I am wondering whether it’s possible at all to go into PE full time without full time experience in IB or management consulting. I did a summer in IB as a sophomore and I go to a top 10 school in the US. I’ve heard about a few people landing full time PE job offers straight from college without having done any PE-related internships either.
I don’t wanna come off as I’m trying to cut corners or something but I do wonder whether this path is possible. All suggestions are appreciated.
Hi there. So I have to say to go directly to PE is going to be a bit more difficult. Most junior employees at PE firms will have either a few years in IB, a few years at a top consulting firm, and or MBAs. There are fewer PE positions relative to IB so they also recruit less. During their interviews they also ask about your experience working in an operations or finance role, which time in IB or consulting would give you. If you are really opposed to considering not going straight into PE, I would highly recommend heavily networking. Another option (if it’s viable for you) is to do an MBA because that would increase your chances a lot too.