Transitioning from Consulting to Private Equity (w vs w/o MBA)?

Question

I'm interested in going into Private Equity after working in Consulting for a couple years and I want to know

a. how common/difficult is that transition from consulting into private equity

b. is an MBA required or recommended to make that jump. If so, can it be from a Top 25 business school

c. how much does the prestige of the consulting firm play a factor

I'm located in Southern California and am considering my consulting and potential PE career to be within the same relative area.

Answer 1

Hi,

Several points here:

It's extremely hard to get the job in PE post MBA (the number of offers is lower than the number of candidates with pre-MBA PE background
It's much easier for ex-consultants to get operational roles in PEs than investment roles. But even ops roles are hard to get
After a sponsored MBA you have to stay for 2 years to pay back
You have to learn finance and valuation if you want to work there. No one will teach you
you should better get some DD experience right now at McKinsey. try to get staffed on these projects

Answering your questions:

It's easy to transition to a PE operating group and hard to transition into deals
TOP25 will not work. Its super hard even from TOP3
Should be MBB

Best

Answer 2

Hi there,

This question has been answered many times in the forum. Have a look at these:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/consulting-to-private-equity-3868
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/getting-from-mckinsey-to-private-equity-6590
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/moving-from-consulting-to-private-equity-6644

Answer 3

While there are many answers here. What I will say is that the chances to PE are much much higher pre MBA vs post MBA. Some firms like Advent and Blackstone particularly recruit from MBB (only pre-MBA candidates though)

So if you are for example a very high performing Business Analyst at McKinsey you have a pretty good shot at PE prior to Business School

Lastly - prestige matters a LOT. You would have to be at MBB to be a serious contender for most PE firms especially as you will be competing with Investment Bankers with a lot more relevant experience under their belt.

Best,

Udayan

Answer 4

Hello!

My thoughts on your points:

Pretty common, I know people who worked with me in Mck that indeed then went to PE
Not at all, but an MBA is used by many to shift industries indeed
As with everything in your CV, it´s an important thing tbh. Once you have an MBB stamp in the CV, it´s forever

Hope it helps

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 5

Hi Anonymous,

I would not say that transition to PE is somewhat difficult, it is actually quite common.
Not necessarily required.
As being said, a background in MBB would provide you a win-win CV and make your profile look decent.

Do you need any further help?

GB

Answer 6

Hi there,

a. Somewhat common (as in, not unheard of)

b. Not required, but some other form of training/learning is

c. Like with anything, brand + network is what determines which doors open for interviews!

Bonus: The best way to transition from Consulting to PE is to 1) Work at a PE-focused consultancy like Bain and 2) Ensure you're put on PE-related projects (Due Diligences, Bank projects, etc. etc.)

Answer 7

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