I work on business and operating model transformation projects incl. many M&A projects. I want to go into PE deal side. One way is experience, another way is through education? Question: do I do a masters in finance & PE or MBA? Note: I have a bachelor in business management and masters in international business (strategy, finance & Econ). Also online courses in PE, M&A from Oxford, LSE & Imperial. Tips? Suggestions?

You have enough degrees honestly- go for experience

Ok first off, breaking into PE deals from consulting at MBB is already considered an “alternative route”. From Accenture, calling it a stretch is probably too polite, not that it’s impossible but you’re talking about the 3rd standard deviation from the mean of exits at that point. More paper won’t help you get deal experience, you could try to down-level to CDD offering at another tier 2 (Strategy&, EYP etc) and work to pe from there, but from what I’ve gathered generally they are looking at those people for PE ops. I like value creation and operations so that’s my desired off ramp. Have you done CDDs? Have you lived life at “deal speed” for 6 months straight? The reason deal teams recruit bankers is half because they know they can work 80+ hours a week for months on end without quitting, that’s something to consider as well