Career Clinic: Is private equity a closed shop?

I am an ex-lawyer at a private equity firm. I joined them as a lawyer having had very bluechip PE deal and fund formation experience, and have now joined the business side (but on the fund-raising not deal-doing side). Tips are as follows:1. in-house legal roles in private equity are few and far between. Most, but not all, in-house lawyers move through an existing relationship i.e. they used to act for the PE house as a client.2. Moving to a PE firm as an in-house lawyer will not necessarily enable you to move on to deal-doing. You may have the execution skills but you may not have the financial skills (modelling, understanding valuations etc).3. The deal experience you gain if you join a top City law firm and qualify into their PE team would, however, be invaluable experience.4. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition I would recommend that you do an MBA at one of the top schools 3-4 years PQE or seek to join a PE house ay say 1 year PQE (but expect a wage drop).Good luck.

PE Executive -22 Nov 2007 | 16:14

I don't have an answer to your query, but certainly admire the extent to which you are thinking ahead and reseraching your career and, more particularly, your chosen area of specialisation! I just sort of bumbled into my area... I doff my cap to you.

Anonymous -23 Nov 2007 | 16:08

I was at a conference where a speech was given by Lionel Assant of Blackstone Capital Partners. Someone asked this very question and his advice was go early (one year pQE) or late (partner) but not in the middle, and that transactional experience was a benefit. Good luck.

JT -25 Nov 2007 | 19:06

I am in a very similar position but slightly behind you - in my last year of university, about to do GDL next year then LPC and then TC at a City firm starting in 2010. I am keen to get involved in private equity or venture capital eventually, but equally unsure as to the best way of getting there! From people I've spoken to it seems that the industry is very competitive and mainly hires from banking or consultancy (about 60%/40% respectively). I figure the three ways of getting there are either: 1. Do an MBA after 1-2 years of being qualified. 2. Join an investment bank from law at the same stage and then look to make the move or 3. Try and do something to improve financial/business awareness now - I'm looking into doing the CFA Part 1 during my GDL/LPC. I hope this helps; I am also in search of advice so any comments would be much appreciated! And please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this!

Finalist-lawyer -25 Nov 2007 | 23:19

If you are at such an early stage, you know you want a career in PE and you know most hires for PE come from banking or consultancy, why oh why are you spending the next four years training in law....

Assistant -27 Nov 2007 | 16:11

Good thinking - in a PE house you will be able to make real money (at a fashinably early age). However in order to get there and in addition to the advice above, you need to immerse yourself in business news, learn how to make sense of the financial pages and read all the books you can handle on finance, strategy, management etc. An MBA would definitely add to your credentials but will not necessarily benefit you technically. Good luck!

Saroman - associate- top 10 firm -28 Nov 2007 | 11:33

I am currently in the process of trying to achieve the same. I am in the second year of my training contract and have been looking at joining an investment bank (in M&A/EF) or a private equity house. It is competitive. Do your research, check when the yearly deadlines are for applications, develop a strong interest and understanding of the financial sector/current issues and go from there.

Anonymous -30 Nov 2007 | 10:41