As mentioned repeatedly on this site, PE firms do not care about certifications like the CFA or CAIA. They care about your work experience (specifically the deal or client experience you have) and other factors such as your university/MBA, grades, and so on.

So, no, the CFA is not equivalent to attending Harvard or Oxbridge and never will be. It may provide a modest boost for some finance roles, but it rarely, if ever, helps you much for PE. If you don’t have deal experience from a role like investment banking or corporate development, work on getting that first.

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-certification/
https://mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-get-into-private-equity/

It is generally difficult to win front-office, investing-based PE roles coming from consulting. Yes, some consultants do get in, but if you’re in the U.S., probably ~90% of people in PE have an IB background because there’s more of a clear skill set match since you work on deals and build models and conduct due diligence in both industries. IB to PE is not a “more recent” trend – PE firms have been hiring bankers for decades since is is the ideal feeder ground for PE.

PE firms usually hire banks to arrange the financing or to market portfolio companies they want to sell. They don’t hire them in buy-side advisory roles nearly as much. And they need people with IB experience to crunch the numbers and do quick assessments of whether companies are a good fit. Most consultants don’t have this skill set because much of their work is fuzzier.

If you want some tips on going from consulting to PE, please see: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/consulting-to-private-equity/

You could also consider operations teams at PE firms if you want to go this route.

Thanks for your time, really appreciate it!

You can always get into PE from a post-MBA IB role, but it is more difficult and will require a lot more networking and focusing on smaller firms. So, I think it really depends on how much effort you want to put into it. If you have a burning desire to do it and stay in the industry for 10+ years, sure, maybe. If you’re doing it just because it’s the thing to do, you could easily get a corporate development job after IB, still earn a good amount (though much less than in PE), and get more of a life outside of work.

It is normally very difficult to go from an engineering background + MBA directly into PE because all PE firms want people with previous deal experience. So, in practice, most people who get in have done PE pre-MBA or IB or even something like corporate development.

I think your best move here would be one of the following:

1) Aim for IB roles and target tech/TMT groups to leverage your background. You could potentially apply to the large banks, but it might be hard if you’ve already finished the MBA, so maybe you should focus on boutique and other smaller firms and see if something opens up there.

2) Use your background to apply to smaller VC firms that might be interested in someone with a SWE + MBA. If you gain some experience at VC firms, you could potentially find an easier path into IB or PE in the future.

But the bottom line is that it’s not really about your age, but the fact that you have a lot of unrelated experience for a very competitive role. And I think you would need something deal-related first to have a good shot. Another option might be consulting since some PE firms hire consultants, but I’m not 100% certain how common it is to go the consulting –> PE route in the UK.

Thanks for this detailed article.
Responding to this from London, England.

I am seeking to break into PE. From my research, I have realised that internships are my way in. Would you suggest I continue to apply for PE off cycle internships? Would you have any guide to help me solidify my interview skills? Am I too ‘old’ to change careers?

I just finished an MBA from Imperial College and come from a software engineering background with over 6 years work experience in finance.

It’s possible but not that easy because PE firms still prefer bankers. Take a look at some of the corp dev articles on this site for more. Yes, you should target smaller funds that focus on your company’s industry. You are highly unlikely to get into KKR, Blackstone, etc., coming from a CD role out of undergrad with no IB experience at a large bank in between.