T2 consulting to PE
I am currently a incoming first year at a PE heavy consulting firm (Strategy&/Parthenon/LEK) and was wondering what PE exits look like/how to prepare? I have read on this forum that the hours are gruelling for my firm as all we do is CDDs, so surely that is good exposure
1) do headhunters reach out?
2) what resources should I use to prepare
3) what type of firms should I be looking at realistically? Any names in particular?
4) when should I start networking?
5) should I try and switch to IB after my first year? Is this feasible?
1) Certain headhunters will reach out, but not many. It's on you to be proactive and reach out and network
2) Any LBOs/Case Studies you can get your hands on. Even more important you can demonstrate your ability to model as consulting is known to be a bit fluffy
3) Someone else could answer that better
4) Network as soon and as often as possible, the best time is now
5) Depends on the IB- if BB/EB, then probably a good idea (especially because you are at T2 and not a McK for ex)
Can you even move from T2 consulting to top BB/EB? Probably have to start as a first year analyst. Then when do you recruit, you could lose 2 years in consulting by the time you move to IB
Across consultant friendly funds, there are ~3 tiers of funds. You can gauge which fund is where based on their historic hiring trends.
1) Some funds will not look at you unless at MBB (e.g., H&F, New Mountain, Golden Gate)
2) Some funds will mostly hire MBB but occasionally hire others (e.g., Madison Dearborn, AEA)
3) Some funds hire a good mix from T2s (e.g., Parthenon, Lee Equity, Charlesbank)
I would start by looking at WSO threads on the topic for consultant friendly funds and then use company websites and linkedin to build a database of who is open to hiring T2 or not. If you want the path of least resistance to a top fund, then I would look into lateraling to MBB.
Why such a disparity if not from MBB? Isn’t their work less PE based? I am in a similar position to OP so just wondering? And how does the lateral process work
MBB is just more selective / highly regarded so many funds set that as a screening criteria. Doesn’t mean the candidates from T2 aren’t good, but when you have tons of resumes for 2-3 spots you default to that screening criteria
Correct - our recruiting tracker is literally a spreadsheet with as many filtering criteria as possible, with the top one being work experience. It's just the easiest way to whittle down the candidate pool as usually you're only looking to fill 5-10 spots per year anyway. Also, LPs like to see the name brand across the team as sort of a brand stamp of approval.
Agreed. It is stupid when you really think that the difference in candidate/screening is literally a case interview they did when they are 18. I think over the next few years more CDD specific consulting firms will place better in PE (but that is just my hunch)
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