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2 or 4 wheel carry ons?
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2 or 4 wheel carry ons?
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My friend at Bain left in a year and didn’t seem phased. He also had a summer of banking and realized he wanted to make a career in finance & didn’t love his work at Bain. End of the day it’s a revolving door, especially in the Pre-MBA roles. Don’t think anyone would be mad or spiteful later down the road by any means. And I wouldn’t be worried about being behind bankers, I think people tend to overestimate how complicated that modeling truly is... but if you ultimately want to make a career in finance then I would say go now. If you are unsure of what you want to do in 10-15 years, then building out some broader management consulting experience and exposure to different industries would definitely be beneficial. Something else to consider might be how much of an up or out culture that P.E. firm has / timing for an MBA.. you could find yourself looking for a new job or going to b school in 3 years as opposed to 4 based on the middle market firm you are joining. In which case the extra year at Bain might help open some other doors.
Extremely helpful response, A1 - thank you!! I love consulting right now, but can’t see myself here long term. Planning to do 2 years PE then business school, then either back to PE, biz dev at a VC-backed company, or more operational role at a start-up.
Stay at Bain till 2020. You’ll learn a ton more, you’ll be even better positioned to do well at the PE firm, and you’ll build many more (and deeper) relationships at Bain along the way. And you won’t have to wonder if you burned bridges or made people think poorly of you by having left so soon. I’ve been at McKinsey 5 yrs and seen people chose both paths you’re talking about and trust me they are better off when they wait to leave in the next cycle. the PE job is literally waiting for you and is secured (huge congrats by the way!!) and you can start next year. My $.02
No valuable insight to offer but just wanna say that I wanna be you.
It’s seems to be more common across fund size, at least at the stage in the bull market we were at in the fall. My offer is >$300k all in.
Deadline is March so they can determine hiring needs for their 2020 class if I move to 2019. I just received my 6 month review, and feedback is I’m performing at or above 2nd year level in most areas. That said there’s definitely so much more I could learn in a 2nd year at Bain. My hunch is I’d be slightly behind others at my PE firm when starting, but I’m okay with that. More concerned with how annoyed/pissed Bain would be.
That’s a good plan OP. You’ll do great. And just always step back every 6 months or year and see why you might be excited to chart a different course. Good luck!!!
To add on, I’m both excited about the PE opportunity and also loving my job at Bain. In a vacuum I’d move to PE now. Interested in how negatively Bain would feel about the move, and how it would look on my resume long term.
I think it comes down to how comfortable you feel with the experience you’ve gained those far on projects. Did the P.E. firm give a deadline for deciding that? Maybe wait till summer and decide? If you are crushing the cases at Bain and feels as though you’ve learned a good deal in excel PowerPoint client management etc to move on, then move on. I’m about 8 months into my role and find myself to still be learning a lot, albeit it’s not Bain..
What have you communicated to Bain this far?
Bain knows I’ve accepted the PE offer and am signed to leave for Aug. 2020. They’re totally cool with that. I just talked to PE firm about joining a year early this week, so Bain doesn’t know about that.
This is a win win scenario, you could choose to stay at Bain and sign on with the PE Firm in 2020. Gives 2 years at Bain on your resume and looks pretty good. However, if you really want to dive into PE now and as mentioned you feel you would be a little behind, then best to start in 2019. Bain won't care as long as you don't burn a project without notice. I would speak to whoever and run by the situation and seek feedback. They might just say do what's best for you. Exits are common in consulting regardless of time at the firm I know plenty of people that left their first year
Only to those that don't understand consulting. That's about a 50/50 shot. But, I think that would only matter if you weren't already secured for another job. I just wouldn't jump ship from the PE firm for at least 2-3 years
One year at an MBB isn’t going to reflect poorly on your resume. It’s when you end up stringing together 3+ short stints in fields that have lower turnover that it becomes an issue.
Someone in IB or PE who moves every 2 or 3 years is somewhat normal. When you see a consultant moving every 2 years you get concerned. When you see a low-to-mid level industry person moving every 2 years you burn their resume. Also, late summer 2020 is a long time off and there’s no guarantee that offer will still be around
That’s helpful context on the resume front. Great point about 2020 not being an iron-clad guarantee as well. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Basically, you’re only potential downside is if PE isn’t for you and you want to return to Bain. You won’t receive your b school sponsorship that you would’ve had you stayed through SAC.
I’m an SAC leaving Bain for PE later this summer. Personally I thought it made sense for me to do the full 3 years, but more power to you if you think you’ve gotten far up the learning curve after a year.
You shouldn’t worry about how Bain will react. It’s in the best interest for consulting firms to have clean breaks with their ACs for client development in the future. I guarantee there will be others in your start class that will leave before their 2 years are up, it happens every year
Right - I 100% agree. I see a ton of value in SAC year. For personal reasons, doing SAC year and PE aren’t an option for me. Otherwise, I’d probably stay the full 3 years.
Thanks a ton for sharing your insight re: AC1 vs. AC2. Extremely helpful
How does your PE comp work? If you want to maximize odds of closing a deal (due to financial component) may be worth going early. That’s the only reason I’d skip year 2 at Bain. Part of the value of being an AC at Bain is really bonding with your class and the step up opps you get after your first year.
Another thought: talk to your PD/staffing manager about the option. There’s no down side to walking through pros and cons with them
In 95% of cases, you won’t get carry at a PE fund for Pre-MBA associate roles, so potential variation in comp isn’t likely a huge factor in OPs decision.
Out of curiosity, did you recruit for the PE role off cycle? If so, what did that interview process look like?
I recruited on-cycle in the fall. Got lucky that my top two funds both had spots available on Day 1, so I spend half the day with one and half the day with the other. Each fund gave me ~6-8 interviews; 2-3 case, 1 LBO, rest behavioral. Ended up getting the offer from my top fund same day.