Posting anonymously.... associate in PE trying to lateral, but VP / senior associate roles are hard to come by and i've been soft looking for 4 months now. Wondering when the search will ever come to fruition
Any advice on lateraling post 2-3 years of associate role would be highly appreciated! Already in touch with all the head hunters but not sure they are giving me the look...
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My experience is obviously anecdotal but can hopefully provide some positivity (as I was in the same position). My search took 10/11 months but culminated in a lateral from an associate role to a senior associate role. The first introduction to my future team was through a networking opportunity that I had at the onset of my search. While the search took nearly a year, it was refreshing to see my networking and early effort ultimately paid off. You never know who within your network or when your networking will pay off, so continue to push forward in that department. There were certainly ups and downs in the process and the path was not linear. I worked to keep my options open and seriously considered opportunities outside of PE as well. I connected with as many recruiters, reputable job posting sites, and relevant email listings as I could. I live in a non-tier 1 city which may or may not be a benefit, but I would certainly suggest that you're willing to relocate if you really value the PE path, assuming your life circumstances permit. Easier said than done, but remain positive and stay focused on your goal(s).
Unfortunately don't have much to offer as I'm in the same boat - I've tried to be very specific about what I want in terms of the next role and given the limited number of seats out there generally, it's somewhat of a waiting game for the right opp.
From conversations with recruiters, it sounds like they are heads down with on-cycle recruiting but hopefully the focus shifts over the next few months.
My 2c - it's pretty unusual (at any level) to move to another firm and move upward. As an experienced associate, you're more likely to lateral as an experienced associate (e.g., come in as a 2nd year) and repeat some time vs. move upwards simultaneously, unless you trade down substantially in firm size/prestige.
To put it bluntly, another firm won't want to take a chance on someone unproven in that role (VP/SA), so if they're doing you a favor in entertaining a 'lateral,' you usually have to truly lateral (not upward move). Assume your existing shop doesn't have room or is '2 and out'?
What kind of firm are you at now and what kind of firm are you looking to go? I am also trying to lateral into sr ass / VP roles now and have been getting a lot of opportunities come by from the recruiters so I’m surprised to hear this. Could be industry/size issue though.
I’m going to be starting in PE in a year, and I’ve always heard it was a lot easier to move within PE than to get to PE. So I guess my question is, how common is it to experience a lot of difficulty lateraling? This is news to me, and I’m also curious what firm / fund size you’re working at and if you feel that has played a role.
From what I've seen with peers, the lateral process is difficult in the sense that it is long and there isn't really a set cadence to it. It's not like associate recruiting where, if you recruit on-cycle, the process start to finish might be days or at most a week or two. At the VP level you are now considered "partner track" generally speaking, which means that the partners making the decision want to spend lots of time making sure they pick the right candidate (and as a candidate you want to be similarly selective in finding a shop that's the right fit). Much better to take an extra 3 months (unless there's an urgent staffing need) than bring someone into the carry pool who isn't a fit.
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