New Graduate Offer Decision: Forbes 40 Corporate Development vs BB IBD (ECM) vs BIG4 Corporate Finance
Hi people,
I need to decide my first career job among (1) Forbes 40 Corporate Development (directly under the CEO's chain of command), (2) BB IBD (ECM), (3) BIG4 Corporate Finance.
I have always dreamed of joining the (1) Forbes 40 Corporate Development or to go to Investment Management Industry some point in my career, and during my college years, I tried my best to break into the IBD and Corporate Finance fields, as I felt these experience will leverage my value for future exits in various industries.
F40 corporate development has never hired a new graduate in the past, yet whilst networking with my school alumni, I luckily got the chance to have interviews and made it through. However, after I received the offer letter, I realized F40's base salary is merely 2/3 of BB IBD's and almost same as BIG4's. Also, the F40's job description is more similar to management and strategy rather than corporate finance; since I am not a finance major, I had this feeling that I want to master finance during my early career and later move onto strategy and investment.
I don't think declining F40's offer now will burn down the bridge between me and them, but it is also not guaranteed they will take me in after a few years from now. The firm is very active on M&A and investments, yet I still wonder if taking F40 is the right decision for my future career. Also, if finance is your recommendation, which one is better BB IBD (ECM) or BIG4 Corporate Finance? - I am not 100% sure, but I heard ECM has very limited exit opportunities, on the other hand, Corporate Finance provides more chances to join PE, IM, and Corporate Development.
Thank you!
Bump
At the B4 you will be working IB hours during busy season for barely half the pay. There's also the risk you get shitty engagements or audit support work at a few of them. Not worth it.
The skillset in B4 TAS is relevant but I don't see why it'd be easier to spin than BB ECM.
I think you can at least cross the B4 off. I've worked in B4 CorpFin/TAS, it's not bad but it's also not amazing.
Thank you! Really helped. The company is a pure holding company and one of its subsidiaries is energy division. They offered me a position at Holding company side (Like Berkshire Hathaway) that manages and liaises with the energy subsidiary across the world. Perhaps, I should go ask them for more details..?
Read your other post and the Forbes role isn't corp dev. With that said, BB ECM
Thank you! Really helped. The company is a pure holding company and one of its subsidiaries is energy division. They offered me a position at Holding company side (Like Berkshire Hathaway) that manages and liaises with the energy subsidiary across the world. Perhaps, I should go ask them for more details..?
Can't hurt, it is definitely a unique position. Because you have the offer you can be a little more blunt when inquiring (politely of course) about what skills you will develop and if it would resemble a more conventional corp dev role. Congrats on the offers and good luck
BB IBD Is hands down the answer - as other have said, don't even think about Big 4 and the corporate development program could be great and all that, but for your first job there is nothing better than doing banking for your career (IMO).
Even if you 'learned' 2x as much at the big 4 firm, having the banking on your resume will open so many more doors down the road. Even if you learn absolutely nothing on the job at the BB, you will be better off b/c society views I-bankers mystically and you will be given the benefit of the doubt more times than not.
Just my two cents.
Let’s clarify though - is the Big 4 job actually Corporate Finance, or is it TAS/FDD/AAS, etc?
Big 4 Corp Fin is actual M&A investment banking, which I think is being lost on some of these replies. The decision then isn’t accounting vs banking, it’s BB ECM vs MM M&A, which is a different question entirely. This is particularly meaningful if it’s KPMG or PWC, as they’re actually pretty high-volume advisors, which means lots of deal reps (admittedly, the deals will be smaller).
If you want PE, MM IBD (i.e. the Big 4 job) will position you much better than BB ECM
It's Corporate Finance Advisory that deals with M&A, restructuring, and financing.
Laborum veniam expedita qui. Rerum facilis sapiente qui autem tempore sapiente. Nesciunt est dolorum inventore aperiam sed mollitia consequuntur. Ut iure sit minus nesciunt sapiente. Ullam a sapiente sit doloremque. Magni voluptates eum ipsum iure laboriosam nemo.
Quo et vero et et in velit. Ea ut aut fugiat voluptate non. Repudiandae id vel aliquam inventore. Mollitia ab quis culpa sint.
Nihil nemo ipsum quia voluptatibus voluptatem explicabo. Expedita consequatur odit sit qui et voluptas et. Aspernatur incidunt tenetur autem. Consequuntur qui aut maxime fugiat repellendus officiis ab. Autem laudantium consequatur inventore ullam. Aliquid placeat aliquam expedita ducimus laborum vel libero.
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...