Corporate Strategy
A few questions post-consulting... A) Is it necessary to get an MBA to get into top corporate strategy gigs and B) What's the usual career path after corporate strategy?
A few questions post-consulting... A) Is it necessary to get an MBA to get into top corporate strategy gigs and B) What's the usual career path after corporate strategy?
Career Resources
Hi Lawson, I am currently grappling with this very same question. The path you take will vary greatly depending on your preferred industry. Some industries would require an MBA and some would not. But I recon you can
Start with an entry level position with a management consulting firm ( start from Business Analyst or Associate consultant to Senior Bus. Analyst or Snr Associate consultant - about 2-3 years). Then get an MBA and then transition into corporate strategy.
Join a development program that will typically train you for a corporate strategy role. BlackRock, Capital One, American Express, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, etc all have 2-year entry-level programs to help you transition into corporate strategy within their respective frims.
I graduated in December 2015 and currently looking at all the above entry paths - with preference for joining a management consulting firm because their training programs prepare you start off as a generalist (exposing you to several industries) before you specialize based on industry preference. I plan to work for about 2-4 years, get an MBA, then transition into corporate strategy. Hope this helps
My limited view -- and not necessarily limited to post-consulting, but more generally:
1) Not a hard and fast rule, but incredibly helpful. You might also find domain experts here (i.e. a physician in a healthcare group, engineer in O&G etc.) But...if you're not one of those with deep technical training in your field, get the MBA...and from a top 20 or so school. I know one...ONE...person who successfully made this jump with an MBA from UPhoenix. But they are rare.
2) The few folks that I have met who have moved on from corporate strategy have taken two roads: running a business unit of key strategic value to their respective organizations or becoming a CFO/right-hand (wo)man to the CFO.
Have some good perspective on your questions, as I went from Deloitte S&O into Corp. Strategy. Not sure what your definition of "top corp. strat gigs" is, but my company is somewhere between 200-300 on the F500 and is consistently one of the top 2-3 performers in it's industry. That said, it is not in quite the same "prestige tier" as a Facebook, Google or Disney.
1) Not necessary to get an MBA to get in the door, many (maybe most?) Corp. Strategy groups hire pre-MBA analysts, with consulting firms being the biggest feeders. Companies will differ on whether you need an MBA to advance beyond a certain level, but many will let you stay without an MBA. At my company, I certainly have the option to stay and progress without an MBA, but that said, nearly everyone above the manager level has an MBA. I personally am leaving this fall to get my MBA.
2) The most common career paths after transitioning to Corp. Strategy are probably:
a) stay long term in Corp. Strategy. Depends on the company and the individual, but for many people Corp. Strategy hits the sweet spot when it comes to work/life balance, pay and attractiveness of the work. You can have a long career in Corp. Strategy and progress up the ladder to the point where you working directly with the CEO on a nearly daily basis.
b) transition into another function of the business. Have seen several people in my group work on long term projects that led to them transitioning into different functions (Finance, Marketing, even HR). Have seen less transition a P&L line management role, but that is probably particular to industry I am in.
c) Lots of more junior people also leave for MBAs or even to transition back into consulting.
Careers in Corporate Strategy (Originally Posted: 04/06/2011)
While so far I've been targeting IB jobs, I've thought about what I would want to do after my Analyst stint, and corporate development seems like a pretty nifty gig. However, I've been thinking that the work involved in Corporate strategy might be more interesting. What are the differences in compensation and career paths for Corporate Strategy as opposed to Corporate development?
Would I have to work in consulting for some time (MBB) , to get a solid position at the internal strategy department of a F100 firm?
I've heard the Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and Technology department at Disney does really interesting work. Essentially, they call themselves in-house strategy consultants and investment bankers. From what I've seen, ex BB ib and MBB -types have elected to work there after a top mba program. Perhaps this is something that might interest you?
I don't know too much offhand. Perhaps other people could shed some more light.
I interviewed at a top corporate strategy group out of undergrad. The group was headed up by an EVP that reported directly (and often advised) the CEO but really managed by the SVP under him. They were both former MBB partners and the group itself (I think somewhere between 30-35 people) were either MBB defects or undergrad hires.
The company had very limited recruiting and was only looking to fill 5-6 slots in the position called Strategy Analysts. The comp was maybe a hair below what MBB pays for analysts but competitive (although there is a sharp divergence as you continue along the respective career paths) and has similar placement stats to MBB for top MBA placement.
The career path looks like (2 years for analyst, 2-4 for each other stop): Analyst->(Sponsored B-School if You Want, Not Required)->Consultant->Director->VP+
.
Can you go straight from MBA business schools">M7/t15 MBA to f500 Corp Strategy? (Originally Posted: 03/13/2017)
Hi, so my interest is going into corporate strategy for f500 tech firms. The thing is, I don't have any consulting background: I worked as an enterprise software sales representative for a top tech company for a few years before.
