Why do people join Shareholder Activism Defense groups?

I’m trying to better understand the long-term career logic behind joining shareholder activism defense groups straight out of undergrad.

I completely get the interest-based argument; the work itself can be fascinating. You’re dealing with real strategic pressure, activist playbooks, board dynamics, capital allocation, and high-stakes decision making. From an intellectual standpoint, that’s very compelling.

What I’m less clear on is the career acceleration and exit optionality, especially compared to more traditional IB paths.

From the outside, it seems like:

• The skill set is quite niche and situational
• It doesn’t obviously translate to PE recruiting, which still tends to favor classic IB → PE pipelines
• Even activism hedge funds often seem to prefer candidates who did IB first, then PE, then moved into activism

Many activist situations rely heavily on lawyers and senior bankers, which can limit junior exposure to transferable deal execution skills.

So my honest question is: if someone joins an activism defense group right out of college, what does that realistically set them up for 3–5 years down the line?

Do people typically:

• Stay in advisory long term?
• Transition into broader M&A roles?
• Move into IR, strategy, or corporate roles?

Or is the value more about becoming very good at a specific niche rather than maximizing exits?

Again, not questioning the value of the work itself. Just trying to understand how people who’ve done this think about career trajectory and optionality.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s actually been in one of these groups.