MBB -> PE Offer: Q&A
There's a ton of content on WSO dedicated to PE recruiting for bankers, but less for consultants. I'd like to change that. Especially with headhunters starting to reach out for 2021 recruiting, hopefully this can be helpful to any consultants thinking PE.
Quick context:
I started at MBB last fall/summer and recruited for PE in October. I targeted consultant-friendly firms, and ultimately accepted an offer a firm in the Bain Capital/Sycamore Partners/New Mountain Capital/Berkshire Partners/Golden Gate Capital/H&F grouping.
Background
Non-target undergrad, but high (3.9+) GPA and significant extracurricular leadership. Getting into MBB from a non-target was a significant battle, but with MBB on my resume my undergrad never seemed to be an issue during PE recruiting.
Ask me anything
I'm happy to answer any questions about either * what the recruiting process was like or * what consulting has been like so far. Ask away!
What was the role of recruiters? they reached out to you? you to them? or process was directly with the PE shop?
Good question. For me the process was always through the recruiter, never directly with the PE shop at first. I reached out to a couple recruiters in early September, and they basically told me to wait until they were ready. Come late September I was getting a lot of emails from various recruiters to set up informational interviews, so I would say the norm is they reach out to you. The one thing I think I did differently that helped was as soon as I heard the process was kicking off, I called all the recruiters I worked with and straight up asked to interview with the firms I was interested in. When the process kicks off everything is super hectic, and recruiters are just trying to fill interview slots with talent they think could get an offer, so I would recommend being quick and forward with what you want. As long as you did well in the initial phone call, they should help you out.
Why did you want to move into PE? If it's on the deals side, it seems very different from what a management consultant would do, from the outside.
Are all of the ex-consultants at your PE firm ex-MBB or is there some representation from other firms in there as well?
I'll answer your second question first because it's easier: Of the ex-consultants at the firm I'm joining, it's all ex-MBB to my knowledge.
As to why I want to move into PE, I was fortunate to start my time at MBB on a few commercial due diligence projects. During that time I found I really enjoyed consuming a bunch of information very quickly, and using it to determine whether I thought a potential investment was attractive or not. Figuring out how attractive the space is, where a particular company is positioned to win not only today but also 5 years from now was something that really energized me during those projects, so I figured I need to give PE a shot. If I don't like it I can always go back to consulting post-MBA, but it's basically impossible to do PE post-MBA without pre-MBA experience.
I identified these types of firms by a) searching for "consultant-friendly PE firms" on WSO and b) looking at the "team" page of the fund's website. If they had a decent % of Associates that were former consultants (maybe 30% or more?) I'd call them consultant-friendly.
Comp is significantly better in PE, and will only continue to get better as you rise the ranks. That said, promotion is much more difficult in PE than at MBB. Some might say that's the risk/reward tradeoff, but I truthfully don't see the risk. I plan to leave my MBB on good terms, and if for whatever reason PE isn't the long term fit for me, I'd be welcomed back to consulting.
If you're at BCG and you want to move to PE, you'll be fine. Yes you'll see more Bain and McK folks in PE, but I think at least part of that is selection bias. I know there are BCGers at many of the top consultant-friendly PE funds, so don't think it should be a huge issue.
Very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share what you've learned. Good luck in your new role!
Congrats OP. I remember your post when you got a consulting job after having few prospects as a non target student you’ve certainly come a long way.
Thank you! I appreciate the support - no doubt I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for the generosity of WSO vets like yourself helping me learn the ropes
Hey thanks a lot for doing this. I've actually been considering / wondering a lot about the Consulting -> PE path so the timing is great:
Thanks a lot for your time!
Just want to clarify a couple points before answering your questions specifically. a) I recruited ~3 months into the job b) I have not done any commercial DD projects yet
Now to the questions: 1) Thank you! 2) You do get to input your preferences for staffing, but that doesn't always mean you'll get get what you ask for. However, I don't think my not having any DD experience hurt me at all during recruiting. Firms realize they're hiring you ~18 months from now, so they know you'll have time to gain that DD experience if you don't have it when recruiting as a first year. 3) Ideally you would want to get on some DD projects, but it's not a huge deal. Consultant-friendly PE firms hire consultants because they value what you bring to the table as a consultant. If they wanted all finance Wizards they'd hire all bankers. 4) I recruited ~3 months into the job, and will switch to PE once I've completed ~24 months. 5) Very minimal. Most of my interviews were case interviews, with maybe a paper LBO. 6) I am not in NYC, but since the process kicked off on Saturday night/Sunday morning this fall, I was able to fly to NYC Saturday night and be ready to interview Sunday morning no problem.
Thank you for doing this, and congrats on the great offer.
What were the headhunter meetings like? When asked about your “ideal firm”/what you might be looking for, how did you answer? Did you basically tell them “hey, I’m not too picky, I want to interview with all the consultant friendly shops/places that’ll have me”? Did the headhunters have different expectations for you?
If you leave PE at, say, the VP level, would you go back to MBB at the manager level? What if you left at the PE associate level?
Did you do an SA stint at a bank? How did your consulting background inform your “why PE” interview answer?
If you could go back in time, how exactly would you have planned your first 6 months at MBB to maximize your shot at getting good offers?
Thank you!
I would say the key to headhunter meetings is to go in with a compelling story that explains why you're interested in PE and what you're looking for. For me it was: "I studied business in undergrad and had the opportunity to be part of a student investment fund my senior year. That experience taught me a lot about valuation, and showed me I love thinking critically to take a stance on an asset and develop an investment thesis to support it. I has joined MBB to get a well-rounded education in terms of how to think about business strategy, and while I love consulting what excites me even more is using those strategic thinking skills to analyze the competitive positioning of a company and determine it's attractiveness as an investment. So naturally I'm interested in PE, specifically funds that are open to consultants and cut $50M+ equity checks."
I would say after I told that story, most headhunters got it and were open to helping me find those types of opportunities.
If I leave PE, I'd have to come back to MBB one level below EM/PL/CTL regardless of what level I left at. Only difference is if I left as a VP, it would probably be a quicker path to a more senior leadership position than if I left as an Associate.
No banking experience.
I would say the best way to prep get on commercial due diligence projects. I didn't do this and while it didn't hurt me, I have friends who did these projects who say it really helped them.
How did you manage to get an interview for the MBB position from a non-target school ? Networking or you just dropped a resume online and got selected? Thanks.
See my post on that here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/non-target-to-bainbcg-intern
Thanks for doing this. Have you seen cases of MBB EM to PE?
I've seen Manager-level MBB people move over to the operations team within a PE fund, but haven't see anyone go to the deals team from the EM level. My understanding is it's very difficult to move to the deals team at anything higher than the Associate level without previous PE experience. I'm sure it's not IMPOSSIBLE, but very very difficult.
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