How do you choose your desired industry group?
Hey all,
In final stages with a EU UMM bank, and they've asked me to email by Friday with my preferred group. The options are TMT, Consumer, and Industrials.
Honestly, I'm torn. All three seem great, the deal flow looks solid across the board, and everyone I've met in each group has impressed me. I think I need to figure out what questions to ask myself (and others) to actually make this decision. For those who've been through it, how did you know the group you ended up in was the right fit?
TIA
To choose your desired industry group, consider the following key factors based on the most helpful WSO content:
Interest in the Industry:
Exit Opportunities:
Deal Flow and Skill Development:
Group Culture and Fit:
Future Industry Outlook:
Work-Life Balance:
Ultimately, the "right fit" comes down to aligning your interests, career goals, and personal preferences with the group's characteristics. If you're still unsure, reach out to analysts or associates in each group to get a better sense of their day-to-day work and culture.
Sources: Post MBA IB: deciding which group?, An Overview of Technology Media and Telecom (TMT) - Part 1 of 2, TMT vs Healthcare vs Consumer vs Industrials pros and cons, Barclays vs Guggenheim IBD (New York)
Think more about what industry you would want to be in and the outlook for each as a future career. TMT will usually be on the "cutting edge" but you'd be working through one of the most uncertain times in the space while everyone figures out AI and the changing landscape. Industrials is the largest industry because it covers so much so there is a lot of diversity. The downside is that Industrials is a slightly boring sector as it is predominantly legacy businesses that are usually considered less sexy. Consumer is more recognizable brand names that everyday people interact with and there is usually a bit more intrigue because of that. The downside is that consumer can be very cyclical (so can some industrials to be fair).
If you plan to exit in a few years, Industrials will give you the most optionality, but TMT would give you an advantage if you wanted to exit into a large tech company. Honestly, it mostly comes down to what industry you actually want to talk about, read about, and be involved in for the foreseeable future.
What about FIG or NatRes?
Good advice but I’d also suggest to take into account the deal flow of the teams and junior culture
when the deal flow looks equal everywhere, the decision is really about people and platform, not the industry. ask the analysts and associates one or two levels up which group is actually winning mandates at this bank right now, and where that group's analysts have been exiting. group strength varies a ton by bank and geography - a great TMT seat at one shop is a sleepy one at another.
and this isn't a tattoo. people lateral between groups after a year all the time, and at the UMM level the bank's brand plus the live deals you actually touched matter more than the sector label on your resume. pick the team you'd want to be staffed with at 2am and the rest mostly sorts itself out.
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