From law to strategy - Tactical questions
Good evening everybody,
From what I've seen, this subject has been discussed many times in this forum and elsewhere. However, I would like to submit my own case and get some advice regarding my project.
As you got it from the title, I am a junior attorney ("avocat") in Paris. I have been offered several positions, either in Corporate/M&A or in Project Finance (Mining/Energy/Infrastructure) and the bitter truth is as follows: I do not fancy legal jobs and I think I'll never will. I'd rather go proactive than reactive, therefore I am currently mapping my reorientation - the sooner the better - towards corporate strategy, which is I think much more diverse and interesting than my current field.
From this point on, I have two intertwined questions:
1/ I am wondering what is the best legal field to start with in order to jump, later, from law to strategy. My two options are :
- Go with project finance and develop a sector-wise, deeper expertise within the infrastructure/energy industries ; or
- Go with Corporate/M&A, deal with lots of mid/high-cap cross-border M&A transactions, but stay on the surface - as in this field, you rarely go beyond the registration docs/10Qs etc.
2/ As to the reorientation itself, I have 3 options:
- Classic curriculum: Work 3-4 years in one of the aforementioned fields, gather work/industry experience, try and develop a better network, undertake a 1-year top-tier MBA (Insead, I guess), and apply elsewhere; or
- Back to the drawing board: drop what I am currently doing, start with a 1-year Master in Management in a top-tier business school (London Business School, London School of Economics, for instance); or
- The self-taught: option 1 without the MBA, work my ass off in quants/finance/marketing/etc. and apply elsewhere directly.
From scratch, I would say that option 1 is the safest. However, I am not entirely convinced of the value of an MBA when it is self-financed. Option 2 is kind of strange, as I am a tad too old (25 y.o.) to begin a MiM. Option 3 is extremely risky, as whilst I have no doubt as to my ability to teach my own a*se, I would still need the opportunity to get it before a recruiter in order to plead my case.
Which leads me to the big question: would you marr... what would you advise?
Sorry for the huge post!
Who said French can't speak English?
