Should I Choose Diligence or Strategy Focus? New Consulting Position! Thanks
Hello! I will be starting a summer analyst position at very good boutique consulting firm in NY. I’m asked if I want to do strategy work or due diligence work (for pe and vc firms). This is a pretty hard dilemma. I like strategy work and it seems better if you want to stay in consulting, but getting pe and vc related experience may also open more opportunities down the road. What do you guys think? What information should I keep in mind when making this decision?
Also, does choosing due diligence (vc pe related work) hurt me during the recruiting process if I am applying for generalist consulting roles?
Thanks!
Bump
I'd pick the strategy work, because the DD work is a little more straightforward and thus easier to pick up easily later on in a FT position. However DDs are short, so in a summer internship, you may be able to get to help on a couple of them (instead of probably just one for a regular strat project).
On the other hand, strategy work is more varied and can give you more exposure to what most companies worry about on a daily basis.
I've heard DDs have a steeper learning curve - if true, should I still try to choose DD over strategy as an intern?
That really depends on your own learning preferences, but I would personally say no (because I think general strat will be a little easier).
I agree learning curve is steeper, which is why I picked the PE group at Bain when I started. Don't regret it at all. If that's what you like, go for it but I think there is limited value for an internship unless you are sure you can easily face that learning curve and perform really well.
However, be mindful that there are no brownie points in an internship for doing that. Your overall performance + perception by the team(s) you'll have worked with will be what matter most. Not whether you worked on DDs or a cost cutting project.
That makes a lot of sense. I guess the reason I ask is because (a) I'm a finance major and really enjoy the industry (b) I'll probably get staffed on multiple projects if I do it over the summer (giving me a wider variety of experience?)
But obviously, I may not want to do it for the summer if it'll but substantially more difficult.
I think strategy roles would be more helpful but by no means are either of these bad or in any way “less than.”
I interned in a corp dev team where I was one of three people who were crating the corporate strategy for what is now one of the 100 largest defense contractors in the world. Long story short, this strategy is about acquiring new capabilities. I now know the aerospace and defense market better than most because I had to learn all about it. This is just making tangible the point that if you have the opportunity to really learn an industry that it could be very beneficial for a pivot to a more IB/PE/CD-type role. Because while you don’t learn as much about doing a deal, you will learn a lot more about the why. You can learn about what’s actually happening in a space. And that is valuable.
Depends on what you want to do long term. If you want to make partner, strategy is a tough grind if you’re not MBB because you’re constantly pitching for work unless your boutique is really solid in a specific niche, companies won’t automatically send RFPs your way when they restructure. Not saying it’s easy either way to make partner but just worth considering what you want to do long term
Agree with prior posters that strategy is wide so can give you more options later on just depends what you want to do longer term and what excites you
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