Path Back to PE After Layoff / Termination
I took a PE ASO role relatively quickly out of IB (about 10 months of experience). I interviewed well and the team felt they could take a flyer on someone without the 2 year training period. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for the role due to my lack of reps + switching industries (went from covering TMT / software in IB to business services in PE).
I struggled, and was let go after 6 months. I took a couple months off, then landed another IB role where I have now been for about a year and a half. I am looking to transition back to PE, and curious if anyone has thoughts on how my story would be received. I am being pretty upfront / honest with HHs and interviewers. Both people I've spoken with have been pretty receptive, but I can't really tell because they were first rounds.
Any advice on how to approach this?
I actually wouldn't be totally honest here. Just say the role (and coverage, if you switched again or switched back to TMT) wasn't for you, and rather than stay there you decided to quickly go back to IB as an analyst while you still had some optionality to reset. Of course, have a few reasons why that coverage and fund weren't for you and why these wouldn't apply to the job you are interviewing for.
I'm usually all for being upfront with people, but I don't see much benefit here... it's pretty hard to get laid off in PE and if you struggled that much, people will definitely think twice about whether you'll be able to handle it this time around. Plenty of people take PE roles after ~10 months in IB and do fine. It sounds like your PE firm was not great at training you which doesn't help, but you aren't going to get a ton of sympathy from hiring teams because your situation is not the norm.
Good news is this was a year and a half ago. I would just straighten your story out a bit re: my first paragraph
Out of curiosity, how was the experience at the PE firm where you had a short stint at? You said you underperformed, but what specifically was it, if you could please elaborate.
I agree with other posters
in this case don’t allude to any personal performance issues. Just say it didn’t work out… maybe there were layoffs, maybe budget issue, maybe no deals , who knows.
6 month is short enough that I’d believe they are the problem , not you
Hey man - In a similar boat. DM me
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