Hi guys,I'm a final year econs undergrad deciding between corporate finance (leaning towards corporate advisory eg lazard as opposed to IBs) & strat consulting (likes of Bain). initially i was planning to work in strat consulting for 2 years before jumping to private equity. but looking at the current situation, i'm hesitating whether the pe/ corp finance industry will recover to how it used to be. how are the exit opportunities of corp finance compared to strat consulting?cheers

IMHO you'll find it easier to make the jump into PE from a strong advisory house like Lazard. You'll have stronger modelling skills and transaction experience. I think Strat hires are less of a 'safe bet' for a PE house and so are more vulnerable to employment environment at the time.

Much will depend on where you see your potential exit. If it is in high finance then taking a CF role would be more suitable. If you want to get into Industry then the strat role would be more suitable. If you wanted to 'go it alone' then the strat consulting might be more useful unless of course you wanted to open an independent advisory boutique like evercore etc.

where do you guys see private equity/corp finance in a few years from now? (will it recover?) and what are the exit opps of strat consulting? i only heard that consultants usually go on to become senior consultants/ leave to open their own consulting firms. but thats about it i've heard. and i've heard ex bain consultants being sought after by pe firms like bain capital though. i was thinking of moving on to bain's pe division after 2 years in their strats, but maybe it's a different case if applying to other pe firms/ hedge funds for that matter.to be honest, i like the work from both consulting, corp finance though i find corp finance skills are more transferrable, correct me if i'm wrong. from what i gather, consulting wise is more about research, making recommendations which may not necessarily be used by the clients.

Kath the preferred hiring profile to enter PE is MBA plus 2 - 3 years experience in a bluge bracket IB, not strat consulting or CF advisory, although you can also get in from these but you'll struggle vrs someone with a Wharton MBA and 2 years at Merrill. Personally I find it odd that graduates these days make a decision they want to enter x industry without any experience of either that industry or the industries they see as stepping stones. What is to say you won't really enjoy CF advisory or strat and want to stay there - or get accepted at all? Focus on first steps and make them successful - get your applications in for the next grad intakes in IB, CF houses and strat and get your head down if you make and work like a dog. Give yourself 2 years of slog THEN start thinking about PE (IF you are in the upper quartile of your peer group in performance). You run a real risk of blowing your chances by getting ahead of yourself - the application for IB, strat consulting or CF advisory will be demanding so you need to be completely focused on that.

As is ever the case there are few blanket principles. I know of at least 3 ex colleagues who moved into PE from the strat practice of a big 4. they were not at the top of their peer group but happened to have very specific and relevant experience to the funds (eg sectoral, linquistic etc)bottom line is commit yourself to the area where you think you can excel. you will naturally have more options open once youve done your first few years. anyone would much rather hire an exceptional candidate over a mediocre one in their respective fields with the general understanding that most skills can be acquired and taught.