MBB --> PE Advice
First year at MBB looking for advice. I've done a few deals in the PE ringfence and am prepping for PE recruiting on the weekends, but am not sure if I am actually going to go through with it. For background, I would probably leave after 2-3 years to an East Coast MM/UMM firm with a strong history of taking consultants. Here's how I'm thinking about it:
- Pros:
- Skillet: PE seems like the best generalist finanace/business training ground there is. I want to set myself up for success in the long term something in consulting and finance, and committing to 2 years of PE would get me a skillset that I don't think I would attain staying at MBB.
- Intellectual stimulation: I have found the deals I've worked on at MBB pretty interesting and I don't think I will find general strategy consulting as interesting.
- Cons:
- Hours: I have been working 65-70 hours with no weekend work and it's definitely not easy. I think I could handle 70-80 hour baseline weeks, but am not sure how I would respond to the 90+ hour weeks required for deal sprints.
- Stress: I am an above average performer in my MBB ringfence, but it has been stressful, mostly because I can be pretty neurotic about mistakes. PE culture seems like a whole different level here. I think staying in MBB 2-3 years would help me prepare, but it would be an adjustment and potentially unsustainable in the long term.
- Neutrals:
- Compensation: Obviously PE pays far better than MBB, but the money serves to offset the hours to me- I don't think I would be considering PE if it didn't pay as well as it does because it seems like the only thing that could make those hours at all tolerable. I am not so much motivated by money as by doing 'good work,' and I don't know how that would gel with PE's culture.
- Career progression: Based on all of the reasons above, I think PE is a good option for 2-3 years but I probably would not be a great fit at the VP+ level. At that point, I'm not sure - I might consider going back to MBB, switching to private credit, or staying at a less intense firm. I want to set myself up for opportunities in my 30s and 40s to capitalize when inevitably a new industry within the investment cycle pops up (e.g. private credit post-GFC), but it is certainly a less linear path than direct promotions at MBB.
In sum, how much of a toll do the hours take? Are there firms where stress is manageable? Is the skillset worth it if I am not especially motivated by money? Am I thinking about all of this in the right way?
I remember going through this exact same dilemma almost a decade ago. The long and short was I did my two years and it was brutal. I would make offhand jokes about blowing my brains out which my wife found concerning even though in the moment I thought I was just blowing off steam.
Despite this, the compensation increase in just the two years gave me a much sturdier foundation for life planning, the skillset opened a number of jobs that likely would have been closed to me with just a consulting skillset, and I am very glad I did the hellish two years.
The biggest risk in my mind is that you become a jack of all trades, master of none. I used my consulting and PE backgrounds to try startups, publics, etc. And now I’m in my 30s with an incredible constellation of skills and good money to show for it, but I have not been progressing with longevity down a certain path. I was unaware, when your age, that this was a trade off. In hindsight, I might have stayed at MBB for stability and career progression; the culture is good, the money is OK, but the job is easy and predictable.
It sounds like it would be a tough experience for you but worth it (and I say that because of how similar my line of questions were at the time), but I think you should spend some time thinking about what you want long term. If the answer is I don’t know (which is fine!) the skills acquisition will be helpful. If the answer is skills acquisition and then back to MBB, also good! If the answer is that you want to do x long term, I might just go directly to x. x doesn’t have to be a specific job, it could be a set of characteristics of a job. I recognize this paragraph is the least clear but it’s meant to be something to think on if you have long term considerations more than you expressed here.
Wow, as I write this out I can’t believe it’s been almost a decade. My other advice is to enjoy it. I took it so seriously at your age. Even if things are tough, have perspective that these are champagne problems.
I would do *anything* to be a first year consultant again. The camaraderie, the excitement everyone has about being there, it is a time in your life that is special. Anyway. I’m not that old. But, enjoy every second of it. It rocks so hard.
I appreciate the response - unfortunately, I do not know what I want to do in the long run, but it will probably be closer to consulting/finance than industry/startups. Honestly, I suspect that it doesn't even exist yet in the form it will ultimately take (re. private credit pre-GFC, VC before the 90s, PE CDD work at consulting firms before the 2000s). I have enjoyed getting to think about private markets and investing (for all of 4 months) and don't get the same energy out of the general strategy consulting skillset. But ultimately, the field I succeed in for the long run will probably be determined by what I am good at and what is 'new' enough to not be completely competitively saturated (as PE is today). It will probably have aspect of both the consulting skillset and a financial skillset, which I severely lack.
That said, it's weird to sign up for 2 years of hell to get that second skillset, even if I am appropriately compensated. It would be hard to leave the firm I am currently at, which I generally like a lot (both the work and my colleagues).
