on a scale of 1-10 (10 being most difficult), if getting into pre mba pe was a 5, how much more difficult is it to get into post mba pe without previous pe experience? Also, can one get a pre mba pe gig with an mba (just taking a title cut)? Do pe guys take anyone with just hedge fund experience? Thanks in advance
Perhaps I can clarify the following – on a scale of difficulty ranging from 1-10, getting into a decent PE shop pre-MBA is probably about a 9. When I’m talking about a decent PE shop, I’m generally talking about a fairly established firm with a decent track record of respectable amount of capital under management, and where your role is focused on deal execution (rather than deal sourcing or portfolio management). If you don’t have PE experience going into business school, it really doesn’t even matter WHERE you go to business school – without pre-MBA experience in PE, your chances of getting into a good PE shop is probably about a 9.8. Why? Because there are plenty of people in business school, especially the top programs, that do have PE experience. Most PE shops don’t care all that much about hedge fund experience unless it’s directly relevant to their investment strategy. Generally you don’t see people move from HF to PE; it tends to be the other way around.
Another question in this respect is as follows: how typical is it for a CFA charterholder without an MBA to enter PE shops as a post-MBA-level employee?
Is VC as tough?
Neud Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Another question in this respect is as follows: > how typical is it for a CFA charterholder without > an MBA to enter PE shops as a post-MBA-level > employee? not likely unless they had pre-MBA experience in PE…at the post-MBA level, they care about your deal experience and your contacts the most, and passing the CFA exam doesn’t give you either
I think if you have a background in i-banking and go to a top ten b-school, you have a decent chance of getting into a decent shop. I know some people who fall into this category. It is difficult though, because you have to do so much work on your own–it’s not the like banks who recruit on-campus each year.