Hi, everyone. I am graduating from undergrad early this December and have been asked by my bank if I would consider starting early because of deal flow. Would you recommend that I keep my travel plans or start working before the rest of my class? With on-cycle PE recruiting moving sooner and sooner each year, I feel as if the extra six months on the job could give me substantial deal experience compared to other first years when funds are recruiting for their 2021 class. However, I also know that I will never get this time to travel again. Would appreciate any and all thoughts. Thanks.
Background:
Education - Non-target university (3.9+ GPA)
Work - Incoming Analyst at an Elite Boutique (New York City)
Desired PE Placement:
Size - MF or UMM
Location - New York City
Start early but negotiate a 2 year contract, so you get 6 months off before starting the next gig in 2021
I had not thought of that possibility. Would PE firms be okay with that long of a break, or could they make me start soon after finishing up the two years? Also, I feel another possiblity is that I could be rusty hitting the desk in PE if I took that much time off in between. Thoughts? Thanks again.
Will it give you an advantage? Yes. Is that advantage worth the sacrifice? Only you can answer that, but I would probably not do it. I'm also the type of person who places substantially more weight on the "life" part of work/life balance though, so take that for what you will.
The idea the poster above me had has some merit but also some drawbacks. You'd have more money so presumably able to do a more comfortable/"better" trip. But there's no guarantee that you'll get your ask, IDK how it would work with bonus cycles, and in general it puts you in a bit of a weird spot professionally (you'd have a gap on your resume which isnt a big deal but something to consider). The bigger drawback is if you had travel plans with your friends or family - I can tell you right now that after graduation, coordinating shit becomes basically impossible if you are talking about a group bigger than like 2-3 since everyone has different schedules, blah blah blah, and you'll probably be the only one with 6 months off and the financial means to travel. Which I guess is fine if you're cool with that, but I personally would tell my college senior self to take the trip and not start early.
SB'd. Appreciate your insight.
Agreed with the second post.
Frankly deal experience is important but with such an early PE recruiting the firms just place less of an emphasis on how much you’ve done, and more on how much you know about the few things you have done, your modeling ability, and general fit/personality. I recruited as a first year this year and received offers over other candidates who were 2nd or 3rd years with far more experience.
For reference, I took a full gap year after college before starting work at a BB and it made a huge difference in my recruiting process as it was a major differentiator.
Highly advise traveling etc in those 6 months instead - you’ll also make great friends in your analyst class in training which is important too. We have a few analysts who started 6 months early in our class and while they had 6 months more experience, they didn’t really become friends with other 1st or 2nd year analysts, which is weird.
Travel the world while you can and enjoy!
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