For you: What made PE so difficult? What range of hours were you working, and how often was it 80-90+? Was it the stress? What accretive skills did you gain, and what opportunities did those open up?
So FWIW kid, would not take for granted that you’ll “leave to an east coast MM/UMM fund”. These jobs are super tough to get , 10x as tough as MBB, especially coming from MBB, and many consultants do in fact strike out. If you actually want PE you have to be kind of ruthless and be open to other lcoos and geos etc.
But ya man. PE is indeed fucking hard. To your point on making mistakes, we are pretty militant about 0 mistake work, and there’s a lot more work you have to do with much less time. For example, in PE it will be you owning an entire 40-80 page deck, and you’ll have to do it in a week or less and it will be expected to have no mistakes (in addition to a model which is tough). Coming from consulting especially , doing perfect work when you are still internalizing the financial concepts is kind of difficult.
But ya it kind of depends on what you want and what the alternatives are. Industry (including startups) , especially after 2 years in consulting and coming in as an associate, fucking blows. Super hierarchical, super political, and can be good but not great money.
I also found consulting to be kind of political and found the part of the work that was all about framing and messaging to be kind of dumb vs problem solving and coming up with cool ideas.
By process of elimination that basically leaves PE.
Yeah your point is well received - I know the PE jump is far from guaranteed, but I find it helpful to really ensure that its really what I want on the other side.
While I think I've done well and have gotten good feedback, my work in the first few months has certainly not been error-free. I think an additional 2 years at MBB (so coming in 3 years postgrad) would be helpful to get there, but it's hard to know of I'm 'cut-out' for that kind of culture.
With that said, my alternative is essentially staying with MBB to a post-MBA role, and I certainly don't love the exits at that point. Growth equity seems interesting, but 50-75%+ of my day-to-day being sourcing/cold-calling is not verry attractive. I'd probably be even more inclined to go to law school instead of industry, including startups (not a tech person). Private credit requires a different skillset, hedge funds do not recruit consultants - to your point, that sort of leaves PE.
I worked at a firm that hired consultants and have anecdotally seen about a ~50% success rate for consultants making the move to PE (they pick up the technical aspects and become fully-operational PE associates) and a 10-15% rate of them being happy about the move. (hours are worse, people are not as nice, PE as a whole just isn't what it was)
That's helpful - of the 50% who didn't become operational associates, what did they do? Go back to MBB? Industry/startups?
And is the 10-15% success rate people who stayed in the industry, or people who may have left but gained a valuable skillset? In other words, do you think only 10-15% of people thought it was worth it?
Yeah exactly- good number went to MBB and some other corporate roles
Yeah something like that- majority did not enjoy the work and particularly the culture. If you think 65-70 with no weekend work sucks every incremental hour gets exponentially worse and the people are not as warm as they are in MBB (or so I've been told).
I'd really ask yourself what your long-term goals are (investor, doing a startup, go corporate etc.) and work backwards. I noticed that becoming an investor was not a goal you listed so I'd really think hard about what you have to gain. PE will not set you up well to be an operator.
we tried hiring an MBB last year.. big mistake
I was at Bain for 3 years and loved it - great people, interesting work, learned a ton, and culture was amazing. I didn't love the client service aspect and was on PEG / Value Creation work so wanted to see the other side of it. I did on-cycle and landed at an UMM fund that was ~30% consultants, 70% former bankers.
The transition (for me!) was brutal once I was on my first live deal. 70% of weeks were fine, but the upper-end of hours for PE was far beyond Consulting. 2/3am nights consistently for weeks / months, which was not in the realm of expectations at Bain no matter the client. I also just fundamentally did not enjoy the finance-aspects of the job. I loved working with my PortCos but that was 15-20% of the day to day. I picked a firm with a great culture and overall, I am glad I did it - I am now in PE Ops. I learned a ton, built great relationships, and made good money. However, in retrospect I probably could have gotten to the same place staying at Bain. I do think I have some level of respect in my Ops role today having touched both the investing and operating side.
A saepe eligendi a. Rerum earum non quibusdam et. Minima molestias est doloribus ex non. Animi voluptatum recusandae quia tempore.
Cupiditate voluptatem asperiores in nihil aut quo harum. Dolorum sed assumenda qui aut sunt similique. Labore tempora ratione quidem tenetur blanditiis. Totam minus quidem amet commodi aut non dolorum. Dolor cum eum pariatur dolor. Nostrum nesciunt quia aperiam et provident ex hic est. Et ut assumenda earum omnis eum nulla consequatur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...