Is an MBA a good route into private equity?
Business schools report a rush of interest in private equity careers from MBA students. But is an MBA the best way into the industry?
"We're definitely seeing very strong interest in private equity from the students and we're seeing more funds posting jobs on the website," says Eleanor Fernandez, finance careers advisor at the London Business School. "But private equity funds don't do big presentations like banks do - their needs are much smaller. They will recruit for one or two positions while banks will recruit for much larger programmes."
Other schools seem to be experiencing the same phenomenon. The Financial Times last month quoted careers advisors as far afield as Judge Business School in Cambridge and Kenan-Flager in the US, both of whom claimed private equity was exerting a growing hold over their students.
But Guy Townsend, joint managing director of search firm Walker Hamill, cautions against treating an MBA as the magic wand for landing a private equity career - particularly if you don't have prior industry experience.
"An MBA is one route into private equity," he says. "But you're better off going from being an analyst in a bank or a strategy consulting firm directly into private equity and then perhaps doing an MBA with a view to getting back into the industry later."
Gaining PE experience before doing an MBA is the 'optimum route', says Townsend. "The sooner you pick up experience, the more attractive you will be relative to your peer group and the faster you'll progress."
