Looking for insights on post MBA MBB->Private Equity recruiting
I'm going to start business school this fall at non h/s M7 after doing five years in the military. Everyone says Post MBA PE without pre MBA PE is a pipedream. However, I've spoken with people who have said PE firms are increasing MBB consultant hires for operational roles. If I were to do MBA->MBB how would the PE recruiting process work? I'd try to get on PE work and go from there, but can anyone flesh out the process a little more? Does MBA network matter at that point?
Thanks
For operational roles, it most likely isn't as structured as investment roles.
Because recruitment for investment roles at MBA level is already very structured ;)
A few of my classmates coming from MBB were invited to a KKR Capstone thing, but other than that, I don't recall seeing any postings for operational roles (there's very little OCR for PE roles in general anyway if you didn't get that from my first sentence). Most funds still don't have an operations team so it's a question of finding out which funds do and then reaching out. the MBA network will matter in that it's much easier to get traction with an alum than with a stranger.
Note that when hiring operational people, PE firms want people who actually want to do operational work and not just trying to get a foot in the door and move over to the investment side so I would be careful on how you frame your interest when reaching out / networking.
Thanks a lot. What if I do want to get into the investment side? Have you seen people move directly from post MBA MBB to investment roles at PE firms? If so, what kind of profiles do they have? How do they do it?
I still think network matters, because one of the few paths I can see is that five years out, you've been developing a ton of knowledge in one industry at MBB and have operational credibility, and your friend from school, who had pre-MBA PE experience and made their way back into the industry, is now striking out on his own and is building a team of co-founders for a small fund.
That's another way of saying that when I was at MBB, I can't think of anyone who left post-MBA to go to the direct investing side. Operational roles are more likely. Maybe you could go to a fund of funds, or a corp dev type role at a company from MBB, then go into a fund in that industry.
I have seen it happen with people who did MBB >MBA>PE, but it's very rare and it involves a lot of work, and I truly mean A LOT of work with no guarantee of success. To do MBA > MBB > PE is on another level of difficulty and while it's possible in the sense that the probability of it happening is > 0, I have never seen it happen (I think I read too fast and thought the OP already had MBB experience). Because of the maturing of the PE asset class since the last crisis and the way PE funds are structured, you see significant attrition at the associate level (ie. senior associate classes are much smaller than associate classes) and then at the senior associate / VP level (ie. most post-MBA will not make it to partner even though they are often hired on a "partner track"). So there are few opening at the MBA level, even fewer at the post-MBA level, but an abundance of experienced candidate and it creates incredibly competitive recruiting. PE is a very structured industry in the sense that almost everyone nowadays gets in at the associate level after a 2-year banking or consulting stint and it can be extremely difficult to get in if you are "off track".
Nearly impossible to get into an investment role if you did MBB post MBA without any prior PE experience. Just too competitive with candidates that have prior PE experience.
http://www.kkr.com/our-firm/leadership/abhishek-kapur
Finding one exception does not make a new rule.
Further, that guy is in London. Things work completely different over there across the entire spectrum of seniority. There they have "assessment centres" at the analyst level, "spring insight" weeks, and long-term internships. It's also commonplace/acceptable to get to elite banking roles after spending 2-3 years in Big 4 advisory. The MBA is not the gamechanger it is in the U.S., and most MBA programs are one full year rather than four semesters and also attract an older crowd (near 30s rather than a median age of 25 like the M7). PE recruiting is far less structured; people make moves year-round, doing it successfully both through their own network as well as by initiating contact with headhunters.
Lastly, that guy is still in Capstone, the operational side. Since the OP's been asking insistently whether he can break into an investing role with no finance experience pre-MBA plus an MBB job post-MBA, this guy you've found hardly supports OP's dreams.
Post MBA Associate at MBB jump to HF or PE (Originally Posted: 08/22/2008)
Does anyone have opinions or datapoints on people who work at MBB post MBA and then want to switch to PE or HF? To be specific, lets assume that the person doesn't have finance experience pre-MBA and we are focusing only on the merits of a top 5 MBA program and 2 yrs work experience post MBA at MBB.
