PE Recruiting at More Senior Levels

Hope all are well - would love to hear from veterans on what happens to those of us who will start a lower MM PE fund, stay for 5 years, and then not make VP (fund goes bust, not enough room up top) etc.

Has anyone been in this situation? If so, how long or difficult was it to find a VP-level role without an MBA? Did you go back to bschool, or leave for a portco? What happens if you've been silo'd in just a few industries up until that point, or haven't closed (m)any deals?

Any thoughts are much appreciated, especially in light of the current (and forecasted) economic climate - imagine some smaller funds will have difficulty raising another round. How risky would it be to join a MM PE firm focused on industries (eg. retail, real estate) that are heavily impacted by COVID, given multiple contraction / earnings declines in these sectors for existing portcos is likely longer term -> their track record might not recover in time for the next fundraising round?

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