Citi Corporate Banking vs Tier 2 strategy consulting
Burner account.
Hi all,
I have two offers, one in corporate banking at Citi (which sits closely with IBD) or management consulting a Tier 2 firm which does mainly strategy work (Pure strat, DDs and the like) in their office (could also get staffed on operations projects too). Firstly, I am interested in both, but not hugely interested in either to pick it and not consider other factors.
I'm trying to decide which one is the best for me, with my main concerns being quality exit ops, compensation and then hours.
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The consulting job seems to have broader exit ops but i'm not interested in low paying corporate jobs and would only really be interested in senior management roles. From the CB job, I don't mind exiting to another finance role (if that is possible) and but would want an improvement in WLB. Ultimately I want to keep the door open to PE - not sure if i want to do it but want to have the option there after few years time.
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I know the base salary is similar in both jobs but the corporate banking bonus is much better than the consulting one and i think over my tenure I would get paid more at Citi CB.
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Hours seem to be long at both, which I don't mind as long as there is good exits waiting for me. Consulting seems to be longer than the CB hours with more travel during the week (sometimes). The travel is what is putting me off, in case it is quite frequent, which there is no telling right now as it's project dependent.
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MBA sponsorship opportunity at tier 2 firm but not Citi - Given I want to keep the door open to PE (or exit to a senior management role at a company), this probably needs to be considered, however, would it be easier for me to just lateral into Citi IBD and then recruit after a few years into PE, rather than go the MBA route through consulting?
Given the above, does anyone have any advice on which is a better fit for me?
Thanks a lot
Which region / city are you from?
1. Going from cb to ib is definitely possible in Citi. Probably one of the places where it's relatively easier. Have so quite some people do that.
2. I saw some pages about masters in finance sponsorship at London Business School. Not sure if the page is outdated, but the page on lbs course checks out right as well.
Also, would you mind if I pm you? I am in a similar position and my goal is to recruit for pe as well, 2-3 years down the line..
I’m in London and sure for ahead, send me a PM.
Oh yeah, I’ve heard about the masters in finance sponsorship, but doesn’t really hold the same weight as an MBA going into PE? But I might be wrong here.
PM'ed
CB seems like a great career. TBH I'm keen to break in.
I seriously don't understand the attraction of consulting (just my opinion tho)...
I'm at Citi and would take strat consulting over Citi CB. at Citi you can switch internally to IB but usually after 2 years and only if you're a strong performer. More hoops to jump through and tbh Citi exit opps aren't that great. If you like strategy go with the consulting offer.
Does not being able to jump to IB make Citi worse than consulting?? Surely staying in CB would be on par with consulting anyway??
which is why i said take consulting especially if he's interested in strategy.
moving internally to IB aside, strategy consulting at a tier 2 shop will provide more exits than CB that's for sure
have seen people from ATK, LEK, and the like move to MM PE whereas CB doesn't really provide any strategy/corp dev/PE exit opps
Maybe it depends on region, are you in London?
A couple of people in Citi CB say they work with IBD in their coverage group so if they are performing well they can switch over relatively easily? How true is that?
When people move from CB to IB internally after 2 years, do they start as first-year Analysts in IB?
-The comments here are missing the biggest point that OP mentioned - travel. Look man, if you're going to dread travelling 4 days a week to shit holes like Topeka or Scranton, don't even think about a career in consulting. Really consider this - I've had friends who joined consulting from banking since they didn't really know what they wanted and hated the lifestyle the travel mandated and switched careers shortly after.
-As someone in a CB role, I can tell you that CB is probably the best WL / compensation balance in "high" finance (particularly at Citi which houses CB under the IB umbrella). Once you make Associate in CB you probably won't ever have anxiety over money again. At least in my sector, Citi is top 3 in the league tables for left lead on new syndicated financings - so you WILL get good experience modelling and learn enough about finance to go to industry if you want. CB work can be stale if you're not working on new deals since there's a lot of portfolio management paper pushing BS, but all in all it is a very sustainable WLB. Also coming from Citi CB you WILL be able to jump to IB in a year or two with some networking if you want to work more hours and get on the sell side - but you'll quickly learn either way exactly how big of a difference 50-65 hrs a week is vs. 80 hours (which you'd likely average in IB) since you will probably touch 80 hours once or twice a year in CB. Let me tell you - 60 is sustainable and not that big of a difference from 40 since you can still have a life (assumes no kids) and 80 is fucking miserable and is a HUGE jump from 60, and will cause your mental and physical health to deteriorate rapidly.
Pm me if you need more info.
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