I have pretty much all the credentials one would want as an undergraduate. Economics Major, Target School (ivy), and a great GPA. Unfortunately, with a whirlwind of college experiences including Division I sports, I only was able to muster up a few final-round interviews with BB banks in NYC. I took a couple of real estate internships in the summer as it helped me focus on sports. Then, three months out of college I was able to land a Corporate Development gig at a F500 company working as an M&A Analyst (CPG). It's not in NYC, but a great work-life balance. I probably make around 75% all-in as the typical first-year analyst BB. Networking. Networking. Networking. This was simply all I did. However, I realize I may be at a disadvantage because most in CorpDev already have IB experience or similar finance internships. This is the case for my bosses. How can I catch up to the rest of the pack and be a quality asset while always looking for potential exit opps? I should say that my boss/company is having the company pay for me to take classes in NYC for valuation in the coming months (thank god).
P.S. i love this website. Keep up the great work.
Your career will stall in CD. Jump to IB ASAP.
Stay a year and jump. CD is not a function you want to enter into early on in your career. It's basically a low paying exit opp for burned out bankers looking for work/life balance. You get into after your associate IB run and you come in at Senior Manager/Director.
There's a lot of variation in CD but a few things are pretty common across firms/industries:
The core CD function, to be honest, is to summarize and synthesize information into PPT decks that can be presented to management. This is why IB is a good fit (thousands of hours in PPT). It's really not analytical.
Again, there's variation in the industry but I hope this helps. If you're in a group that's busting out 3-statement models and putting together forecasts. And if you're getting the support you need, then stay a while.