Difference in biglaw exit options, corporate vs finance/debt Forum

[Anonymous User]

V20 firm with offers in either the general corporate department (securities, governance, m&a, etc) or the finance/debt department (financings, bond offerings, project finance, etc).

Spent my summer doing a bit of both, and think i like the finance stuff more. But im worried about exit options a few years down the line. All the corporae associates are in huge demand to go inhouse, growing companies...not so much with the finance guys. Seems like the exits are too a limited number of bank jobs.

Can anyone shed light on the differences in lifestyle, exit options, career differences between a general corporate associate vs an associate more focused on financial transactions? Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

I am also curious about this.

I can tell you that a capital markets (debt + equity) associate at my firm mentioned the people who had experience in things like M&A had broader exit opportunities, but he and the people in his group still had tons of options and recruiter calls, just more narrow.

Still, I'd be very interested in hearing more about this.

[Anonymous User]

I am also curious about this.

I can tell you that a capital markets (debt + equity) associate at my firm mentioned the people who had experience in things like M&A had broader exit opportunities, but he and the people in his group still had tons of options and recruiter calls, just more narrow.

Still, I'd be very interested in hearing more about this.

I think thats about right. There are plenty of oppoutunities for a structured finance expert, but only in that field, while an M&A guy is more of a generalist that has a wider range of options.

[Anonymous User]

bumping

[Anonymous User]

I think this is still true. Corporate/M&A has better exit options than finance and other transactional practice groups. I think your exit options for any transactional practice are going to be your clients. M&A deals with a wide variety of clients while finance bros deal with banks and hedge funds for the most part.