T2 Consulting to PE (London)
Hi everyone, I have been at a T2 consulting firm - OW/S&/EYP for a year mainly working on VDD/CDDs. I am keen to exit to PE/PC over the next 1-3 years but have seen people struggle to get this exit from my company. I think that I have three main options and would love to hear your recommendations on where to focus my attention:
1. Apply for IB full-time/ off-cycle and convert - Easier said than done but would gain modelling experience and open more doors. a) Is this realistic and b) Do you have any advice on the process?
2. Leave to MBB and then recruit to PE c) How much do you think this would improve my recruiting chances?
3. Stay and upskill for PE interviews d) What would you recommend me doing while in consulting - any specific modelling courses/ networking advice would be much appreciated.
I would really appreciate your perspective on these options and any thoughts or advice on projects that I should try to get staffed onto/ what to do while in consulting. Thanks!
Bump / following
I think you should leave your current firm. You’ll be filtered out quite quickly against the MBB guys and will be 1-0 behind even if you make it to the interviews. If you go to banking purely to go to PE then try to go to GS/MS/JPM. Otherwise try to go to MBB (but banking is your best bet still). Not all firms take consultants, but those who do you’ll basically have a level playing field with the bankers from a ‘pedigree’ point of view. Whatever you do you should probably try to do it sooner rather than later if you want to go to a bigger firm. If you want to go LMM then it matters less how quickly you do this.
The interview prep etc is table stakes and you should do this regardless of where you end up.
Hi,
Which of the top IB firms in London place best? Eg GS vs MS vs JPM vs EVR vs LAZ vs Citi vs Roths etc
Any help would be appreciated
GS/MS/JPM
Small gap
Citi/BofA/EVR/PJT/CVP
Gap
Other BBs/EBs
Big gap
MMs
Thank you very much for your advice - much appreciated!
Following
Question: can someone enter IBD directly from consulting in London or would they need to do an MBA or equivalent?
Assuming you’re talking about EL, it depends on the what team ur on. M&A consulting at a tier 2/3 and above and you could lateral into IB. If you work on something completely unrelated than you have no shot.
I've seen people make this move from other T2s. Best bet would be to reach out to as many recruiters and people directly at PE shops as you can. If PE is the end goal, your best bet is to get into any shop (LMM, micro boutique etc.) and then move within the PE space after a couple of years. Other posters are right in saying you're at a slight disadvantage to MBB candidates, but the firms you mentioned carry some brand name. It's a numbers game at this stage, send infinite LinkedIn messages to recruiters and PE Associates until something comes up
I think calling the disadvantage ‘slight’ is not right. Unlike banks where you can get away with not being at the top three, large funds basically pretend anyone not in MBB doesn’t exist (with some true exceptions). Smaller end of MM you might have some success. I’m not sure why you would enter the race at a serious disadvantage and play a Hail Mary spaghetti method game if you have a shot not to have to do so…? You’ll have much better odds at firms you currently already could get and you’ll open up doors to firms you currently cannot get. No brainer
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