PE is quite probably the most sexy career out there for us MBAs. It has such an alluring appeal that even those who have no clue what the hell it is claim that it is their #1 aspiration post INSEAD.
I am too drawn in by PE. In what other career can you incorporate so many interesting facets of business? It can potentially cover everything from technical analysis, strategic planning, organizational engineering, and operations to networking, deal sourcing/structuring, and negotiations. It really appeals to me given that I know that I have all the relevant analytic skills and have convinced at least myself that I have all the business sense required to build businesses and create value.
The bad news is that it is almost impossible getting a job in PE. There are no formal recruiting processes on campus. Most positions are filled informally or through headhunters. We had one of the top PE headhunters from the
Recruiters from industries that leach off of PE have found a unique sales pitch...join us as a gateway into PE. Bain & Co.'s head of European PE practice was in today to introduce his practice, a subset of their traditional mgmt consulting group which slaves away on due diligence work for, fair enough, a lot of the big deals taking place in Europe.
So, what to do? I would love to do private equity type work, maybe even on a very small scale with a couple of colleagues. Just have to figure out how to scape together the capital. I'm really excited for the Realizing Entrepreneurial Potential (REP) course in P4 that essentially prepares you to do all of this (sourcing/financing/biz planning) and then the follow-up in P5, First 100 Days, which actually replicates the intensity of the days following a takeover in a close to reality type format.
2 comments:
Hey Hog,
Your choice of electives make sense for your PE goal. I think it depends on flavours of your MBA year -what's hot- but for J07s it really was tought to get into REP and Your First 100 Days because of f***ing points limitations. This bidding system is scandalous -to my mind- on the other hand there are so many awesome electives. One winning strategy could be to do the opposite of the herd. Don't customize your MBA exactly like others (say, spend 1 period more in Singapore, or stay in Fonty all over). Of course there's the balance with social life too, but in the end, there's always 150 people at least on any campus.
YFHD is soooo in demand for only a few teams -my team missed it by a few points and I was mad...
If you are interested in reading some 'case' situations in private equity, which can be helpful for your interviews, might I suggest "Imposters at the Gate: A Novel about Private Equity" by Aseem K. Giri. Reviewers have described it as a "Monkey Business" (the book about investment banking) for Private Equity. Most find it an entertaining read.
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