I am currently working at a Big 4 firm in the Transaction Services - Financial Due Diligence practice. What are the possible career transitions for someone who has gained significant deal experience? Is a transition to PE or I-Banking a realistic possibility without an MBA?
Any insight would be appreciated.
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I suppose you can always go the gov't route and do forensic accounting. Not sure how many years of experience you have in that field, if too many you could get pigeonholed.
^Ignore that guy. I don't think he even read your question.
If you try hard enough for IB, I'm sure you can do it. The MBA is probably your best bet though if you wanna do banking or PE
i have seen people go into PE from due diligence (not too many though), so it is possible - probably middle market is your best shot
if you go into banking, you'll be an analyst without your MBA - MBA is probably worth it and you can break into banking in 2 years as an associate
My personal insight..... Being in Big 4 Advisory - TAS (Structured Products) for the past 3+ years (came in as an associate from under grad), not in NYC but a major metropolitan area.... I feel it may be better for you to go back and get your MBA unless you live in NYC or the location where you want to transition into banking/pe (i.e. boston/chicago/LA etc...). I've been networking and attempting to get into PE/Banking in NYC for several years; however, I believe my physical location - being away from NYC is severally hindering opportunities.
I've come to the realization that pre-MBA movement into PE and/or Banking might not be an option, even though I have a solid academic background and am the top performer in my group. I'm leaning towards an international rotation to help bolster my MBA candidacy. If you're in NYC - you have no reason not to be networking like a maniac and trying to leverage all your resources (alums, personal contacts, family contacts, friends, past employers etc..). If that still can't garner enough opportunities, I'd consider a MBA.
I've had my shots here and there throughout my 3+ years; however, I have a very unique/niche-like background and was constantly up against talent that had direct relevant experience to the position. I will say that I have enough material which I'm willing to pass along that will ensure you're fine during technical questions regarding valuation techniques for private and public companies and interview questions. I've placed in top 5 on my 2 interviews I had in NYC (out of max pool of 25 and min of 15), I was just being beat out by people who have the direct relevant experience, live in NYC and had several years of experience over me - hence competitive market. My analyst friends were able to help secure the interview and had access to the ranking breakdowns in each of the cases.
You have to ask yourself, do you really want to come in as an Analyst at a bank after 3-4 years of professional work experience under your belt? You're better off trying to leverage your experience for a position in MM PE like they've mentioned above or just go back to MBA, network like a machine and be a rock star.
JMHO....
You may find opportunities in Blackstone's mail room.
^ Did that guy seriously register a new user profile just to talk smack? It's a anonymous forum... Grow some fucking balls.
Anyway OP, CDOMonkey's made some good points. From what I've seen, people from Big 4 Transactions or Corporate Finance can get into MM PE, but it's very rare. For the very reasons CDO mentioned in his post - you're going up against people with more relevant or direct experience. However, the reason why it happens is because there are some firms out there that like to hire outside of bankers - maybe w/ a preference for consultants, or sometimes they just don't like the ego and every now and then they come across a kid who's smart, passionate about the field, though not from banking. It also takes a lot of luck - sometimes, the opportunity is just available and you're at the right place at the right time.
That said, a MBA would be helpful. But again, you'll be going up against the same people that had banking (and/or pre-MBA PE) experience. So really, your answer either way is to network your ass off...
To the previous two posters: which groups have the best placement from TAS to get into (or develop a relevant skillset for)Accounting ---> TAS/Finance Switch: Objective on resume? PE or hedge funds? Valuation (for some HFs?)? Due Diligence? CorpFin? Any other options? Thanks.
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