26 years old - is it too late to switch to PE before B-School?
Hey WSO. I'm about to turn 26, and have worked the last 3 years at a top tier strategy consulting firm. I've loved the work so far, but have always been interested in learning more about finance to complement my strategy and operations skill set. Private equity in particular has always been an interest of mine, due to the ability to work on deals.
I've spoken to recruiters in the past, but never really made a big push to break into PE because I was too comfortable with my consulting job. However, now I'm starting to think about my long term career, and I think getting exposure to PE would be really good for me (also I don't see myself in consulting for my entire career).
I have two questions I was hoping this community would help me answer: 1) Would going to PE be good, bad or indifferent to my B-school application? I.e. would I be better off staying in consulting and building up a track record and recommendations? 2) Given that I would likely work 2+ years in PE, would going to business school at 29 be too late to get the best experience?
Thanks!
You're going to work into your 50s or 60s most likely, so spending two years in PE prior to B school should not deter you. You'dd start B school at 29 and leave at 31 with a wealth more exp than the average B school applicant.
If your goal post B school is PE then I would recommend this route. Seen a lot of posts here that say to get a post B school PE gig you practically have to have done PE prior to B school. Worth considering and fielding other peoples opinions.
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