Tech PE to Corp Dev in Tech
Hey monkeys, I'm not usually one to post, but I'm thinking of making a pretty big jump and I'm hoping to get some advice from the WSO community. I did my IB analyst stint at a top BB TMT group and I'm now entering my 3rd year in a well regarded UMM firm in their tech team. All 4 of those years have been filled with something many of us are familiar with: long intense hours and high performance expectations 100% of the time. I've finally reached a breaking point and I'm done with the industry. I can't take the micro managing from my VPs anymore and sure as hell do not envy them regardless of how much they make.
I'm looking to find a job with better work life balance that will still offer an interesting challenge to tackle. I think all roads point to doing Corp Dev in tech (or media since I did some of that in IB). The problem is my hometown (tier 2 city) doesn't have a big tech presence. I'm thinking of recruiting for fully remote jobs as an alternative.
My questions are:
How is career progression impacted from a fully remote job?
Mentally, how isolating does it feel being fully remote? Do you miss office life?
What should I look for / ask about with recruiters and current employees that is unique to remote Corp Dev jobs (vs. Corp Dev in office)?
I had the option to go fully remote at my previous big tech corp dev role - did not take it because the pay differed significantly in the T2 city I was thinking of moving to. Overall though, I think corp dev is one of the roles that probably can be done "mostly" remotely, especially at a bigger firm. The work is so cross functional and usually spans teams in multiple offices and time zones. Going fully remote definitely would have affected my visibility within the org though and likely reduced my progression - all those random pop ins with our CFO and CEO and grabbing lunch and coffee with the functional teams really builds your profile and you can't really replace that virtually. Corp dev is really a project management type role and it's much harder to bring teams together and get people to do stuff if all you're doing is sending email requests via email. Unless literally the whole company is remote, I think hybrid is the way to go for young professionals who are still trying to jump up the corporate ladder rapidly.
Being remote isn’t a problem if your stakeholders are too. As most M&A deals require GM/SLT sponsorship, see if the GMs are remote or where they are located.
Ask how the executives meet: My company’s SLT is spread out so they regularly meet remotely. If the entire SLT was in 1 city, then being remote could be a challenge as you move up.
Also try and clarify how often you can travel and visit offices, which will be good to do as you climb the ladder.
Sorry to hijack your thread, but since you're on the tech team at a UMM, would you mind sharing the city/coast? Have been interested in tech/software PE for some time, but would rather not be in SF in the long run.
Most UMM firms have a tech team nowadays and lots of them are on the east coast, which is where I am. I won’t say more as I’d like to stay anonymous. Plenty of firms in Boston, NYC, Miami and even Atlanta if you’re looking to stay on the east coast. Poke around WSO as this has been answered before.
Sounds like you were working in 2020 - how did you like being remote then? I personally found it incredibly isolating and felt like I never left my house. Yeah there are downsides to RTO, but mentally it's been better to get out of the house and actually talk to people. All of my friends who are still in remote jobs feel isolated and are looking for hybrid roles. I think it's a select few who can truly thrive in a 100% remote job.
Another thing to consider - is everyone fully remote, or are you remote and others are hybrid? It will definitely impact career progression if everyone is sitting around the conference table / in office 3 days a week, and you are the only guy on Zoom.
Tech is also somewhat flexible so you could consider a hybrid arrangement where you are traveling, I've seen people with arrangements where they fly in 1 week a month for example.
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