Corporate development or Big 4 Transaction Services?

Hi guys,

Basically, the title. If you had an offer from both, which one would you choose? I would appreciate if any of you could advise on tthis. I am especially interested in opinions of folks who are from both sides: corp dev and TS. My ultimate goal is to get into IB in the future.

TS is not valuation, but Im sure lots of modeling involved. corp dev position is with a fast growing F500, which has been very active in m&a (and expected to be).

Thanks.

 

Former TS intern here. Can't speak much for corp development but I would put your chances at slim for getting in banking after starting in TS. I interned in the winter then used that to leverage a IBD SA job this summer and I got a lot of exposure to Big 4 TS and what people do with it.

Working in TS is OK. Travel is frequent, cool people but the work was boring in my opinion. I don't know of anyone in my office that switched to banking. Not saying it doesn't happen but I didn't see anyone/hear of anyone doing it in the past. The best exit opp that I saw was a manager that got accepted into Columbia MBA. She was a CFA and a CPA as well. If your doing TS and studying for CPA, CFA, your probably working as much as banking anyways but getting paid 1/3 of the comp. In total, the most common exit opp for Big 4 is hopping to another Big 4. If you can absolutely kill it, maybe you'll get into some type of role at a PE shop.

 

CorpDev is a career; a guy could work in the field his entire life and be happy. People only do TS for the exit ops, and they aren't great. TS is among the most interesting lines of work at a big 4 (except senior tax partners, and the miniscule M&A teams), but that is not saying much.

CorpDev will set you up much better for bschool, which is just about the best way to make a career transition.

 

Voluptas sunt vero quae et reprehenderit et qui facere. Sed sit incidunt rerum et non est. Et exercitationem ratione architecto corrupti molestias temporibus aut.

Sunt a autem ut quia. Id quisquam accusantium officia odio fuga voluptatem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”