Best geopolitical/defense analyst gigs?
I’m currently doing what is essentially corp strat for a large corporation, but with more of an analyst style day to day (slight data / tech work). I really, really like the nature of analyst work, but I’m honestly just nottt that interested in the actual business, and know I’m much more interested in geopolitics. My undergraduate degree and some of my internships had more of a policy focus, and I think I would really love to do analyst work in the geopolitic sphere, but I’m not keen on working for the govt (hiring freeze rn anyway) and like private sector $$ lol.
Not sure what the best options are. Obviously Deloitte GPS is on my radar, but to be honest, I’ve realized I much prefer in-house work to consulting (but am still open to it, just really like a decent WLB). My understanding is some banks have a geopolitical advisory team, but I have no idea what life is like there - not sure if anyone can share their experiences. I have gotten headhunted for some policy/regulatory affairs positions for aerospace/defense companies while I was in school, which seems like a good fit given my preferences, but not sure how much room for growth those positions have / where the best places to work would be. Was poking around to see if Palantir had any not tech roles lol but doesn’t seem like it. Had a buddy suggest oil is super sensitive to geopolitical shifts so there may be some decent private sector work there but I know little about the field currently.
following
Eurasia Group and Lazard are big fish in the space
Good question, am also a politics/ir oriented prospect looking to get into consulting. From the research I've done so far I've found that in finance: any bank, commodities firm etc. that operates multinationally will have some geopolitical focused roles. Examples being geopolitical consultancy at some EB's such as Lazard, Country Risk at BB's (which is much less engaging then geopolitical consultancy, and essentially is just checking boxes for a living) and then the mid market firms - it depends on their focus. Commodities, I would think, would have dedicated teams for geopolitical risk. In terms of consulting, yeah Deloitte GPS, and then there also some mid sized boutique consulting firms which are overall more politically focused - these may be easier to break into. If you find the business aspect of your current role not to your liking, honestly much of these roles won't be that much of a difference. Yes, you'll be doing a lot of geopolitical research and analysis, but end of day the insights you're providing need to be for businesses and it all boils down to the same fundamentals. Also, the more coveted positions - which are at EB's - are reserved for people coming from think tanks, political consultancies to begin with, they rarely recruit from within finance. Imo, your best option if you really want to do this is, lateral into any role within a top 10 political consulting firm, move within the company to where you want to be, in 3-4 years if you do well you'll be very well qualified to lateral back to an EB in geopolitical consulting, you actually may have a leg up on other applicants given you'd have finance and politics experience at that point
I intend on commissioning as an officer in the military after my 2 years here, then going back to school, ideally for a dual MBA/some sort of IR masters(not really keen on MPP but open to it). My plan was to pivot after going back to school. But thank you!
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