Corp. Dev and/or Corp. Strat Role with a non-finance/accounting background?
I am ready to leave the consulting world behind & I've been eyeing corp dev or strategy roles, though would be open to other roles in industry. The thing that gives me pause is that I don't have a strong finance/accounting background (though I have a very basic understanding of both).
My background is as follows:
-Current manager at in the M&A Strategy practice of a B4 in Chicago
-Experience has all been in post-merger integration work (operations focused)
-A generalist as it relates to industry / functional expertise; though my experience has been broad across both categories
-No experience with any kind of due diligence work
-Come from a liberal arts educational background (I have a BA/history & a JD)
To you corp dev/corp strategy professionals:
-Do you work with folks with similar non finance/accounting backgrounds in your role? I hear corp dev. is especially model heavy and full of ex bankers and PE types
-Without getting an MBA, is there anything I can be doing to make myself a more attractive candidate to employers in this space?
-Any courses or certifications that could help my case? I am eyeing a few financial modeling courses
-If corp dev. and strategy are pipe dreams, where else could someone with a background similar to mind fit in an industry role?
Any thoughts or opinions?
You've got a JD -- play that card and play it hard.
I'm on a Corp Strat/Dev team that consists of an SVP, 2 VPs, 2 Mgrs and 2 Analysts. One VP and I are the finance gurus, the SVP and 1 Mgr have a marketing background, and the last VP comes from the state (regulatory issues). Both analysts are generalists and came right out of school.
You could easily fill our Regulatory role with a JD. Yeah, it'd be better if you understood the finance aspects, and yeah, it be better if you had DD experience...but the regulatory piece is a big component of what we do, too.
Go get BIWS to brush up and sell your legal experience.
To be clear, I haven't doing anything related to law for 6+ years, but sounds like I need to play this up.
Are there any particular models I should be focusing on within BIWS?
Thanks for the very informative reply, +1SBed
partially depends on what level you come in at. if you're director or above, you probably won't be cranking out models, so your lack of finance skills is mitigated.
Praesentium quam fuga voluptas perspiciatis enim autem. Et voluptate voluptatem quasi et saepe provident quaerat. Error dolorem nesciunt aut doloribus. Eum voluptatem sint modi aut dolor rerum. Doloremque architecto sit iure saepe accusantium nulla incidunt. Omnis quo accusamus aut ex dolore.
Illum omnis dolores fugit. Consequatur ea deleniti suscipit aperiam asperiores sint ipsum fugiat. Quia adipisci fugiat tempora eveniet sint eos. Quos quia eius sit nostrum et sunt sed. Porro hic quaerat minus accusamus quidem. Qui non incidunt porro maiores eius praesentium.
Laboriosam alias unde omnis illo rem. At voluptatem ipsa quae excepturi blanditiis et. Et sed pariatur est accusantium velit magnam ut debitis. Consequuntur vero sed ut quo autem nostrum. Nesciunt doloremque accusantium voluptas.
Reiciendis dolor natus quia quod. Ut harum modi incidunt inventore minus commodi. Id nobis aliquid ut cum nihil. Aut porro dolores ea aperiam natus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...