I would rather not be in the services industry?
So I know I'm very early in my career, less than a year into my role as a TMT M&A IB Analyst. I've been having a bit of revelation since working along with and talking to friends in services industries: IB, consulting, even law. If you make it all the way as a banker, your skillset is just securing and facilitating transactions. PE is more interesting given your firms and your own money is at risk, but still, you are external to the actual operations of companies. Similar with consulting and big law.
My dad is a public company C suite exec who climbed from working on the floor of a factory about 25 years ago. He grew with a team of people who respected him and gradually took on more responsibility, ultimately managing tens of thousands of people in a company that really directly impacts the lives of many. He worked his ass off for my whole life but finally is now at a place where he is able to make a lot while managing to have a really high quality of life.
Somehow the ladder seems so much more engaging and exciting to me than the former, especially seeing the seniors in services industry often being so overworked and miserable, but I also understand the path there is much less clear cut than making director or partner at a services firm.
How can I most effectively leverage the skillset I am building in services to transition to a company? It's my goal in life to meet or exceed what my dad was able to, given he was an immigrant and I have access to such an amazing life thanks to my parents.
It's next to impossible to be a C-suite exec, and the path from factory floor to CEO is basically closed these days. So I wouldn't base your expectations off of that level of work life balance and comp.
That said, go find a corp dev or corp strategy role at a firm that excites you. These tend to be c-suite feeders and you are either acquiring firms to help the company in a strategic area, or building the next 5-7 years of your company's strategic road map. Ideally find somewhere that tends to shift people around internally if you decide you want to experience a business area for a bit.
Thanks for the input. I agree that it is statistically very unlikely to make it that far, but I feel like given I have a framework and a jump with the IB career, maybe it's something I can aspire towards. Perhaps private equity portco C-suite could be an alternative route that I could work towards achieving. Corp Dev is quite interesting, but it seems like the role varies very heavily on the company you go to, so that's something I need to really research.
After 8 years of working purely in M&A roles, both as a banker and a roll-up machine, I came to realization that I did not like being strictly an acquisition mercenary that hops to the next deal after the closing dinner. I loved deal making and enjoy certain aspects of deal execution, but found myself more interested in the parts of M&A that are missed when you're just an advisor. Through M&A, we were creating bigger/exciting companies and I constantly found myself wanting to stay on and work through the challenges of integrating or realizing synergies (that we had either exaggerated or downplayed depending on what served us best lol).
I left banking to join a company that I had been involved with in a M&A capacity. Ironically enough, it is a services company but my role is very much centered around Corporate Strategy / Development. We're an acquisitive company, so I still get to be heavily involved in M&A (while shifting most of the busy work that I hated to advisors/sponsors) but I get to spend a lot more time working on the operational side. In the last year, I've worked on acquisitions, designed compensation plans, built data warehouses, and have pretty much been been the spreadsheet jockey for every single major firmwide decision. My direct report is the defacto CEO and I have a seat at the table in the C-Suite despite being 15 years younger than the next person.
Background and self-congratulations aside, the ability to step into that role was 100% due to my experience in banking. I just made a post about how gutting out a few years in banking will increase one's skillset 10x relative to other business roles. I truly believe that. The skillsets you're building now will all be hyper relevant to what I understand your future goals to be. In particular:
There are countless additional points, and definitely some big ones that I missed, but the message is that you're getting a really great crash course in business right now and are on an accelerated path for professional development. I recommend that you continue to be a sponge and develop those skills. If interesting to you, use your exposure to the companies that you're working with explore career options with them. It worked for me and now I'm in a position where I enjoy my job, while having a balance that allows me to write dissertations on anonymous message boards at 2pm on a Wednesday (JK, I'm slammed and heavily procrastinating).
TLDR: You're learning worthwhile skillsets in your current role so take comfort in that. Use your exposure to companies and deals that you're working on to identify opportunities you might like to take advantage of. Consider Corp Dev / Corp Strat roles as a nice balance between transaction exposure and operations.
I do largely agree: I am enjoying my time thus far, and my development both personally and professionally has been immense working in the industry. Even just learning how to dress so I don't look like an idiot in front of clients, when to speak and when to keep my mouth shut, how to send concise emails and getting the meaning across, creating concise and good looking decks, etc. have all been skills that I've picked up that I'm sure will benefit me for the long term.
I just want to use these skills to do more than just tagging along for a few months to close a deal, like you've mentioned. I feel like I want to go into manufacturing because it's my dad's industry and I think it'd be super cool to grow in the same vertical he did, but I also understand being in TMT that software might be a better way to go.
Working 9-5 Monday to Friday as a 23 year old honestly doesn't sound great to me. Once I'm 30 if I have a wife and kids, sure I see the appeal, but till then I want to build the lead and get ahead of my peers.
ask your dad to hire you then
Doloremque voluptatibus mollitia consequatur aut qui. Omnis delectus incidunt voluptate est aliquam. Exercitationem voluptas voluptatem rerum aut repudiandae.
Sint rerum aut quia laudantium modi laborum non nesciunt. Aut ipsam dolorum in fuga. Nobis laudantium quasi possimus sed ut asperiores tempore. Aut delectus ducimus voluptates expedita illum est rerum. Molestiae atque non dolor omnis aut voluptas.
Commodi recusandae alias quia ea neque. Reiciendis eum blanditiis ut necessitatibus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...