At a Crossroads between MM Consulting vs Boutique ER

Good Morning the highly esteemed and knowledgeable residents of WSO.

Today was a good day, I received 2 offers by two different middle market companies in differing sectors. I am currently in a dilemma choosing between a CorpFin & TAS associate consultant role and a* Equity & Fixed Income Researcher*.
Both position pay me roughly the same (b4 bonuses) and both has similar benefits.
Here are some of my thoughts below :

  1. Hours. Consulting has to have longer and unpredictable long hours. While research are fairly better from some of the people i talk to

  2. Skills & Knowledge gained. Now this is where i have most of my dilemma, i do not have a clue which option gave me a better opportunity to learn and grow as a professional.

  3. Commute, I live in 2nd most populous city in the world so i took into consideration that the consulting role might just made me insane sitting in traffic 4+ hours a day (although the office itself is far closer to where i live than the Research role office's). I don't mind travelling but i hate being in a traffic jam

  4. Exit Opps. Both companies are middle market afaik in their respective industry, but i do think the consulting role is far better since i could transition into any industry far easier than the research role.

  5. Bosses. I already interviewed with both role's potential bosses. The Partner at the consulting role is your ruthless, no BS, ambitious yet supportive (from what i experienced during the interview) boss. Definitely not for the weak but i kinda drawn to his leadership qualities. The research role is the exact opposite, he is rather quiet reserved and a bit shy although much friendlier than the consulting's Partner. Partner also mentioned he much rather have a guy/gal who's independent and requires little to no assistance when it comes to working.

I have until the 8th of April to decide between those two roles.

My endgame is getting into either BB IBD before 30 or gone the entrepreneurial route in my 40's. Between those year i'm also planning to get my MBA and CFA

My background is Southeast Asia Semi-Target Uni Marketing Major undergraduate, minoring in capital markets. Currently working as Corpfin in a small O&G company.

Sorry for the extra long post but i really wanted to get an insight from the good people here since i barely have any connections within the industry. Thank you for your time and attention and may you guys have a great day!

 

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