Currently in a corp dev/strategy role at a later stage tier 1 start up. Worked in ER at a BB before making the switch. I had previously tried to lateral to banking but got blocked by internal politics. Banking is hiring like crazy now and I’ve been approached by a few recruiters.
My rationale for going back to the sell side and into banking would be to (a) have it on my resume since when I was recruiting previously I got filtered out a lot for not having transaction experience, (b) have more career optionality, which will hopefully lead to (c) higher pay, and (d) the option to build a career in banking which will also allow me to avoid having to do an MBA - not anything against MBAs but I feel like I've always learned so much on the job and I really dislike the idea of taking out loans. It's not that I dislike corp dev/strategy work per se but I'm having trouble seeing a career in it, especially as the pay has a relatively low ceiling and most of the strategy work is not that useful (ex: trying to create a decision matrix for everything).
Am I crazy for wanting to go back to the SS/to banking after having already pursued a traditional "exit"? Are there other types of opps I should be looking at?
What level are you at, what is your current comp range and what level are they recruiting you for?
My only caution with this move is that you need to think carefully about the lifestyle implications. Your hours will about double. Building a career in banking from associate level sounds easier than it is. On that note, heavily research associate exits from any groups you're interested in. Are they able to land solid PE/VC/other things that interest you, or are people going mainly to corp dev roles? In my experience that has been the most common associate exit by far, so be careful not to jump to a group where that's your main option.
Finally, any thought towards moving to corp dev at a larger or acquisitive company that separates out strategy into a different department?
Overall don't think this is an insane move, just make sure you diligence groups well and are eyes wide open on the lifestyle.
Thanks for this. Our team is all ex-IB/ex-MBB so the hours aren't all that great right now, though I get that the IB hours will be worse than I'm expecting. Currently at senior manager level making ~150-200k all in. I'd be recruiting for associate roles in banking, don't know if i should be pushing for VP level or not but without SS transaction experience that seems unlikely.
I've thought about pure corp dev but I'm not that excited about most larger companies. Definitely appreciate the feeling of being nimble and the small teams in start ups.
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