Big 4 TAS or IB Controller?

Currently have an offer to intern for a Big 4 TAS next summer and will most likely get a full-time offer upon completion of the internship. However, I’m also interviewing soon for the Controllers division at a bulge bracket IB.

If I get offers for both positions, which one should I accept? I’m interested more in finance roles rather than accounting and would rather work for an IB. However, I don’t want to pigeonhole myself either and get stuck in a back-office position forever. I applied for some other front-office roles at the IB but given my credentials I think it’s unlikely I’ll get those positions.

If I want to transition to more finance-heavy/front-office roles would it make more sense to start in TAS? Or is it possible to get there starting in Controllers?

3 Comments
 
I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Take it from somebody who worked for 2 years in EY SaT, you're far better off taking a front office position @ a Big 4 vs. a back office job at a BB. You're not focusing on accounting as much as you think, you're going to be doing a lot of valuation work (DCF, Comps Building, NAV, EV/EBITDA etc.). 

The exit ops are great as well. You'll easily be able to lateral into a T2 BB IB position or a Elite MM Boutique, with some years under your belt. 

 

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