Hi everyone,
Just looking for some advice on a logical path/ goal someone could take after working a year in corporate strategy. My strategy division is within a MM bank for reference.
I'm currently taking a year off from school to work, but will have the opportunity to go back to finish off undergrad and hit up OCR.
I'm open to any suggestions, I just haven't seen many threads from people who started in corporate strategy. Not sure which fields this experience will be looked at approvingly, or with disdain. Please help!
I don't understand how you are working in strategy with no degree and no consulting background.
It's through a registered program at my school. All of my coworkers have MBA's, consulting experience etc. I think it is to just get your foot in the door.
I'm just a little lost as to where I should go after this experience.
I've had 3 strategy interviews out of undergrad. So also curious about exit ops and how it looks for b school compared to IB
Exit ops would be more strategy roles, go into a business line, move to a mgmt consulting company, maybe some corp dev (but generally they want you to have deal experience).
Strategy is a good background to have. Not sure what you are looking for in terms of exit ops.
Post-Corporate Strategy Career Options (Originally Posted: 11/14/2017)
I currently work in corporate strategy with a focus on technology (defining the future tech stack, tech org operating model, future skills and capabilities the company should develop, etc.). I enjoy the high-level view, decision making, executive exposure, and similar consulting-esque things. However, I miss some of the more technical data/financial analysis I've done in previous positions.
What positions and at what companies have you found to be somewhere in the middle of these two worlds? I'm thinking BizOps at a tech/internet company, but have heard you lose too much of the high-level decision making.
Any tips on roles, companies, and keeping technical skills sharp to keep future options open are appreciated.
Hank Mardukas, shame nobody has responded. Maybe one of these topics will help:
More suggestions...
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
Post-MBA Corporate Strategy to IBD/ER possible? (Originally Posted: 07/09/2015)
Hi everyone,
Thank you.
Sounds like a good background to me. ER should be easier, but then there are much less openings. IB is harder, because their concern is that why didn't you recruit for IBD associate during bschool and your bschool is churning a new class of associates each year as we speak.
Either way, telling that convincing story of why you want to IB / ER NOW is most important, but I think opening up doors for ER would be a little easier if you keep trying to reach out to alumni (especially when you are an M7 MBA graduate), sending them pitches, and doing all the informationals, something will eventually open up. I can't speak to how banks think of people who want to do IB after bschool but didn't recruit during.
I would like to hear what other folks on the forum would say about your situation too though.
Thanks. I also felt the ER route would be easier to spin the "why ER" story. Right now, I just want to have a strategic framework in place in terms of the steps I would need to take to make a successful transition before I start networking.
I think I would enjoy IBD more because you're actually delivering tangible results just like how I am currently doing now in my strategy role. I just hope that IBD guys don't have the mind set that if I didn't summer in an IBD role I should not even consider the post-mba lateral option. Would be great to hear from others who were in the same boat.
What are some reasons why one would seek an MBA after working in Corporate Strategy / Development? (Originally Posted: 01/27/2017)
There are some obvious answers to this (e.g., a desire to move to banking or PE)-- I'm mostly interested in hearing the key motivators through someone's particular story (whether it's their own path, or that of a friend's they know of, obviously no identifying details needed).
I'm particularly interested in why someone would leave Corporate Strategy or Development (maybe a stronger distinction is needed between these two, in this context) for an MBA, if they also had prior (say, analyst / associate) investment banking experience.
It's just hard to believe that given that sort of experience, you'd have to pay the potential ~$400-500K all-in economic cost of an MBA in order to get where you want to go.
Relatedly, do you think most Corporate Development or Strategy roles are career-track? Meaning, they don't require you, implicitly or explicitly, to leave for an MBA if you don't have one?
Note: I'm generally not referring to 'executive MBA' programs here. I assume one could keep working in a corporate role while pursuing one of these, maybe sponsored by the employer, who believes the employee is on a leadership track. Thoughts on this sort of scenario are welcome as well.
