2 potential career moves, which should I pick?

I'm currently at a big 4 firm doing financial statement assurance. I have my CPA license and am at a crossroads about what to do next.

I have an opportunity at a decently sized bank (~300m in assets). It's attractive salary/industry-wise and would allow me to get my foot in the door at a bank. The job is at the associate level in the credit products group which essentially would involve me preparing and reviewing due diligence on companies to assess credit worthiness, but I'm unsure how that type of role is viewed and I'm worried I may pigeonhole myself out of a true IB role. I also have talked to my current firm and think there's a good chance I could lateral into a transaction advisory role within the next year. The plan would then be to then switch to an IB role after a year or two of experience there.

If my eventual goal is to break into IB or other type of high finance role, what is the best option?

 

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