Private Equity internship as a negative signale for FT IBD recruiting?

Hey everyone,

long time lurker but first time poster here. I usually tried to answer my questions regarding recruiting and IB by searching the forums but I wanted to create this topic to get a few opinions on my "dilemma".

I have been offered an internship position at one of the bigger European PE firms (think Cinven, CVC, Bridgepoint, EQT, Permira) and I am now contemplating whether to accept the offer or not.

My main concern is whether accepting a PE internship will have a negative signale for FT IBD / M&A recruiting since it might imply that I'm only interested in IB to jump ship to a PE firm after a year or two. So the question is basically if it is benefitial for FT IBD recruiting to accept an offer with a PE firm or if recruiters will look down on the PE experience?

Some background: I already have significant relevant experiences after a MM M&A internship as well as an elite boutique M&A internship (think Evercore, Greenhill, Lazard, Perella, Rothschild).

Thanks for your help guys!

 

I wouldn't worry about the implications regarding your resume, or your reason for going into IB, but I would worry about how many spots in the better firms/groups are available for FT recruiting. I don't think you'd qualify for the accelerated FT process offered to IB summer analysts, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

There isn't really a hard 'qualification' necessary for accelerated processes. The vast majority of people I saw at my accelerated interviews were at top MM/BB/EB's, but since it's a referral process, if you can get someone on the inside to push for you, I don't see why you can't get into processes with a PE internship.

However, you should definitely take note that FT interviews are a lot harder because of the sheer number of candidates vs the left over spots. It's a bitch of a process.

 

Thanks to everyone, so it seems that there is no real negative signale for IBD recruiting in case that I accept this internship. Good to hear because I really want to do this internship. The role definitely sounds very interesting and the team is just awesome, so I will just go for it.

Thanks for your responses and feel free to answer if there are some other comments on this topic!

 
Best Response

I did exactly that a few years ago, and did not even apply directly to the banks: the partners with whom I was working sent my resume directly to top MDs in several banks and got me interviews. And if you go to one of these funds you will get amazing exposure and experience, and basically should be able to ouotperform when you start (6 months internship in PE = basically you should be able to teach an associate 2 how to properly do lbo models as you would in PE, and not in IB) Best internship experience for corporate finance if you work with a good team Edit: you should find who were the interns there before you and get in touch with them

 

Pointless question until you get one.

Otherwise it's about the best you could ask for. Anything related to M&A or capital markets deal-making will help. Also look at any local companies that have a Corporate development need (whether or not there's a formal department), since that's basically buy-side IB.

IF you pull it off (long shot) be prepared for bankers to look at you funny when you say you want to IB. Be prepared to compare and contrast the two experiences and explain why you liked working in IB better.

by the time you would've done any meaningful work full time recruiting will be over

Only for BB firms. Quite frequently mid-sized firms will have one-off hires later in the cycle once they figure out their staffing needs, and small firms typically don't hire until spring.

 

Depends on how reputable the shop is. If you're at a local shop, it certainly can't hurt but it won't blow people out of the water. At best it will give you great experience and the opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and lifestyle - which can really make you stand out in an interview.

If you're interning at a mega-fund or pension fund or something like that, that's what will really make your CV stand out. Obviously these gigs are nearly impossible to find but still something to keep in mind.

Either way the most important thing for you would be to make as much of your summer as possible. Help out with whatever the hell they want, and do your best to get some deal exposure. Having any kind of deal experience before IBD recruiting is probably the best thing you can have. Again obviously pretty rare but do your best to get exposure to that this summer.

 

Thanks for the advice. They only do a couple deals a year but they had mentioned that it's certainly possible to get a live one if the diligence I'll be doing checks out and they want to move forward with an investment. They also said even if I don't end up getting to work live they would do a sort of trial run just to get experience with the process. Do you think that would be something a recruiter would see as valuable?

 

Most BBs are aware that they will lose most of their analysts; in fact, they only offer a few analysts associate positions. It is an up or out culture. This is especially true if you're looking to work in groups like M&A and Sponsors. So I wouldn't worry too much about looking bad. I go to Stern, and a bunch of juniors with BB SA offers have PE experience.

 
  1. No - but you have to do a better job of expressing a genuine interest in banking and not just a stepping stone to brighter shores, even if it is one.
  2. You realize that there are large gaps in your financial education and that you don't have as strong a foundation as you'd like. You realize that even if you want to eventually be an investor that investment banking is the best place to learn. You're also really intrigued about TRUE advisory work, as opposed to the underlying "do what I say or else" nature of PE.
 

Hi arkman, whoops, looks like nobody chimed in here.... maybe one of these discussions below is relevant:

  • From Private Equity Associate to VP in Private Equity Associate vs Investment Banking Associate Why go through the hassle of private equity recruiting opposed to ... to Become a PE Associate Before we tell you anything else, understand that private equity recruiting ... is far, far more difficult than investment banking. In orde
  • Investment Banking to Private Equity- 6 Things You Should Know content from 2016, this one ranks #47 with 25 silver bananas. IBD PE PE Recruiting private equity banking ... junior level. 5. Why do some go into IB with the intent of moving over to PE? The street and recruiting ... 1. Why not just try to start with a PE fi
  • Thank you WSO Community! AMA/My Story: Target--> State School--> Non-MBA Masters--> MM IB--> Lower MM PE it as I achieved my goal of graduating with FT offer in IB at a MM bank. Internship (grad school) ... this helped me to develop were crucial to the FT offer that I received in the spring. FT Experience (IB ... Analyst at MM Bank) After training, my entire class started as generalist and
  • The Unconventional path to IB/PE (AMA) a public accountant). F500 Internship: Heading back to school this time around, I tried to put together ... I interacted with during my PE internship. I'd say 80% responded but it only took one guy at a BB to go ... the IB team from my previous PE internship, I had it a
  • Confessions of a former second year IB Analyst Time in Investment Banking 1. Workplace Culture When I first started recruiting for private equity ... at other banks. I am heading to a PE job this summer after my two years. There are a lot things ... happy right now with the new job. Investment Banking to
  • Private Equity Resume Template- Official WSO CV Example Investment Banking or Management Consulting and looking to make sure your private equity CV is polished for ... Example: Internship is in IBD, but full time job was at Google, and you want to get back into banking. For ... of course necessary to include internships. private <
  • Investment Banking Summer Analyst to Private Equity Full-Time Analyst a summer internship in IB to going for a full-time job in PE. I am asking mainly because I am wondering if ... PE firms want 2+ years of IB before you lateral. Thanks for your time. 3i Private Equity 1st job ... from IB to
  • More suggestions...

If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: M.Liu petermiller1801 Db21

I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Is it paid? I mean, you can't be faulted for working, where else are you getting your beer money from? Can't imagine they'd take it as a slight or something, I was interning after accepting a full time offer pre-graduation, though it was a different circle of industry people, but I needed the money.

 

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