Bye MBB, but too late for MBA?
Hey forum,
Wanted to get some perspective on the following.
I’m currently in a project managing role at MBB with more than 4 years in tenure. Focus is PE and M&A. I’ve been happy, performance has been strong, they want me to stay. In the recent months, however, some things changed which made me reconsider and want to exit. Ideally PE/GE, not interested in corporate.
Slight issue is that I’m based in a continental European office and locally there aren’t good exits. I would need to move to a larger business hub (NYC/London?). I’m willing to sacrifice 1-2 years at the bottom of the food chain (i.e. associate role), but want at least the opportunity to step up rapidly.
- Is there a good path to move to NYC/London to PE from abroad? Are there any recruiters that specifically consider such people?
- Is there still value in an MBA at this point? It can be a good stepping stone to these locations, but am I too late? Consultants usually go for MBAs at 2-3 yrs tenure, prior to managing projects.
Is there an alternate path that I could consider? Or just shut up and push through to AP/P.
Would be grateful for perspectives of anyone who went through something similar or seen similar trajectories!
following
I'm London-based and know a few people that made a direct transition from MBB in Europe to the buyside here (across PE and growth) without going through MBA. However, they made the move a few years back when i) the market was much healthier, and ii) they could still move under the Settlement scheme so didn't need any sponsorship - which you'd otherwise need now and while it's not remotely as painful as the American one, it will still make things a bit more complex. I suspect need for US sponsorship and lack of experience there (unless you have these!) will make it almost impossible to make a direct transition to NYC.
How old are you? To be fair, an extra 1-2 years of pre-MBA experience isn't a big deal. Assuming you're in your late twenties/very early thirties, you'd still be on time. However, the issue with PE recruiting from B-School is that there aren't many seats (plus local issues i.e. quite unstructured recruiting in London, and fierce competition from former PE juniors doing 2+2+2 in the US). An MBA at a M7 or LBS would make tons of sense if you want to build your network and shop around - but if you are doing it purely to find a PE gig, be mindful that it's a bit of a gamble as there are no guarantees it will work out... Albeit mitigated by the fact that you'll presumably have some form of sponsorship by your firm and would be able to come back? In that case, you would at least have an amazing fallback option and limited cash outflow, which would take away significant pressure.
To be honest - if I were you, my first choice would be transfer internally to NYC/London and take it from there. Once you're in town it will be much much easier to build dialogue with firms / HHs / etc. One of the best things about MBB is the internal mobility, so I'd take advantage of that. That would allow you to see how you like life there, and understand what's feasible without going though B-School (and depending on your age, you may still be on time to go for it later on)
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