Hi - anyone have any views on Corp Dev for a F20 company vs investment banking - are the pay scales really diff? what about career prospects after a couple years and good transactional experience can one make a jump to a BB?
Thanks in advance.
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have a friend who joined corp development after 2 years in industry (not banking)
pay scales at the junior levels are pretty different from banking. while salary levels might be pretty much even, the year-end bonus i'd estimate to be anywhere between 5-25% of your salary... whereas in banking, it's gonna be 75-125% of your salary during a good year like this.
seriously, corp dev is a good job if you love finance, love having a life, and can withstand a substantial haircut in pay. corp dev is also a common exit opp for consultants, as well as a few bankers... after 2 years of making that much $$, i'd think most bankers have too big of an ego to take the cut in pay
Its all a lifestyle choice. Most people find out after they start that they had the grass is always greener mentality. CorpDev day in and day out can be very boring so you need to have a good "outside work" life to compensate.
i don't know that corp dev is all that boring... in fact i think at the junior level it's far more stimulating than banking. in banking, you're forced to put up with so much BS work it's not even funny (updating charts for market pricing, formatting of the books, bubble charts, even tweaking the model for stupid assumptions)...
in corp development, you get a more holistic picture of the true value of companies and you can use your finance knowledge to get involved with the strategic part of the business. to me, that's more value-added than anything i could possibly do in banking... it's always your own intiative in banking to explore why we think of deals this way, etc...
imo the buyside is always better until you get to VP-levels in banking
So after a coupleyears of good strategic and transaction exposure, will you be attractive to a BB?
Is this common?
help please...
i don't know what entry point you are looking at into corp dev, and i don't know where you want to lateral into BB...
if you are where i think you are, and are thinking about going from undergrad to corp dev, doing a few years, and then lateralling to analyst / associate, i don't think it is that feasible since banks rarely hire from industry and want to take analysts/assoc straight from undergrad/mba, respectively. not saying it can't be done, but you will probably have to look for those occasional openings that happen when 1st yr analysts or 2/3rd year assoc's leave and compete for those spots.
but if you've already done 2 yrs in banking and are exiting to corp dev... if you do well for 5-10 years there, there is a possibility you can lateral back as a VP... but again, i think this is rare
if you are in scenario 1, to put this in perspective... corp dev groups typically only hire people who have gone through 2 years of banking, so if you are straight out of undergrad, you are in a good position, even if it is at a junior level. if you are in scenario 2, the work is stimulating and you have a chance to impact the firm... not saying don't try for BB, but you're still in a good spot.
these are my 2 cents, so hope this helps
Coming across from Industry, you could find that you are older than your peers. By the time you've been up the relevant experience outside of IB (even something as simple as getting face time in front of your own CEO/CFO) you've normally been in the job for a while. I don't know any other industry where you can have contacts/ deal experience/ confidence so soon after leaving school.
Hey Wannbblue, you say you have 5+ years of Industry Experience after MBA; could you please give me what the salary and payscale progression looks like for industry for an MBA grad? Thanks so much and sorry i can't help :P :P
Far easier to go from banking to Corp Dev - you can leave as an Associate or junior VP and go in at a high level - at which point you will take a minor paycut (10% or so), but you can make almost as much due to transaction bonuses etc.
You are saying people in corp dev can make close to what their peers would in IB?
What does a person at VP level (MBA + 5 years experience) at a company agressive on M&A front say (Google, IBM, Microsoft etc.) make?
Also would they consider people without deal making experience? what would they look for?
Final questions - what are prospects after a few years in a Corp Dev role at one of the larger Fortune 20 firms? PE an option down the road?
on Cisco's development group...sounds quite interesting. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060626/26best.htm
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