barrons

Seems like a lot of Wharton and Harvard MBAs are flipping burgers then. And both McDs and mutual funds will still be around in 20 years. I doubt many of the PE firms will be.

the_prestige

Look, I'm not trying to put down mutual funds. I'm just making the point that they are (much like the fast food business) effectively a commodity. There is frankly very little value added going on in the mutual fund business. It's not high finance.

While there are some extremely bright people who run funds in the mutual funds business, the majority of the people in the industry aren't the cream of the finance crop. The PE business, on the other hand, employ the best and the brightest in the industry. Simple matter of supply and demand (hence the analogy to the food industry).

Alexandre

Dstark, from what I have seen, PE on-campus hiring practices for both undergraduate and graduate students varies from company to company and from year to year. Most of all, given the relatively low volume of ne-hires, recruitment at PE firms tends to be very random.

PE firms don't usually have a centralized HR function. Instead, they are typically made up of clusters that operate autonomously. Of course, all units must justify hiring activities, but once they do, they function very independently.

Most on-campus recruitment activities take place on campuses attended by the recruiters themselves. Furthermore, some recruits are referred to the PE firm by trusted sources. However, like I said, given the randomness of PE recruitment and the relatively low volume activity, it is hard to draw any conclusions. In the end, it is my observation that landing a job at a PE firm is as matter of luck as it is a matter of careful planning.

Alexandre

"...There are far more people flipping burgers at a fast food joint than there are Michelin star chefs too..."

The_prestige, that sounds like something out of my book! hehe!

GoBlue81

Let's look at others graduate "powerhouses" not on your list:
#4 Dartmouth College = Graduate: 11
#5 Duke University = Graduate: 7
#6 Cornell University = Graduate: 6
#7 Yale University = Graduate: 8
#14 University of Virginia = Graduate: 9

Sorry, what is your point again?

the_prestige

Alex, you wrote a book?

Alexandre

I am not sure I understood Xiggy's point either. Harvard and Wharton are obviously unique MBA programs. Furthermore, with 800-900 full-time students per class, they are also twice-three times larger than the likes of Ross and Haas. NYC and Silicon Valley are two natural hunting grounds for PE/VC firms. That may explain why Cal, Stanford and Columbia and NYU all do very well, particularly their graduate programs. Still, Midwestern heavy hitters like Chicago, Michigan and Northwestern do fine considering their general location.

Alexandre

"Alex, you wrote a book?"

No, but I love any allusion to fine cuisine (Michelin starred restaurants that is, not McDonald's!). In fact, I often use them in my posts.

rainbooow

This discussion helps me so so so much!

Basoo

I've read many posts about large PE firms here. However there are many, many more high paying jobs for mid-to-low-capitalization PE firms across the country in virtually every metropolitan area.

Anecdotally, I've heard that schools like Case Western Reserve University and The University of Texas, Austin do very well placing graduates into these firms. Do you think the reason for this is simply that smaller-cap PE firms are more likely to hire from good regional institutions?