No Direction: At a crossroads, where my next move will either make me or break me.

I graduated undergrad from a non-target public university, Magna Cum Laude, 5 years ago. Last month I received my CFA designation. While the majority of my peers are now in managerial positions, I recently took a job as a senior analyst in a back office finance role within advertisement sales.

When I interviewed for my current role, I was told that my responsibilities would be much more strategic, specifically focused on pricing and inventory. In reality, my day to day is focused on creating KPI dashboards for executives and explaining variances from the budget. Although I have more work-life balance than ever before, I feel that my skillet is largely underutilized and the environment is significantly less intellectually stimulating. Also, the job has NOTHING to do with investing.

My previous job was in buy-side equity research as a consultant at a prominent value investment firm where I supported their Telco and Media analyst. Prior to that, I was in an analyst development program at a bulge bracket that groomed me for a portfolio manager role in fund of funds world.

I am sure many of you are scratching your heads and wonder why I took the back office finance role. Truthfully, I wanted a better work-life balance and to get more product exposure. In reality, my first day on the new job I knew I f***** up. Now I feel like I'm at a crossroads and that the next move I make will either make or break me. I don't mean to sound over-dramatic, but I feel like my resume screams "no direction" to recruiters. Obviously, I need to stick to a sub-set of finance. I have decided that I want to move into Corporate Development. During my job search ~6 months ago, before I took my current role, I had two interviews with two different firms in CD, but now I feel that I am at a disadvantage because of my current job.

I am pondering the following:

1) Do you think I'm at a major disadvantage compared to other candidates due to the lack of consistency and focus exhibited in my work experience? What is the best way of framing my situation? 2) Would it be in my best interest to go to a target school and get my MBA, then try applying again? 3) Is there anything I need a refresher on in terms of skill-set required for CD, other than M&A modeling? 4) I feel like I have a chance of getting into corporate development. I was able to land two interviews without networking. Should I focus most of my efforts on networking to increase my chances of landing a role? 5) Is it possible to move into PE from CD? 6) Is there anyone currently in CD that would not mind taking a look at my resume? I would really appreciate it.