Energy Corp Dev exit ops

I consider myself to be extremely fortunate as I've managed to land a corporate development gig at a multinational energy company straight out of university, never having gained investment banking or strategy consulting experience prior to starting. I genuinely can't believe my luck at times, however, I'd like to know how my career could develop from here even though I'm still relatively new in the job. Due to my position being quite unusual, it seems that that searching WSO isn't really yielded any results for me. As such, I was hoping that some of you more experience monkeys could help enlighten me.

The vast majority of my job revolves around project finance modelling. I also have some exposure to strategy and M&A. I work in a very small team and have excellent superiors who really take the time to mentor me, so as you can imagine, I'm involved with a lot of high level stuff as well as  the nitty gritty details. Editing and reediting the fonts on power point slides plays no part in my job... Literally everything I'm doing seems to have value to it and is a learning experience, whether its something basic like expanding the models and chasing round #refs so they actually work, or something more pivotal like speaking to F500 C-level executives about partnership opportunities. So, now that you have some understanding of what I'm up to, my questions are as follows...

Obviously I'm part of the project sponsor team rather than the banking team financing the developments, but how similar is "project finance" from the other side of the table in terms of career development? Would infrastructure PE firms be happy enough to consider PF experience when it comes from industry rather than from a bank? Might they even prefer it? Is what is written about PF on WSO applicable to me?

How attractive would I likely be to a bank's energy PF team a few years down the line? Would making this move be advantageous in any way, or would it be a step backwards?

Would I be completely out of the running for infrastructure PE jobs that require M&A experience? Obviously the deal flow in industry is tiny compared to the M&A division of a bank, but I would have significantly more involvement in acquisitions than your average analyst at a bank given the size of my department.

Any thoughts on how this job might position me for business school? Would the top schools take an interest?

Is there any other advice that you more experienced moneys can offer me that will help me? I really do love my job and have no intentions of changing it any time soon, but I want to know what options might be open to me and how to position myself for them, so all answers are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Was in a similar position 4 or 5 years ago... Focus on getting meaningful experience: getting staffed on deals that get done, progressive leadership and responsibility, exposure to senior management, international experience, etc... This should be enough to work your way to a top 10 school where you should be able to attract attention from O&G, Nat Res and Infra groups at different places.

 
Gulf Coast Finance:

Also, quit pounding your chest so much.

No chest pounding going on here... it's mostly fluke that I'm in this position and I know it. Just wanted to give a bit of background and explain my situation as best I can since it's quite unusual.

Thanks all for your advice.

 

Quia sit esse voluptas laboriosam. Sunt occaecati harum nobis adipisci. Repellendus est sed consectetur maiores qui. Officia sit vitae et ab. Facere et et recusandae dicta.

Voluptas consequuntur aliquam sunt illo saepe quidem maiores. Accusantium delectus rerum assumenda deserunt dignissimos mollitia sunt amet. Non voluptas rerum iusto eaque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

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

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 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

March 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

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
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...”