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Career Resources
Plenty of ways to look at this, but the below is how I'd begin to think about it. It's not explicitly a pros & cons list, but hopefully it moves you in that direction
Keep in mind that the generalizations below (particularly around the relationship between exit ops and groups) are just that. Yes, there are more or less "natural" transitions, but one of the appeals of banking is that it opens a lot of doors, even outside of your particular product or coverage area. (very niche areas aside)
(1) Most simply, is there a product or industry that you're really interested in?
Banking often sucks. It sucks less if you're working in an area that you find interesting
Alternatively, do you think you'd be more interested in getting exposure to multiple products while focusing on one industry or getting exposure to multiple industries while focusing on one product?
(2) What do you want to do post-banking?
Assuming you don't plan to stay long-term (and even if you do), think about what skills/knowledge would be most relevant for your next job
Speaking at a high-level, if you want to do generalist PE, can't go wrong with straight M&A. If you think you might be more interested in doing corp dev or PE in a specific industry, maybe consider the associated industry group.
(3) How is that group structured at that particular bank?
More relevant if you're leaning towards coverage. Assuming most coverage groups don't run all modeling, try to figure out how work is generally split between groups. It's fine that you won't get as many reps as a product group, but you certainly want enough to make sure you're learning those skills
Alternatively, does that particular product group silo you into a specific industry early on? If so, would you prefer a more generalist experience?
If I could just jump on this... ECM gets lots of flak on the forum it seems. What are the pros of it?
Can't say I'm terribly familiar with ECM's day-to-day, but I think some just generally find the work less aligned to their interests or the skillsets they need for the next job they want (often PE here).
I think the quality of experience also probably varies a lot more in ECM per the variables above. When people think of the really marquee events in a company's life (read as the transactions you want to work on), IPO and M&A are at the top of the list. Just by the numbers, there's a lot more M&A to go around.
That being said, if you're working in a group with a really strong ECM practice (ie: competitive for lead left IPOs, etc.) and the IPO markets are open (not a given), I'm sure it can be a really interesting/exciting role. Lifestyle's also generally better than straight IB, though of course there are some degrees of tradeoff with stronger deal flow. So potentially a more sustainable career as well.
tl;dr ECM can be a great job/career. It just doesn't happen to align as well with the interests of some users here. Others can provide a more educated view
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