Corporate Development VS Investment Banking for Junior Summer
Hi all,
It is coming near the end of the recruiting process for the summer of 2016. I currently only have a corporate development offer at a F500 in NYC (a FIG company, not TMT firm). It is not really well known, and I'm not sure I would be able to work on a lot of transactions over the summer.
I believe I will definitely be doing FT recruiting again for IBD in the summer and senior fall semester, so I was wondering, what do you all think is the best move for me this summer if I wanted to pursue IBD full time? Take the corp dev offer, or should I try to get an IBD internship this summer at a potentially small bank??
Note: I previously had an investment banking internship my sophomore summer at another small, no-name boutique.
Thank you all!
You don't have to answer this question, but if you've known you wanted to go into IBD for over a year and weren't able to get an SA position, what makes you think anything will change when it comes to FT recruiting?
On an unrelated note, BlackRock does not fit the definition of "not really well known"
Well I made it to half the superdays for the banks I got interviews with, so I'd like to think I may have more success with FT recruiting if I can get feedback from my interviewers. Plus, HR/the interviewers also told me to come back for FT recruiting interviews. also, a lot of people have gone from working in PE or in corporate or transaction banking to IBD FT as well, so I'm sure you could possibly make the case for going from other jobs to IBD FT.
haha nah its not BlackRock I'm talking about. I wish it were, but I'm still waiting to hear back from them.
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Choosing offers: Summer Analyst (Corp Dev or IB) (Originally Posted: 01/06/2014)
Hello everyone. I am a junior at a semi-target currently in the midst of IB summer analyst interviews with top-tier firms for a regional office outside of NY. Additionally, last semester I applied online to a corporate development internship at a post-IPO tech start-up (not in Silicon Valley but competitive with players there such as Groupon), went through the process, and was given the offer. From what I understand the intern will be doing modeling related to potential M&A, industry and company research, and supporting strategic partnerships with written materials/presentations. It sounds like a blend of consulting and banking since I would be applying critical thinking skills and strategically helping one company, and I know Corp Dev is an exit opp for IB, but would I be missing out by going for this over the traditional banking route? Keep in mind that the Corp Dev offer is for a completely different industry (tech) than the coverage groups of the big banks I am interviewing with at the regional office. Any advice or insight on which would be better for a long-term career (I want to be in PE/VC, maybe start my own business) would be appreciated, since this internship also offers the possibility of a full time Corp Dev Analyst role if I perform well.
*Also, I don't have any IB offers yet, but I am going to continue the process and believe I am competitive (already been invited to one superday). My question is assuming I do get offers and have to choose between IB or the Corp Dev role.
Oh and the company is concurrently recruiting for a full time corporate development analyst and the job description requires 2-3 years of IB or Consulting experience so it seems like a really unique opportunity to get in as an intern.
This really depends on what you want to do in 2 years. If you want to do PE, then banking is the more tried and true path. If this is a competitive post-IPO tech startup, I would say the experience would be great for VC (as opposed to banking - which unless you have a good tech background and TMT banking, you typically don't see banking --> VC).
If you feel that corp dev is something you would like to get into and this is a company that you would like to join, then you could very well just skip the banking step. Banking --> Corp Dev happens a fair bit, but it's sort of 'when positions are available/need for hiring' kinda deal. PE of course has spots year-over-year and you can go through a very formal process all around the same time, but corp dev post IB just depends on what's available.
And on whether you miss anything by not going through IB... that depends. IB gives you a good foundation, and decently marketable for industry roles. But if the tech IPO's in-house M&A and corp dev team is fairly sophisticated (as in, run by some guys/gals with some strong M&A/PE type backgrounds) and you know that as a incoming intern (and subsequent FT analyst) that you'll get the same kind of exposure as post-IB analysts, then I don't see why not just go into it directly. Assuming, that is, that PE is not the end all be all for you.
I think I would prefer to be in VC long-term and serve on boards of start-ups. The company has a great culture and I would definitely enjoy working there, and the group is run by ex-investment bankers. I'm going to confirm that I will be getting comparable modeling/analysis skills to IB by calling the group head soon.
I think if you're more set on VC and really like the tech space, or could see yourself at this firm for some time, then you should go with it over banking. If this wasn't a quality tech firm, as in, it could be a shaky startup and if you're more risk-averse, I would say go with banking. And I would say go with banking if you're more bent on PE (but you're not), so I this sounds like a pretty cool opportunity.
thanks for your advice, I am definitely leaning towards taking it
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