Hey guys,
I am a 1st year analyst at a BB bank in the West Coast and have been receiving a good amount of headhunter emails regarding preparing for buyside recruiting (private equity, hedge fund, vc, etc). They are all asking for some background informaton including an updated resume and a few actually want to schedule 1 on 1 meetings. Are these sessions pretty strict interviews or just informational? Should I be preping for this meeting? Seems pretty quick to be thinking about interviews as I just started ~4-6months ago and don't feel as if I have had enough experience yet to nail buyside interviews.
Additionally, how helpful are these headhunters as opposed to connecting with someone that actually works at the buyside shops I am targeting?
Thanks in advance for any helpful input
IBD Associate to buy side (Originally Posted: 05/17/2014)
Hello!
I know and completely agree with the conventional wisdom that IBD Associates are typically thought of as long term bankers. That being said, I'd be interested to hear anyone's experience of joining IBD out of business school and then making it to PE/VC/HF.
Thanks!
not uncommon to see associates head to VC or HF. PE is less common but the number of candidates who successfully make the move is certainly not zero or close to it.
in terms of qualifications, all candidates came from prestigious groups. A2A promotes generally have an easier time making the switch. those who came from bschool generally came from Harvard or Stanford.
basically its not impossible but not straightforward, and the candidates who make it through are not surprising.
Totally agree with previous comment. Issue is also not so much that firms don't want to hire you, but its much harder to get in front of the in the first place. Institutionalized hiring means most (large) firms are highly dept on headhunters / recruiters, and they typically just want to run with the tried-and-tested analyst profile.
I found it wasn't a big deal when i got in a room with a firm, but getting in that room wasn't easy... networking hard was pretty key..
People, come on, you're old, and hopefully smart enough, to realise that you have two options: i) read WSO and tell yourself your now a banker for life; or ii) think screw conventional wisdom, i'm going to do this and get my network on and dominate and transition to out of banking so you can tell girls in bars that you work on the buy-side, they'll love it, you'll get sexed, and life will be good.
Some dude saying how he did it will make no difference as it will likely not be a "path" that you can duly follow.
Okay?
Great info, guys! And I do agree @Oreos. Just thought it would be interesting to hear of others personal stories in that space. Thanks again!
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