How to convert a senior year PE internship and a (meh) MM IB FT offer into a solid MM associate role?
I'm in my senior year at a target and I recently got a great gig this fall semester interning at a lower middle market PE firm (250 AUM) and I also accepted a FT IB offer at a (meh) MM bank in NY. It's the regional office of a foreign bank and deal flow is solid but quality and volume doesn't compare to BBs or EBs. My analyst class will be small so I hope that helps with my deal experience there.
My goal is to, in a few years down the line, make it into an associate role at a mid to upper MM PE firm. I'm shooting for a fund that's ~$1B in size, give or take (I think I'm being realistic, but bring me back to reality if I'm not). Given my current PE internship, and the so-so bank that I am going to, what can I do now to make that a reality?
What skills should I try to learn at my current internship? When should I reach out to headhunters (I'm assuming they won't be knocking down my door)? Is lateraling to a better bank the best move?
Would appreciate any and all comments. Thank you!
Take the PE internship as an opportunity to learn as much as you can about how the business works. Observe your superiors, learn what traits the most successful people display, and practice emulating those traits.
Don't worry too much about not being at a top BB. It's all about your own deal experience, which is largely determined by how you perform in your first 6 months in banking. Prove yourself as a hungry, hard working analyst who can be trusted to step up to difficult tasks, and you should see good deal flow. It's better to be a top-ranked 2nd year at a "meh" bank with actual deal experience than a "meh"-ranked analyst at a top BB with little deal experience.
You should not be thinking about a lateral move until you've spent several months at your banking gig and notice serious issues with your group. Get there, work your ass off, get really good at the technicals, learn your industry / companies / trends, start to develop your own views on the markets you cover, and put yourself in a position to get staffed on good deals at your bank.
It's never too early to start reaching out to recruiters just to get to know them, but you should focus your energy on crushing your banking job first, especially early on.
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