I’m two years into IB and starting to weigh exit options. Everyone talks about PE being the ‘obvious’ path, but I’ve heard whispers about corporate development roles offering better work-life balance. The problem is, I don’t know anyone who’s actually made that transition. Our community’s alumni case studies mention people navigating this choice, but how detailed are they really? Do they show compensation trajectories 5+ years out? Specifically, can anyone share experiences about how they used these resources to compare long-term career satisfaction between the two paths?
lol at thinking corp dev gives ‘balance.’ buddy of mine jumped ship to a F500 last year - now spends weekends explaining pivot tables to c-suite who think EBITDA grows on trees. case studies here are just survivorship bias trophies anyway. follow the money, not the PowerPoints
i asked this same Q last month! one user dm’d me screenshots of a case study showing PE associates avg 23% higher comp at 5yr mark but 60+hrs vs corp dev at ~55hrs. not sure how current tho? would love more data points!
The most valuable case studies show progression timelines. Look for ones where alumni revisited their decisions 3-5 years post-transition. In my experience, PE exits tend to accelerate leadership opportunities but demand continued intensity. Corporate development offers more portfolio diversity - one member transitioned to a MedTech CD role and now leads cross-functional M&A integrations.