I work in corporate development at a professional services company (Fortune 500) in NYC. My career path to corp dev is non-traditional and didn't involve IB but may be of some help to a couple people.

I'm an associate in my group which is roughly structured as: - analyst - senior analyst - associate - senior associate - manager - director - managing director Not every role is filled and there's definitely role creep (i.e., associates managing analysts) so take anything I say on "role" with a grain of salt. Experience is a much better indicator of seniority. My base comp is $110K with an annual bonus range of 20% - 30%.

Hey RedRage 1) I haven't met anyone at my company or another corp dev group that came from business development. We often engage business development to help us find potential targets but the process for assessing, negotiating, and acquiring a firm is much different. You may be able to make the switch within O&G because of your industry knowledge but I haven't seen it on my end yet. 2) If you want to enter as an analyst I don't think you need a MBA. MBA is typically for associate / manager level or above, or so I've seen.

Hey mongonese Interview was very similar to the MBA associate banking process. You need to nail the technicals and qualitative questions cold. The big difference between corp dev and banking is that corp dev is more company focused than banking. For example, someone interviewing for a spot in a FIG group will need to know about the valuation process, net interest income, and other industry specific things.

Q&A: Corp Dev (F500) with a non-traditional background and b school

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Happy to help.

My group is relatively small (IB backgrounds. Both transitioned over after getting their MBA. Most of our analysts come from Big 4 finance (accounting, valuation, etc.). The MDs are ex-IB but made that switch over 10 years ago.

Career progression is much different in corp dev than other job functions and may vary significantly between different companies. - Some firms may have a clear career path (two years as associate, three years as manager) but that relies on turnover (either people going into the business or leaving the firm) - Other firms take a longer view, hiring people into the group with the expectation that they stay in the "same role" for a few years until they become experts and become a MD within the group or going into the business - Some corp dev people have become CFOs, COOs, Corporate Strategy leaders, and other roles but it all depends on the firm's culture and how they view corp dev

I'm not sure what the comp is at each level but the hours are dependent on whether or not you have a live deal. Generally 50 - 60 hours per week and going up to 70-80 during a live deal. Corp dev is also changing at many of the firms I know of, expanding to include elements of strategy and analysis. I don't know how this will affect hours and comp but it's a trend I'm seeing.

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