KKR intern? Definitely have a shot. No contacts at BX?

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 
Best Response

Sounds like most likely Apollo - they offer PE internships for undergrads. Be careful though - I know a few megafund interns who have had serious trouble in getting FT finance offers. At BX PE or GS interviews they get drilled on technicals that are above and beyond what anyone else gets asked. Honestly, I would take McKinsey and run, or take it and renege later.

Also, make sure you will be able to explain why you want to work on the sell-side for the long run.

 
7xEBITDA:
Be careful though - I know a few megafund interns who have had serious trouble in getting FT finance offers. At BX PE or GS interviews they get drilled on technicals that are above and beyond what anyone else gets asked.

This. x1000 this. Recently suffered from a similar situation.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

Thanks for the input everyone. In response to 7xEBITDA and SonnyZH, I'm not too worried about the difficulty of interviews. I've been preparing for banking interviews for quite some time and am very well-versed on technicals. I definitely need to perfect my story and behavioral answers before interview season though.

Do you guys think GS/MS/JPM/BX would be better experience than McKinsey? Which firm do you believe holds the most prestige?

 
wallstreet333:
Thanks for the input everyone. In response to 7xEBITDA and SonnyZH, I'm not too worried about the difficulty of interviews. I've been preparing for banking interviews for quite some time and am very well-versed on technicals. I definitely need to perfect my story and behavioral answers before interview season though.

Do you guys think GS/MS/JPM/BX would be better experience than McKinsey? Which firm do you believe holds the most prestige?

I would be a little worried about the difficulty of the interviews. I don't know how long you mean by "I've been preparing for banking interviews for quite some time" but the people interviewing you have 20+ years of experience. They probably have over 100 questions in their back pocket that would leave you so mind-fucked you would walk out of the room wondering what the hell just happened. Not saying you couldn't do well, but I wouldn't just brush it off, because as was previously said, you are gonna get significantly harder technicals because of your previous experience.

On a side note, I don't understand how some people can be so confident with themselves over technical questions but need work on their story/behavioral questions. If you can model and answer technicals in your sleep, but don't feel confident talking about yourself otherwise, you probably need to set down the books every now and then and be more social. If you have to actually work on your life story, then you are probably spewing bullshit. Just be honest and tell it. You already lived it, why the hell would you have to prep for it?

I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
 
rogersterling59:
wallstreet333:
Thanks for the input everyone. In response to 7xEBITDA and SonnyZH, I'm not too worried about the difficulty of interviews. I've been preparing for banking interviews for quite some time and am very well-versed on technicals. I definitely need to perfect my story and behavioral answers before interview season though.

Do you guys think GS/MS/JPM/BX would be better experience than McKinsey? Which firm do you believe holds the most prestige?

I would be a little worried about the difficulty of the interviews. I don't know how long you mean by "I've been preparing for banking interviews for quite some time" but the people interviewing you have 20+ years of experience. They probably have over 100 questions in their back pocket that would leave you so mind-fucked you would walk out of the room wondering what the hell just happened. Not saying you couldn't do well, but I wouldn't just brush it off, because as was previously said, you are gonna get significantly harder technicals because of your previous experience.

On a side note, I don't understand how some people can be so confident with themselves over technical questions but need work on their story/behavioral questions. If you can model and answer technicals in your sleep, but don't feel confident talking about yourself otherwise, you probably need to set down the books every now and then and be more social. If you have to actually work on your life story, then you are probably spewing bullshit. Just be honest and tell it. You already lived it, why the hell would you have to prep for it?

Thanks RogerSterling; thats exactly what I was thinking... You have technical questions down -when its not in your control what is asked- but explaining the life you've lived (where there are not incorrect answers, just phrasing and delivery) needs work?

"Dont compromise yourself; you're all you've got" - Janis Joplin
 

Coming from a preftige whore, I'd say the GS -> BX path is necessary if you want ultimate preftige. If you add HBS into the mixture = insta-boner.

No homo.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

Not sure what to do with your life? Stick with McKinsey for your internship. You know what PE is like, from your soph internship; and from that, you'd also have a semi-decent idea of what banking would be like. But you don't really know what consulting is like. Try it out, see if you like it. If you do, stay with it. If you don't or are still curious about banking at GS, do their accelerated interview at the end of the summer. Many would agree that consulting is a more intellectually stimulating job than banking. Full-time banking recruiting should go well for you next year after a summer at McK. Actually, after having a PE megafund internship and a McK internship, you'd have a strong story for why you want to do banking full-time. If you decline McK now and then after a summer in banking decide that it defies the laws of physics in how it both sucks and blows, I imagine you'd have a pretty tough time convincing McK to take you back.

 

Smart enough to get a 4.0 in finance and electrical engineering then you'll probably enjoy the work at McKinsey more than 100 hours of slogging shit working in investment banking. Don't forget to weigh the intellectual appeal of consulting work compared to banking. Sure consulting has a "grind" component but it pales in comparison to that of investment banking. Just my $0.02.

 

I am surprised no one has mentioned this yet. OP - take the McKinsey offer, and if you still want to, interview for those banking positions. And, if you do end up with an offer from Goldman IBD, at that point, decide if you want to take that offer over McKinsey. You can renege offers, and people do it all the time. By doing so, you have nothing to lose, everything to gain.

Either way, this is an excellent problem to be worried about. Big congrats!

 

Coming from a dude who works in a preftigious buyside fund .... go for banking. Sure, take the McKinsey offer, but interview for banking spots as well and renege if need be.

I never have and never will hire a consultant. Outside of Bain Capital and Sankaty, I don't see many consultants on the buyside at all (despite what people here may tell you). Some in PE and almost none in hedge funds.

McKinsey is preftigious like [insert top law firm here] is preftigious or [insert top PR firm here] is preftigious ... but you ain't getting buyside offers from any of the three, brother.

 
NewGuy:
Coming from a dude who works in a preftigious buyside fund .... go for banking. Sure, take the McKinsey offer, but interview for banking spots as well and renege if need be.

I never have and never will hire a consultant. Outside of Bain Capital and Sankaty, I don't see many consultants on the buyside at all (despite what people here may tell you). Some in PE and almost none in hedge funds.

McKinsey is preftigious like [insert top law firm here] is preftigious or [insert top PR firm here] is preftigious ... but you ain't getting buyside offers from any of the three, brother.

Well said.

On the Preftige Scale I'd say McK is at an S. Let me educate you, OP:

P-Scale: 1) Not prestigious: UBS 2) Alright: Barclays 3) Good: Credit Suisse 4) Impressive: J.P. Morgan 5) Prestige: Goldman Sachs

DUN DUN DUN 6) PreFtige: PE/HF Megafund (BX, KKR, Citadel, Greenlight Capital, etc.)

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

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