Moving from non-MBB consulting to PE
I am currently graduating a target school and accepted an offer at a t2 strat shop that is not known for PE placement. (Deloitte, Strategy&, ACN strategy, Marakon, OW) I got interested in PE late in my junior year and was wondering if it is at all possible to get PE experience before B-school either through networking or lateraling to another firm that places people into PE. Any help would be much appreciated.
I'm sorry to break it down to you but it's very unlikely. However if you started with MBB in their New York Office, you could make your way to PE as they normally work on a few Private Equity Cases. Best bet is to get an MBA and break into MBB consulting in NYC and pray you can exit to Private Equity.
Sorry, this is wrong, and I didn't mean to give that silver banana. I work at one of the T2s mentioned and have been hit up by HHs for PE positions, incl. consultant friendly MFs, growth equity firms, and VCs that do recruit on cycle and range from seed to late stage. It is a hard jump, sure, but I know people who have done it and you can do it given you fit certain criteria:
1) You get deal experience, you get it early on in your career, and you get good reviews. Some firms like LEK are PE DD only shops
2) You bust ass networking and call up shops left and right while you're still a student. Make those connections and ask for jobs directly.
3) You hit up every HH under the sun when you start, so even if they don't reach out to you, you still have a foot in the door (Glocap, Oxbridge, CPI, HSP, Dynamics, etc.)
4) Know the recruiting timeline inside out and crush your interviews when you get them.
It's not that hard to do, it's just hard to actually do it--make hundreds of calls, learn to model, find time to skip out of work while conspicuously in a suit, etc.
Your best bet is not MBA. It's much harder to get in post-MBA unless you're coming up with a lot of experience doing something else, e.g., upper management at an industrials company taking a position at an industrials sector fund.
Strategy& only if you are on the Deals Strategy team, but even that that is so new you won't be on HHs radars. ACN strategy, no way. Marakon, no way, I have friends who work there and HHs or PEs wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot science pole these days. Deloitte and OW are doable moves, Deloitte easier than OW. LEK is a really easy move.
"LEK is a really easy move"?! Please do enlighten me with some hard stats on how easy it is. No bankers can even say moving to PE is an easy career step, even those from top groups / firms.
I’m talking relative. LEK is the easiest T2 to move because you’re doing all deals work. My bad on the confusion. They get hit up by HHs and are part of the process and in the deals ecosystem. If you’re some tech implementation guy at Accenture or doing god knows what at Marakon it is almost game over from the start
I think whoever commented first is being dramatic. In my opinion you can be placed somewhere in private equity, but will it be Bain Capital, Carlyle, H&F, etc.? No. But you can go to a lower end of the spectrum shop and probably work your way up to mid market, then go to business school. I think it's a question of do you WANT to work in PE because you love it intellectually, or do you want to join a big brand name/get paid a lot (no shame). If it's the latter you should try to work your way up to MBB post MBA.
I appreciate the help guys. I also heard that some firms that are recruited by HH have lateral hires. (BCG, LEK, Mck) I have made some connections (legit not just info sessions) with guys there over campus recruiting and other events. Is lateral hiring even a route to look at?
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