What To Do

Hey Everyone,

I’m trying to talk to as many older people as I can but thought I’d post something on here as well. I worked at a tech firm for a year before transferring into banking at a BB. I wanted to do something with more career progression where I got to work with people more and develop my soft skills. I’ve been getting crushed but I don’t regret the decision still. I have 2 questions:

1. What are the main factors people consider when deciding whether to go to PE or not? I got an offer during this past cycle from a MF/upper MM but turned it down because I thought it was too early for me to decide what I want to do and I’m trying to get a better sense of what I want to do next. I’m getting the sense that the biggest draws of PE are the money and prestige, is this true? What else motivates people to work so much? Why do people pick buyout PE over growth or VC?

2. How much and in what circumstances does banking rank (top middle bottom bucket) matter for future opportunities. I want an answer to this assuming a bottom bucket analyst gets worse deal flow than a middle bucket than a top bucket. I’m sure it matters for staying in banking and for buyout PE, but what about for business school and growth and VC. What I’m really trying to do here is get a cost estimate so I can try to do a cost benefit analysis of working harder these next two years.

Thank you!