Regional BB to NY PE

Current analyst at a BB regional office and would agree with the poster above. With on-cycle occurring during the first month on the desk, I spoke with the head hunters in while at training in NY. While I felt I had a competitive resume and relative deal experience from the summer, there was the elephant in the room of being at a regional office. They were generally somewhat honest that it would be difficult for me to make it to NY with the speed of on cycle.

When on cycle interviews came out, I received one MF interview but had no contact in terms of pre-recruiting coffee chats/calls. Booked a red eye to NY that night and did the interview the next morning. Didn’t receive the offer and didn’t get any other interviews when I reached out to the other recruiters. All in all, cost $2k between flights and hotel and came back empty handed.

Looking back, I would have tried to lateral to NY after my summer. It is just difficult to be competitive coming from a regional office to NY without a hook.

How would this be different when targeting MM and LMM PE funds from a regional BB office?

As people have mentioned it's very difficult. Best bet is to try to get to NYC, but if you can't do that it isn't impossible. While it's tough to get into MF on-cycle interview processes, the off-cycle processes are much slower and more accommodating of folks from different offices. It's key to have a good relationship with headhunters though, as they're the gatekeepers. I'd be very upfront about wanting to be in NYC when meeting with them (and having very good reasons why) and generally crushing those initial meetings.

Networking is also helpful to an extent. Having a couple good connections with funds that you're interested in can get you into processes you otherwise wouldn't have been invited to. Even if it isn't your office, reaching out to alumni from your undergrad and current bank should help set that up.

Lastly, being in a specialized industry really helps (assuming you want to stay in that industry). Folks from GS and MS in Houston regularly get multiple, on-cycle megafund interviews in NYC (for their energy and infrastructure groups) despite not necessarily being top groups for the sector. Headhunters aren't super plugged into the relative strength of regional offices, so the brand helps differentiate when they're figuring out who to plug into what processes.

I would have to disagree with the posters here. Currently working at a regional office. Made contact with HHs early, told them I want to be in NYC and booked a flight to NYC when interviews kicked off. I

definitely got more than "2 looks." It's absurd someone would claim regional offices constrain you to "2 looks."

Yes, it's tougher relative to a kid from PJT M&A in NYC but still very doable. I got an UMM offer on-cycle. It is tough to get there from a logistical perspective but being at a regional office did not affect the looks I got (didn't have any hooks either). It's about being articulate with HHs, informing your office and being prepared for interviews. Also know kids who flew in from Toronto and got multiple offers on-cycle. and others in my city who secured NYC MFs.