Hey all - I have a question about an offer decision I have to make. After doing an internship at an MBB and finding the work not too interesting, I took an extra semester of college to go through another recruiting cycle. Long story short, I ended up interning at a ~$500M-$1B truly operationally focused private equity firm backed by a very well known HF this last summer and loved it. The firm recently "reset" and is looking to grow very quickly. As an intern, I was employee #8, and they hired another 3 people during my summer. They are looking to invest quite a bit over the next couple years, as our backer has given us a "blank check." I'm assuming the team will grow to about 20 over the next year or two.
I have a return offer with the PE shop, which I'm leaning to taking. The role would be on both the investment and operational side (running initiatives in portfolio companies). My concern is that I don't get the "branding" and structured professional development I would get in MBB or IB. Assuming I can go back to my MBB firm or get a similar offer in IB, which route should I take? This new PE opportunity seems very interesting as I would most likely be able to grow with the firm; however, I want to make sure I understand the pros and cons of each.
MBB or IB would be best. You could always come back after that. Build your pedigree to keep yourself safe.
How would I think about the level of responsibility difference? I feel like I could learn so much more at the shop as I'd be working directly with ex-MBB managers and ex-IB professionals vs 2nd & 3rd year MBB/IB professionals. This is my current opinion, is it valid? Does this matter at all?
Just hopped off the phone with an alumni at a BB. He was oddly transparent and told me my resume could potentially raise HR flags bc there is zero IBD experience and numerous PE internships. He said people like that usually wanna do 1-2 years in banking and then dip to the buy side. This was by no means my plan btw.
Im an intern so I am just relaying his message to me, "Deal Team Six, if you loved your work at various PE shops and your whole resume is pretty much tailored towards the buy side, go for that for your next internship and for a FT slot. Many of the bankers who start are ready to leave for the buy side after 3 months."
I honestly am trying to figure out what is in my best interests as well, and am curious what others will say. I found the whole call to be very unconventional bc everyone else I had spoken to said go to IBD, and that has always been the plan in the back of my mind.
The biggest risk in my eyes is not the branding and training, but places to pivot after one or two years as an analyst (if a return offer does not come). Much harder to pivot without more IBD or solid consulting experience. All of the other "cons" that I have thought about seem insignificant.
craft a really good story about why you decided you'd rather be in banking. Bankers get to do a ton of different transactions while PE guys focus on a couple investments for years, build a good story.
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