Hi all! I'm an incoming analyst at an MBB and am interested in moving into private equity after a few years. What can I be doing to prepare this summer (eg., would it be good to get an internship at a smaller PE shop, take financial modeling courses)?
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Getting an PE internship or prepping for the interviews would both be great, but the #1 thing you should be focused on is hitting the ground running at your MBB and being a top performer. It was unbelievable how helpful that was not only in building the confidence required for interviewing, but also getting interview invites and having references confirm offers for me
PE funds are picky and the pool of MBB applicants is pretty huge so they look for ways to filter and your performance at your current job is a huge differentiator for them
How do the PE firms know how well you perform? Does the MBB release that info?
Nah you can just tell when you're talking to someone who is a top bucket analyst who is dialed into what they're doing
Tips on how to be a top performer?
You haven't even started working yet and you are already trying to divert resources to preparing for a pivot 2+ years down the road? As was mentioned above, focus on being good at your consulting job. Seek out PEG/PIPE/Whatever Mckinsey's is called staffings, master your excel skills, and do good work. The relationships you build along the way and interfacing with PE clients will give you a much better picture of how to execute that jump down the line.
Nothing wrong with OP trying to pre-plan? In fact for an industry like PE where the recruiting process is extremely rigid and defined, it's probably best to figure it out early if that's what you want to do. Again, only flag being to prioritize performance at work over recruiting but there's absolutely no reason you can't do both
There's nothing wrong with pre-planning, but I think spending real time this summer preparing for a hypothetical event in 2 years is a poor ROI. Rather than, to quote OP's example, completing a financial modeling course, I think it would be much more beneficial to both his near-term performance and a PE exit to prepare for the (quite demanding) job he will be starting in the fall. Learn Tableau, recreate some firm decks as fast as you can, read white papers on industries you want to get staffed in, etc.
I also want to address your comment about the PE recruiting cycle... If the OP wants to secure a deals role in PE, his path is likely much more difficult. MBB->PE is very common, but it is typically in strategy/PortCo performance/operating roles. I would still stand by my advice above, but honestly if you really want to be a deals guy I would probably suggest MBB->MBA->PE as the path of least resistance.
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