MBB to PE advice (2025)
As an MBB consultant (coming from undergrad) I don’t think there’s a ton of actually useful info out there so trying to be useful here.
Overall advice: your experience will be different than peers in banking, and it’s very easy to strike out. Especially at the “consultant-friendly” funds. The most common gap I see is the commercial side. A lot of consultants don’t hit it out of the park on market / industry judgment questions, and you need to over-index on that. PE firms already assume you’re technically weaker than bankers, so having the technical prep done is table stakes.
It’s also much harder to get an offer and leave before 2 years. Most people I’ve seen exit are closer to 3 years. A lot of funds are more willing to put you in front of decision-makers once you’re more tenured and can speak to owning real workstreams. Still worth a shot early, just calibrate.
What I would do differently:
Recruit early (0 to 1 year tenure): target Bain Capital / Charlesbank. Both are more consultant-oriented, and you’re going to see more case-style interviewing vs pure technical grilling.
Recruit later (1.5 to 2.5 years): once you’ve gotten real deal reps and can speak to diligences credibly (this changes a lot once you’ve owned a workstream). At that point I’d look at H&F, New Mountain, Sycamore, Cinven, TPG, Apax (Services), Advent, GTCR, Veritas. EQT also comes up a lot but in my experience they don’t consider consultants as much
Don’t feel pressure to do on-cycle: a lot of these firms don’t prioritize consultants during on-cycle. Then after on-cycle, some don’t want to see repeat candidates, so it can actually be harder to get a fair shot. I’ve seen plenty of major firms run real off-cycle processes though (TPG / Advent and others above).
Bottom line: it’s just harder coming from consulting. You’ll usually have fewer total interview processes than bankers It’s not unheard of for bankers to have 5+ interview processes…but for a consultant that can be quite difficult. Interviewers also don’t really know how to consider you…they don’t understand your day to day….or why in your diligence something was out of scope. And more importantly, they expect you to bring pretty sophisticated commercial judgement…which consulting helps develop but requires a very meaningful amount of prep
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s a breakdown of key advice for transitioning from MBB to Private Equity (PE):
1. Understand the Challenges for Consultants in PE Recruiting
2. Tailor Your Recruiting Strategy by Tenure
Early Recruiting (0–1 Year):
Later Recruiting (1.5–2.5 Years):
3. On-Cycle vs. Off-Cycle Recruiting
4. Key Preparation Tips
5. Bottom Line
Transitioning from MBB to PE is challenging but achievable with the right preparation and strategy. Focus on: - Building strong commercial judgment and technical skills. - Targeting consultant-friendly funds early in your tenure. - Leveraging off-cycle opportunities if on-cycle doesn’t work out.
With thoughtful planning and preparation, you can position yourself as a strong candidate despite the inherent challenges.
Sources: Q&A: MBB BA/AC/A headed to UMM this summer and guide to off cycle PE recruiting for consultants, Q&A: MBB to MM PE, Q&A: Former MBB Consultant, MBB -> PE Offer: Q&A, Q&A: Big4 Consulting to Private Equity, now M7 MBA
Helpful - are the types of questions asked beyond deal walk through different for consultant vs banker? Understand that some are forgiving re: technicals
The technicals are really not super forgiving…once you give them reason to doubt it’s hard to come back from it
Questions can be similar but how you answer them is different - lot of focus on, what would you ask management, what growth rate should this business grow at, what would you dilligence, why is this a good business or not, what businesses do you like, very specific deal questions (for example, for this other type of business, what growth rate would you expect)
Also have to remember, consultants mostly only see growth + competition in diligence work, and so your arguments have to be for or against almost entirely on commercial reasons
Hi thanks for this post. Did you know you wanted PE going in and how did you approach staffing (like focusing on PEPI)? Do you know if VC exits are possible? I see some VC exits from Bain, but curious about Mck.
Knew going in. Did a bunch of PEPI studies…honestly didn’t need to do so much but enjoyed it in some ways. Def see people exit to VC stuff or get looks at minimum. Know some people have gone to insight, Bessemer etc or at least interviewed with Bain cap ventures…
Joined a few months back and didn’t align to PEPI/private capital right away, but will be focusing on getting reps this year. Do firms care if you haven’t been fully dedicated to PEPI/is the expectation to make that your main focus during your tenure, or is it ok to work some studies across practices?
In my experience, it’s definitely good to have a CDD rotation, but you don’t have to exclusively do them. Try to get industry case experience if you have a target industry, or strategy / GTM style cases
Would agree. I think when you talk to funds, it’s good to show you think like an investor (is this a good biz or not), and so it helps to have CDD reps you can speak to
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