I'll give it a go:
While I am exploring transitioning within the buyside from Corp Dev. to PE, a few people I work with are either actively involved in MBA application process or completing a Part-Time MBA. The reasons do vary quite a bit, but tend to be either a career change with an MBA or further establishing your candidacy for other roles within the Company.
I would guess that a good number of Corp. Dev. roles are career track given how suitable it can be for one's lifestyle but people tend to feel that such complacency at this point in this life is unsettling if they are still young enough to further explore other roles before settling down into a certain role or sector.
MM IB vs Corp Strat exit options (Originally Posted: 07/15/2014)
Hey guys,
Would MM IB be better than Corp Strat at a Fortune 10 company if I'm interested in possibly exiting to PE/VC/HF after a few years?
This is for post MBA, and I realize it would be very tough either way.
Thanks!
I would say the door is closed unless you are ok working at some very small AUM shops. I would look at it as where could you see yourself having a career IB or corp dev.
For VC/HF, Corp Strat at a billion dollar market cap company is a pretty far stretch in terms of relevance, exiting to PE is a much better bet.
Without knowing what you're doing in MM IB, I'd say Corp Strat at the Fortune 10 sounds a lot more exciting.
The door is not closed. This forum makes it seem like the only route to the buyside is elite college to BB IB analyst to buyside, but the truth is that the real world is much more muddled (though it is true that your route will be much less traditional than the route described above).
MM IB Associate will offer you opportunities to transition to buyside roles (certainly more so than corp fin), but you should note that these opportunities will be far fewer than those of the analysts' working under you, and you're likely going to have to do a lot of legwork (networking, finding opp's that aren't heavily marketed or geared toward a specific type of candidate, etc.)
Just to clarify, I don't have a job in MM. It's an option that I'm exploring given that I'm going into my 2nd year of MBA with a F10 corp strat internship under my belt. I don't think ft at BB may be too realistic at this point.
My strategy group may disappear: which exit options are best? (Originally Posted: 05/22/2017)
I've been working in divisional corporate strategy group at a fairly large technology company for the last 2 years. I love my work, team, boss, and projects -- mainly centered on commercial and financial diligence around new tech and product opportunities. A forthcoming major reorg, and the departure of some key folks we report into, has cast doubt on my and my team's future. My background is at a startup and I have some CFA training (Level I), no MBA.
I approached my boss about this, and he wasn't sure where we'll end up. He encouraged me to think through what abilities I want to cultivate, and what makes sense to me. I'd like feedback on what exit opportunities look like down the road, and whether optimizing my choice for them even makes sense:
1) The team may roll up to a higher level, at our parent company. This outcome I have little control over, but would give us a much larger purview. 2) The team may roll under some other folks, ones we don't know and among whom we've established no credibility. 3) My boss suggested that I may be ready to incubate some some initiatives we've spearheaded. This might be give me exposure to commercialization, management, etc., but I'm afraid it might be a way to get me out of strategy, which I fought very hard to get into. I'm also doubtful about whether being responsible for a P&L is going play to my competitive advantages, which I think lie mainly around analysis rather than management and real work. 4) I suppose I could pivot to corporate development, but the rest of our business doesn't interest me and I'm skeptical I would receive the same quality of mentorship as I do now.
Suppose I want to optimize my choices for either a buyside investment analysis position, or a long-term shot at VC/growth equity, PE or something similar. Which of these options seems soundest so that I don't have to play the startup lottery when I'm 40?
I'd focus on commercialization of a project. No better way to determine if your strategy skills are good than to implement them directly. Also, at a big company it's not like you have to do everything yourself. You will be given a team and resources...best of both worlds between big corporate and startup. You can claim success if you kill it (while learning on their dime), but you also don't have to fundraise. Granted, I am an entrepreneur, but that seems like an incredible opportunity.
You already have strategy on your resume so if your project fails, you blame senior management, and you can interview for other strats jobs while also being able to claim that you ran a business unit. Nothing but upside there from my perspective.
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