Is is possible for me to go immediately from an MBA business schools">M7/T15 MBA to a f500 in-house corpstrat role? Or do I need to gun for consulting (MBB or tier 2, etc.), and tough that out for 2 years before I can move to industry in corpstrat?
How competitive/difficult is it to get a f500 corpstrat role vs management consulting?
Thanks!
Path to Corporate Strategy (Financial Institutions) (Originally Posted: 02/10/2018)
Hi folks,
I am trying to decide between two offers that I have. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Background / Situation: - Engineer with a top tier MBA - Broad international experience. I worked many years as ops consultant and project manager for the banking industry
Goal: - Work within corporate strategy at a top global bank to later transition to an Executive/Management position within business
Options: - I got offers from two of the big 4 to work as a management consultant and an offer from a BB to work in a team that works closely to the corporate strategy team. I could try to either work a few years in a big 4 to later transition to corp strategy of a bank OR start in this bank and later internally transition to corp strategy
I talked with a few people inside the bank and they mentioned that an internal transition might be possible in the future. I also heard that the corporate strategy team only offers jobs to ex MBBs. I am not so sure what is the best option for me.
Any thoughts, opinions, and tips are greatly appreciated!
Hey elpa, what a lonely thread. I'm here since nobody responded ...so maybe one of these discussions will help:
If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: notgs Kimble44 Sullivank1
Hope that helps.
From what roles/departments does Corp Dev / Corporate Strategy place internally? (Originally Posted: 02/18/2015)
When hiring internally, does corporate strategy draw only from finance, business development and business analyst roles? Any others?
What about corporate development? Is it based more on performance and your abilities than your role, or are there "tracks"?
CorpStrat usually hires from MBB, then IB. Anything else is rare and will depend on the company/industry.
CorpDev is mainly IB then MBB. Anything else is rare, but you might be able sneak in from an FLDP. It'll be based on having top performance reviews and being able to network your way in.
Corporate Strategy - recruiters? (Originally Posted: 11/10/2015)
Anyone know who are "the best" recruiters for placing into Corporate Strategy/Dev roles? I am considering leaving banking to go back to industry, but would only do so if a good role in a Strategy group came up. I'm most interested in Tech/Media/Entertainment industries, but would be interested more broadly as well. So far I haven't come across any recruiters who specialize in this... my method has just been to look on individual company websites (for example, Google or Facebook's careers website). Would appreciate any advice!
Bump- also interested.
Try to use Linkedin for this purpose. Big companies like Facebook, Airbnb always post vacancies there. Also, if you make your account attractive for such recruters, they probably will find you independently.
Do you mean adding a background to your profile?
Skills for CorpStrat (Originally Posted: 11/29/2012)
As someone who is interested in CorpStrat post-MBA (esp. healthcare/biotech), what are the critical skills to have? I've seen on WSO that stats and math are important, so what else is? Keep in mind my background is healthcare not finance/IB. Thanks!
Are you a MBA student now?
Worked in Pharma CorpStrat over the summer, a strong understanding of science and the current landscape is really key
Straight from the mouth of HR senior management: when all else is equal, we prefer someone with a science background
For someone working in pharma/biotech FT200 company FLDP, is it hard to transition to CorpStrat to a different firm in same industry?
Is this a solid 1st job? - Corp Strategy & Biz Dev (Originally Posted: 01/22/2013)
Hi, I've been interviewing to join a non-F500's CS & BD division as an analyst. It's not a big company. Acquisitions are usually in 10s of millions at most. The team is small, but there's a lot to do and learn. As an entry level analyst, I'd have a hand in the entire deal making process, including deal evaluation, due diligence, negotiation, integration etc. Can anyone advise if this will be a good starting point fresh out of college? Will doing corp strategy & business development for a small regional player be a good lead in to big 3 consulting firms?
Fyi: The company has been on an acquisition spree, and have got numerous acquisitions in the pipeline. Learning opportunities are plentiful, but will an interesting job scope alone be a good signal to Big 3 consulting?
you're gonna need to network
seems like a solid first job to me. that having been said, it depends on what you would consider solid. are you trying to get into banking or ER or something later? a MBA business schools">M7 bschool? F500 bus dev or strat?
to me, it seems like a good first job if you're going to corp fin / dev route in the future. less so for IBD.
Omnis occaecati amet numquam porro rem aut. Ut sint iusto ab illo temporibus nisi.
Laboriosam odio velit dicta voluptatem. Error beatae fugiat enim dolor. Eaque totam saepe dignissimos numquam debitis dicta aut. Quibusdam occaecati sed iste.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Libero aut sint dolore quasi ea inventore voluptatem. Doloribus ad voluptatem soluta sequi nam. Quidem suscipit officia ratione expedita. Et dolorem quasi tempora quia dolores vel.