta qui quisquam nemo sequi quis ipsum. Est accusantium voluptas qui aut nobis molestiae beatae optio.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Ardian 98.9%
  • Blackstone Group 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (97) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (234) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (95) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (271) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (37) $80
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (351) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”