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Private Equity at Kellogg

One of the most popular industries at Kellogg is the private equity industry. Not only does working in private equity offer a challenging career path but it also offers the potential to make a big paycheck. Especially for those who are good, make it to the top, and get carry at the firm. The problem is that the firms are very selective about who they hire and when they hire. So the question everyone has at Kellogg – how do you get into the private equity industry.

The private equity industry one of the hottest industries here on campus. Hordes of my MBA classmates look hard for opportunities to join top private equity firms. They start with firms such as Blackstone, KKR, and Bain Capital but explore a long list of other firms too. Some in Chicago but also lots in New York, the Bay and a myriad of other cities.

Many of the people recruiting for these jobs come from jobs in banking and private equity before school. Some work at funds over the summer. And others take Kellogg’s “Buyout Lab” class, that places them in a part time PE role for the quarter to get them more exposure and training.

In general, those who work at firms over the summer aren’t guaranteed an offer. In fact, it’s often not even an option. One girl I know never had the option. She had great performance reviews, got along well with everyone, and got stellar feedback. But in the end, she was told maybe reach back out to us next year to see where things stand.

Another guy I spoke with yesterday had to re-interview for his job, despite getting outstanding reviews for the summer. He even had to re-meet with the people that gave him the best reviews. But luckily he sealed the deal to go back full time. And a third person got a “maybe” and was asked to keep working throughout the school year to see if things worked out. So he spent 20 or so hours doing that in hopes to land a gig.

For some of these students, a Kellogg MBA ends up being their ticket into the PE world. One person I spoke with noted that their strategy was to identify connections from Kellogg (or prior firms) to specific funds and have discussions with them to see if there was a good fit with these funds. For others, Kellogg is more of a two year vacation. They have the experience and connections and now are happy for the opportunity to work less the next couple of years. After all, many of these guys were used to working 75 to 80 hours before school. And for some, it could be anything but a vacation if your job search takes longer than expected. One friend of mine got a PE job just days before the Kellogg school year ended last year.

A lot of these people tend to take a lot of the finance classes as it helps with their knowledge set, enhances their recruiting profiles, and puts them in classes with other people that have similar interests. And so as you might imagine some are also really good with Microsoft Excel.

In the end, there’s definitely a lot of buzz in the PE world. To get there, you have to learn the language (and learn Excel), take finance classes and recruit in a less traditional way than your classmates. You also have to be willing to face uncertainty and potentially not get a job offer. But on the other end of the spectrum, you could hit the jackpot and land a job where the earning potential could be limitless.