IB SA --> PE FT Process

Will be working in the M&A team of an EB this summer (EVR/PJT/CVP) and would like to know what the process looks like for going from IB SA to PE FT at MF/UMM. Do headhunters reach out for FT positions or is it up to the SA to network and express interest in recruiting? Do these funds recruit exclusively from certain schools (I come from a non-target)? How have people who have made this transition in the past balanced performing well as a SA and recruiting FT?

Also looking to compile a list of firms that hire out of undergrad. From Linkedin, I was able to come up with the following: -BX PE (~4) -BX TO (~2) -KKR SS (~3) -SLP (~3) -Ares LA (?) -Bain Capital (?) -LGP (?) -TPG Capital (?)

36 Comments
 

Did my SA at a top EB last summer and also thought about getting into PE post-grad. Most MF's have in house HR teams that handle undergrad hiring (so no headhunters there), and LGP etc. run more informal processes for undergrad hiring. Would echo the above though and say focus on the return, especially given that a lot would focus on the absolute top students at targets if they decide to hire the maybe 1 or 2 analysts outside of their SA classes.

 

Thanks - definitely focused on getting the return but wanted to see what the process looked like. Did you end up going forward with PE recruiting btw?

 

I did a bit. For this past cycle I can tell you: Blackstone and Apollo didn't hire anyone out of SA. SIlver Lake maybe takes 1 kid from Wharton outside of SA a year and thats it. TPG stopped their analyst program. If you want a large firm, I'd focus on LGP, Warburg, and Vista among a couple others. There are also quite a few MM firms that take analysts, though obviously would be cautious about this route over banking if your goal is large-cap PE. LGP is super informal process-just chatting up with people at the firm, Vista will make you take an IQ and EQ test and then standard process from there, the others are more standard interview processes. Only advice would be to network now since things get started usually around late July/August.

 

Why do you kids squabble over minutiae that has absolutely no bearing on your future? Who gives a shit if Blackstone took 1 kid or 2 for their full time class - are you going to be that person? Highly unlikely. The intricacies of Vista's recruiting process? Totally irrelevant. Such a waste of time and pseudo informational dick measuring contest. Some of you are such fucking space cadets, can't wait for you to be grounded by your full time jobs if you're lucky to land them in banking.

 

Some people, including some users on this forum, do get these jobs. I’m sorry you had to suffer through Capital Markets then Banking and still couldn’t find your way to a good HF or MF

 

Yes, the operative word is "some". Some people win the lottery too. Will you? No. Certainly, one or two exceptionally impressive students from Harvard, Princeton or Wharton find their way into a given prestigious fund a year. Though like most things in life, if you have to ask, it's not going to be you. You haven't even hit the desk yet kid. Get back to me in a year after your five thousandth pitchbook has made you go cross-eyed.

 

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