The position was not what it was portrayed to be in the application and interview process. I had three rounds of interviews, where I had to give a presentation on private equity, complete a case study, and answer questions about the scope and future of PE. The interview process was fairly rigorous, with a lot of research and prep work surrounding PE. The job itself has nothing to do with PE, other than the fact that I was on a team dedicated to investment firm clients that I would never actually come into contact with, let alone work alongside. Third Bridge portrays the position to be somewhat prestigious with opportunities to learn more about PE and investment research. They recruit recent graduates who are interested in finance, consulting, and investments and lead them to think that the job is something more than it is. I will tell you exactly what your day to day will look like if you work here, which I really think Third Bridge should include in the job description: Using my own LinkedIn account, I had to find people on LinkedIn that fit an expertise description I was given. I gathered any contact information associated with their LinkedIn using third party softwares. Then, I spammed connection requests until LinkedIn blocked my account from doing so. I basically spam emailed prospective experts (typically VPs and CEOs of companies) and cold called them. We had to negotiate rates of pay with these prospective experts, and Third Bridge advised us to say anything we wanted to keep their rate of pay as low as possible, including lying about budgets. Unfortunately, this was necessary, because the higher their rate was, the less we, individually, got paid. I was uncomfortable with a lot of this, and I didn’t feel like the skills it was teaching me were transferable to the industries I’m interested in. It seems like I am not the only one who feels this way—from what I have heard, it is not uncommon for people to quit within the first month of working there, and many don’t last more than a year. The reason everyone who works there is so young and is promoted so quickly is most likely because very few people elect to stay there that long. The hours are from 9 AM - 6 PM, and there is no work from home option. Benefits and pay are okay. I’m very disappointed, because I was excited about my first full time role out of college, and I feel a bit misled.
