Corporate Finance Analyst at Commerz Bank in FFM, Research at Alix partners in Europe or Transactions Trainee at PWC in Germany?

Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a career decision I'm currently facing. I'm going to graduate this year and I received an offer in two of these three positions .
My long term career goal is to go into IB(restructuring, lev.fin, less M&A) or PE / HF.
The pros and cons of these positions:

CF at CoBa in Frankfurt
Pro: corporate finance Banking division, good deal flow in Germany and good salary;
Cons: bad reputation and current situation of the bank

Research at Alix partners:
Pro: Interesting job with very experienced consultants and good brand and famous company for turnaround&restructuring;
Contra: Sort of back office position and I have no clue about possible exit opps from research and career progression- (change from a research position to a consultant position is rare)

Transaction Trainee at PwC:
Pro: terrific program with a lot of rotation through Valuation&Strategy, Business recovery services and transaction services and it seems a very good learning opportunity;
Contra: No clue if it is good for IBD or PE, be just one of the n people that started their career at PwC

Which one would you choose?

6 Comments
 
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I did TAS / FDD at a company like BRG / Ankura for my first two years out of undergrad in the US.I would take the transactions role at pwc and focus on modelling, overall deal rational and strategy, and keep a deal book you can allude to during interviews for banking. I know the main difference btw a transactions advisory role btw the states and europe is that european roles are a bit more modelling heavy which is great for sell-side and potentially ops side pe. Deal team can be possible w 2-4 years and fast promotes. Learn about rev and expense drivers and be able to break down the business model of your deals. Try and get staffed on distressed deals and it can also help your chances while networking as well. Further, the fact that you may be doing some T&R work will be extremely helpful in your candidacy for rx banking. Just make sure you market yourself correctly and have restructuring and M&A advisory so you show that you can learned and can do both types of work. This will keep exits open for sell-side m&a and ib rx. Just my two cents, also helps that you can reach out to pwc alumni that made it into IB. Good luck Op

Edit: just noticed this post is dummy old

 

What was TAS/FDD at the firm like? Where did you exit? Would love to hears pros and cons

 

Nice! Super cool to hear. Im looking to recruit for Ankura RX fulltime. Do you have any insights into that group?

 

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