Big 4 TAS: Valuation or FDD to transfer to IB?

Which is more relevant for IB? I have offer for both. I plan to work 2-3 years then exit to IB (as in my country IB rarely recruits college grads). In the end I went with Valuation but I still have time to reconsider.

Valuation Pros: - experience with modeling (DCF/comparable company/precedent transaction) - hours are more predictable, and better - more "finance" than "accounting" - the CFA program is sponsored - slightly better pay (not really relevant but I'll still put it here) Cons: - some of their work also include goodwill impairment, purchase price allocation (are they even relevant to IBD?) - modeling is overly academic and unnecessarily detailed - not everything you do is related to M&A deals - smaller team (6-7 people) - You can transfer from FDD to Valuation once you reach senior associate, but not the other way around

Transaction Support/FDD Pros: - always involve in M&A deals - chance to work with PE firms - dig in deep into companies' financials and learn what the deal breakers are in an M&A deal - you get to learn a lot of accounting stuff so I guess your technical will be very strong - optional rotation to audit projects to learn more accounting - although slightly lower pay, you can claim overtime charge - bigger team (30-35 people) Cons: - more "accounting" than "finance" - no modeling experience - only ACCA (UK) and CPA programs are sponsored - horrible and unpredictable work hours; when you have a project you have to stay up till 2-3 AM for several days, when you don't have a project you just chill for weeks doing nothing

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