Hi monkeys,
Was just offered an operations position on a leveraged derivatives team at KKR. Should I take this job? Currently I work in Ops for a large BD and am actively pursuing credit analyst roles and boutique IB roles. The operations work I do now is mind numbing. Is this Operations job at KKR another dead end? The team I would be working with every day is small and growing - 5 people who are all in FO positions. They're analysts, associates and MDs, which makes me think I could leverage that facetime into something more analytical. Should I go for the job cause it's a major PE firm? Or should I pass and keep looking for real analyst jobs?
if it is analyst level go for it and then go do MBA
It really depends on where you would like to end up. At the end of the day; ops at KKR is still ops. You may interact significantly with a FO team, but everyone in the organization is very clear that you are in a support role and there is no obligation or even kindness to give you FO exposure or training. You may work very hard to build credibility and rapport with the team, only to be known as "that rockstar guy in ops".
If this is KKR Credit (doesn't sound like Prisma), there is no shortage of talented analysts from top banks who will be recruiting on-cycle each year. Even if you're a rockstar ops guy, it's hard to argue for your value proposition over a FO analyst from a bank training program; who likely has direct P/L or transaction experience. You would also have to build up serious institutional credit (this guy has been a rockstar for 2-3 years); during which anything can happen, main MD's leave, team spins off, etc.
In short, I think it would be possible to be solid BO/MO at KKR, but unlikely FO. If FO is your goal, keep looking.
Is Ops at KKR a dead end? (Originally Posted: 05/15/2018)
Hi All,
Was just offered an operations position on a leveraged derivatives team at KKR. Should I take this job? Currently I work in Ops for a large BD and am actively pursuing credit analyst roles and boutique IB roles. The operations work I do now is mind numbing. Is this Operations job at KKR another dead end? The team I would be working with every day is small and growing - 5 people who are all in FO positions. They're analysts, associates and MDs, which makes me think I could leverage that facetime into something more analytical. Should I go for the job cause it's a major PE firm? Or should I pass and keep looking for real analyst jobs?
If the team is that small and you would be working with FO people, then it sounds like a strong situation to leverage yourself into analytical work. The worst case scenario though is that the reason they would be hiring you is because they are building out the businesses, and that includes building out the operations department. Perhaps you could speak to some of the FO people there and get their feedback? Really you should consider first and foremost where you would want to be if you cant move out of their ops - does having this company on your cv move you closer to the analyst role than an extra ops job on your cv pushes you back?
Yep, there is a zero percent chance that you would ever get to see any meaningful work.
Thanks for your input, Monkeys. I heeded your advice and turned down the job. I wound up landing a credit analyst job at a major international bank. Worked there for four years, got promoted to credit manager, then went to business school at a top 20. During business school I interned in investment banking and at a PE firm, and now am trying to pivot into middle market PE. All in all we're moving in the right direction!
Congrats and thanks for the update!
Thanks for coming back! Seems like it's really working out, congratulations
It will be very challenging to go from ops to investing anywhere. You can do it with a top tier MBA by way of IB or maybe smaller firm, but given the competition at top PE firms it just doesn’t make sense unless you’re family is a client or you are truly 1% and have a great story. If you do well in ops you can do very well for yourself. If you want to invest I’d go elsewhere.
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