Why not go directly to the HF/PE post-MBA? What was your pre-MBA work experience?
philosophical monkey - why don't you grow up to be president of the USA?
OP- It is possible but only at HFs with a consultant-friendly culture. To get an idea, look at the job postings on the internal job sites to see which ones, which strategies, etc.
"why don't you grow up to be president of the USA?"
Well, I thought about it ... but I was born overseas, like Obama ...
Philosophical Monkey - thanks for the response. I cannot leverage my poopy pre-mba work experience (operations role in finance, i.e. backoffice monkey) i did try a few PE/HF shops but gave up.
Ideating - thank u too :) this was my first post and i am glad to get friendly response and a chukkly. When u say "internal job posting" u mean within the strat firm they have some sort of job board?
What is the trend between financial engineering based deals vs. deals involving operational growth? is that related to the type of skillset HF and PEs will be looking for?
"this was my first post and i am glad to get friendly response and a chukkly."
You are welcome:) Best of luck!
Very hard to go from consulting to HF, it just doesn't make much sense.
Going to a operationally focused PE shop is still hard but much more likely, or doing operation based work at a PE shop that does turnaround strategies or value building.
I beg to differ. Consulting->HF is pretty common at value funds, especially for people with corporate finance experience. The consulting background has to supplement or involve strong modeling and analytical skills, not just high-level strategic hand-waving. So it helps to have some investing experience and an active PA as well.
Anyway the above few posts are simply misinformed - I know half a dozen people in this situation.
Ive seen someone do Mckinsey -> GSB -> Bain Cap. Never seen it at Blackstone or KKR though.
I realize that doesn't answer your question. I also think Ive seen\
Bain -> GSB -> Bain -> Principal at Bain -> Golden Gate Capital (Very bain friendly PE shop. But , from what I gather - fucking awful culture. Which is odd because Bain and Bain Cap seem to have great culture)
I actually just asked BH this question yesterday. He said he's never seen consulting-->value, fundamentally driven HF's in real life.
ive seen it in job descriptions of hh but never in reality
top MBA with consulting background looking to transition to PE (Originally Posted: 02/28/2015)
Hi all, I am a first year MBA candidate at one of the top US programs. I have been in consulting before (MBB in Easter Europe) and am now looking to move into PE. Have done a pre-MBA PE internship last year, but am now looking for summer opportunities again. Would really appreciate any insights on what PE firms are open to ex-consultants and had internships before
BTW, I am looking for opportunities in UK or US
BTW, I am looking for opportunities in UK or US
Pre-MBA consulting --> Bschool --> post-MBA consulting --> Private equity (ops) (Originally Posted: 06/05/2014)
Planning to go to bschool this fall, and return to MBB afterwards.
Does anyone know whether the path described in the title is possible? I know PE firms look for pre-MBA experience, but if I am specifically targeting an ops group (e.g. KKR Capstone / Bain Portfolio Group).
Would be curious if anyone has done this / knows someone who did this.
Interested as well.
In to follow
If you're talking about MBB, this is definitely a possible path. I think some people switch over to PE Operations Teams for the experience of working with exceptionally change-oriented companies, higher compensation, etc.
bump
im interested too - do the ops group at PE funds follow the same rule of needing pre-MBA PE Ops experience? Do PE Ops groups even require MBA experience? How would one go about breaking into PE Ops from a botique consulting shop with highly applicable experience and no MBA?
bump
M/B/B Post-MBA -> PE (Originally Posted: 11/03/2008)
Hey Guys,
So it's pretty established that BA/Assc entering MBB from undergrad have a decent shot at PE at the mega funds. What about post-mba candidates (say with previous mm banking experience)?
Is it simliar to banking, where analysts have a good shot but associates don't have the same exit opps?
bump?
for fucks sake
What he's trying to say is use the forum search. I'll answer anyways
1) It's a lot harder to break into PE from MBB than BB IB 2) It's a lot harder to break into PE post-MBA with no pre-MBA experience
It's not impossible, but it's not the norm and will be very difficult.
es you need to pull out lmgtfy
haha i was thinking about it, but I feel like I'm overdoing it with that. used it 3 times in the past 2 days.
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