When we talk about hustle, usually that means extreme networking or something. In my case, I recently met a second year associate at mega fund in NYC. I know she's single, and was the first to text me about something random. Quite frankly, the topic of conversation sounded more like an excuse to initiate dialogue.
She's seems down to earth, plus she's kinda cute too. Should I just play along if she can get me in? I don't know what kind of pull she would have, if any at all. I don't want her to think I have an ulterior motive. Mostly I don't. I can't tell if I truly like her because of her or because of her job.
Don't tell me to marry her and just let her bring home the beacon lol. Even if she can help, I just want an intro/reference, not a job on a silver platter. She's got a typical background for PE; Ivy educated, two years at a BB, and then PE. My background is semi-target with LevFin experience at a regional commercial bank.
In case you're wondering, which I'm sure most of you aren't, we met a couple weeks ago on tinder. Both of use were trying to get our broken hearts repaired. ***
Corrected your last line there for ya champ
I personally think it would be a really messy situation. Not sure if I’m inferring things right from the post, but I think it would be a massive dick move to use her that way. Date her if you like her but I’d keep work out of it.
Is this a joke
Nope, its the real deal.
why not see how it goes and date if it works out...then later on have her introduce you to a colleague at a separate fund. Win-win
I think you’d need to sleep with a managing partner to get into a megafund doing LevFin at Fifth Third...
You will have to play the long game here and finesse the situation to where she thinks its her idea to introduce you to a colleague at another fund.
Sorry to be pessimistic, but it seems fitting for a naive sociopath. First, it is going to take A LOT more than just an associate recommendation (i.e. your GF) to get you an interview at a mega fund... Going from commercial banking to mega fund directly is close to unheard of, so her dad better be Leon Black. Second, you are giving out way too much detail here. Maybe she doesn't use WSO, but you must direly lack judgement if you don't realize how quickly this could make you the laughing stock of an entire industry. Your one group message away to black balling yourself from large cap private equity at large. Honestly, this has to be a troll; how can someone not recognize how unbelievably stupid this is??
I would like to make a few points here, if I may.
First of all, I've heard people (on this very site) trying to break into PE from a wealth management background. That's not to say they were successful, but in comparison, my profile seems much, MUCH better.
Secondly, the specific type of commercial banking I'm in, leveraged finance, is respected by most PE firms. If I was at a BB, this wouldn't be a topic of discussion. But you work with what you have.
Third, most people at mega funds are smart, but didn't necessarily go to an Ivy. Many went to public Ivies/semi-targets.
You're right that there was a piece of info that may have been a bit too detailed. I've since removed it. Thanks for the heads-up, seriously. With that being said, I will run down Wall Street butt-naked, smack dab in the middle of winter, if you can find the specific girl I'm taking about. I'll even give you 10 tries. Here's what you know from my original post...
"down to earth" "kinda cute" "NYC" "single" likes to text random shit works at a "mega fund" "Ivy educated" "two years at a BB"
And if she doesn't have a Linkedin (I'm not saying she does/doesn't), what makes you think she has time for WSO? Also, based on her resume, I don't think she needs us.
The issue is not if I can figure it out. The issue is if this girl, who works for a mega fund (small sample), reads this post and thinks about the number of her peers that are dating lev fin guys from commercial banks (smaller sample), that met at Apple b/c their screens were both cracked (much smalller sample), in January 2019 (much, much smaller sample).
The funny thing to think about is whether, by some incredibly small chance, there was some other sad sap in a similar scenario with similar timing. That guy is equally fucked because you posted this (probably troll) post.
Look, your background in 'LevFin at a regional commercial bank' is obviously not ideal for a transition to private equity, but it's not the worst background either given you went to a semi-target. It's not so much the leverage finance part of your background that's the issue--it's the 'regional commercial bank' part. You seem to already know that, though, so I'll move past that straight to the relationship advice.
Firstly, you don't have a relationship right now. You met via Tinder, so she's probably just looking to bang. Kudos to you for being attractive enough to convert on that, but if she's a second year at a mega fund in NY, she doesn't have loads of time on her hands, so there's an excellent chance that she's just looking to fuck. If that's the case, it seems exceedingly unlikely that you're going to throw strong enough D to get her to introduce you to people professionally. And even if she does, she's a fucking associate, not a partner. If you want to sleep your way to success (and I completely sympathize if you do), you obviously have to aim higher than an associate. There are plenty of unhappy female principals/directors/MDs. If you're charming enough to appeal to older, wealthy women, you should probably go in that direction.
That said, if this associate were inclined to help you find a better job (maybe because she sees you as a 'fixer upper'), there's no way she's getting you a job at her office unless she's an absolute moron. Since she went to an Ivy and is working at a MF in NYC, that's probably not the case. I think the most you could hope for from such a relationship without making it awkward as fuck is to slowly be introduced to her larger social group and leverage those relationships over probably a year or more to make a career move.
All of this presupposes she likes you enough to keep you around for a year and isn't just using you for sex. I still think that's quite a bit more likely given the nature of your introduction. I mean, she's not likely to want to tell people you met on Tinder, not if she's the sort of prestige whore who goes to an Ivy, works at a BB and then moves to a MF in NYC. Now, I'm assuming a lot here, but I know the type all too well, and have female friends who fit the description who use Tinder for the precise reason I'm suggesting.
However, women get attached during sex a lot more often then men do. To be clear, I know a lot of guys who are sniveling weenies when it comes to their relationships. I think they fancy themselves to be 'romantics', but mostly, they're just 'embarrassments'. But for every one of those, there are probably twice as many women who get like that. Since you're asking an inherently callous and calculating question, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're enough of a sociopath to keep your eye on the prize. But if you pursue the relationship exclusively for that purpose, you'd be banking on the idea that she doesn't have her own agenda which crowds out yours.
I think that's a bad bet, but you do you.
It totally depends on her, and how she is. Go out with her. Be a nice guy. Treat her well. If she turns out to be a total bitch without provocation, sex her until she gets you in whether by herself or through acquiring her connections, and then dump her. If she's nice and down to earth, don't rush and expect her to deliver. Enjoy your time. If you play nice, chances are she'll grow faithful and want you to be well-set. I know, I've been in the situation.
My much-younger girlfriend/wife unexpectedly used her connections to get me into a solid Associate placement when my MBA recruitment efforts failed me. I didn't expect that, that's for sure.
Being a gent is always the best way to see a chick's true colors.