Should I become a PE/VC/HF Headhunter?
Serious question: Should I become a PE/VC/HF headhunter? I did the classic target -> 2 years IB and now I'm halfway through my second year of UMM PE. Just sent in my deposit for H/S/W and b school on the horizon has me thinking hard about what I want to do post-MBA.
I like PE and will have strong references from my firm if I choose to come back to the buyside, but as my priorities outside of work grow I'm questioning whether I'm really up for the grind to MD post-MBA. I do a lot of mentoring / coaching for younger guys looking to break into the field and it's something I genuinely enjoy, and I honestly loved both the IB and PE recruiting processes, so it has me thinking maybe I would enjoy being a buyside HH. The plan would be to gain a few years experience at a reputable firm (e.g. CPI, HSP, etc.) before hanging my own shingle focused on a niche I know really well given my experience. I have an idea for how I could offer a differentiated value prop to buyside firms, but would obviously need to learn more about the industry from the inside first.
A few questions:
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Is this a dumb idea?
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Are male HH's even a thing? I've only interacted with females
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Does anyone have any idea what comp could look like?
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Does anyone have any idea what hours / WLB look like?
In regards to question 2: HSP is 100% female, CPI has 3 guys, one of which is the founder. lol
I think it's a great idea if you're confident you can create relationships with firms. Headhunters can be very well paid with solid WLB. I'm in VC and have been thinking about creating a hybrid firm that primarily recruits for startups and then co-invests with VC firms for long term value creation.
If you want to do PE / HF recruiting, that's a bit different, but another idea to gain those contracts could be becoming an LP in funds.
That's a really cool idea. I'm admittedly less well-versed on the VC/start-up side of things, but I love the concept you laid out.
One additional question I have is if you think me taking this risk/chance would close off the opportunity for my to re-join the buyside at a later date? Say for example if I try it for a year or two and find out it's not for me, would I be able to get back into an investing role given my IB->PE->H/S/W background?
I really don't know. It's cut throat like you know. I'd probably recruit for buyside gigs post-mba, work for another 2 years and decide if this is something you want to do. I think the post-mba buyside exp will be helpful down the line for anything you do - managing new employees, better relationships at firms, pivoting back into finance, etc.
You may want to look into some of the big, established recruiting firms (e.g. Heidrick & Struggles) if only because they're a little less clique-y than your usual suspects on the buyside. I would think an IBD->PE->MBA background would be pretty unique and a big differentiator there and you could potentially be a big contributor to their PE practice early on. Plus, if you're concerned about optionality you'd be well positioned for a head of talent / HR operating partner role at any number of PE firms.
That's an interesting point. Thanks for the insight! I look into Heidrick & Struggles et. al. On the optionality point, what if I wanted to go back into an investing role ~12 months post-MBA? Would that option be taken off the table by this move?
Sorry, you loved recruiting for IB and PE?
Just curious, did you get into H/S or W?
I had 3.8+ GPA at a target -> BB IB -> UMM PE with a 750 GMAT. Told a semi-interesting story and got the nod.
Edit: Sorry - I read your question as "How did you get into H/S or W" and that's why I replied with stats. My bad!
Was it Wharton that gave you the nod, or one of Harvard/Stanford.
One Search (focus on Infra / Energy) has a lot of male HHs. Would say that the most well known ones (the ones you listed, DSP, Amity, Oxbridge) are mostly female. SG has one male associate
this is one of those tits or gtfo industries
1. It's not a dumb idea, it's definitely different, but not dumb at all. People on WSO won't like it because you're trading up perceived prestige for less prestige, but at the end of the day, it's your life.
2. Far fewer male headhunters, you'd have to do your own diligence on how much it matters and what types of firms would hire you. There will be plenty of H/S alums at the big head hunting firms. Once you get on campus, drop them a line and tell them what you're thinking about.
3. Probably low, do they even really have a post-MBA role? It would be an uncommon path, maybe given your credentials you could come in at a more senior role, but you've also never been a head hunter.
4. Hours probably aren't terrible, I'd guess 50/60 week maybe spiking during recruiting season, but the work probably isn't that stimulating. At the junior level you're just grinding through intro calls. Maybe as the most senior partner, you get to meeting a handful of times with the lead HR partner at a KKR or something and talk about how you're going to handle recruiting for the upcoming season, but you're ultimately not in the business of developing talent. How many recruiters do PE associates stay in touch with on a personal basis? Probably very few.
If I were you, I'd have a few conversations to entertain the idea once you get to Business school, but I think you'll ultimately abandon the idea. If you want to start a headhunting business out of school, that's one thing, to say you want to go work for Amity post MBA is kind of crazy. With a few weeks of research and some conversations, you could basically get an idea of how to form your own fund. After that, you basically just need to build the right relationships and convince partners at funds to pay you to find talent for them. If you already think you have a niche carved out, I'd just go for it, leverage the two years in B school to start building the business out. It's not that complex of a business, it's all relationship driven and understanding the timing of on-cycle recruiting.
Last point on this, headhunting is a tough business. It's spiky and clients can be tough to please. It's cushy once you can land a megafund and handle all of their recruiting year in and year out, but it's painful when you're entire year rides on placing a few vp/principals into funds and you're working with an impossible to deal with managing partner.
This is a really, really helpful answer. Thank you. SB'd.
This all makes sense. I think once I get to campus I'll do exactly what you said in terms of reaching out to alums, researching the industry, and trying to test the waters while in school. That will probably give me all the data points I need to see if it's something I'd actually want to pursue. Thanks!
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