Is this a pipedream? Career advice

I have been interviewing with a PE firm that has $130B in AUM. They imo are a fund of funds, but they do direct investments as well as co-investments etc. The role is for one of their new funds where I would start off at the bottom as a regional business development associate (basically cold calls/events). The only way I would want to pick this is if I could eventually make a lateral move closer to a PE associate working on the deals/manager selection.

The interviewer told me they love promoting from within, but I am just not sure i can trust that and it seems like what every firm will say. I am not a new college grad. I have experience as a stock portfolio manager and PE, but just at a pathetic scale compared to the big whales e.g., my main investor made a $200k investment in a startup for 50% equity and I got 16.7% of the company since the agreement we have is super generous at 50% profit share; there is another investor which is why its 16.7% and not 25%.

I would really love to be a PE associate and think maybe if I just get my foot in the door and prove myself the dream is possible? Or should I close this chapter of my life and move on? I can take the blunt truth.

4 Comments
 

OK thanks, I think I need to close the chapter of this book then. I am too old to enter IB at 35. It's OK I have 7 interviews lined up for various jobs with some that are appealing. They did say I can lateral to being an analyst. Could I go from analyst to PE associate?

 

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