When do corporate development internships open?

Which corporate development programs are open right now?

The table below is read from each company's own careers site. Open means we have seen the live posting there, Expected means last cycle's public record says it is coming, and No data yet means neither is true.

Large companies post hundreds of internships, and the corporate development seat is usually one track inside a finance or strategy program. A row reads Open when that program is live, even if the title never says corporate development.

Why are corp dev internships so rare?

A corporate development team is small, often a handful of people, and it runs a few deals a year for the company. Most teams hire experienced bankers after two years on a deal team, because they need people who already know how to run diligence and talk to advisors.

Undergraduate hiring happens where the company is big enough to run a structured finance program. Those programs rotate interns across finance teams, and corporate development or strategy is one of the rotations.

What should you search for instead of corp dev?

Because the title is rare, search for the programs that contain the seat. These are the names that tend to hide a corporate development or M&A rotation.

• Finance leadership or finance rotational programs.
• Corporate strategy or strategy and operations internships.
• M&A, business development, or corporate finance internships.
• Treasury and investor relations internships, which sit close to the deal team.
• Strategic finance roles at technology companies.

What do corp dev interviews ask?

Expect a lighter version of banking technicals plus a strategy conversation. The interviewer wants to know you can value a business and that you understand why this particular company would want to buy one.

Know the company cold. Read its last annual report and its recent acquisitions, and be ready to say which deal made sense and which one you would question. That is the question a corporate development analyst answers every week.

• Valuation basics: multiples and a simple discounted cash flow.
• Why a company buys another one instead of building the thing itself.
• A recent acquisition by this company and what you think of it.
• How you would size a market the company wants to enter.
• Why corporate development and not banking.

Should you start in banking and move to corp dev later?

For most people, yes. The common route is two years in investment banking, ideally in a group that covers the industry you want, then a lateral move to that industry's corporate development team. Banking is where you learn to run a deal.

If you already know the industry you love, an undergraduate finance program at a company in that industry is a strong alternative. You learn the business from the inside and you are already there when the deal team needs help.

1. Pick the industry you care about most.
2. Track the finance and strategy programs at the large companies in that industry.
3. Track the investment banking groups that cover the same industry as your second route.
4. Apply to both in the fall and winter, then choose based on where you want to be in five years.

Questions students ask

Is corporate development better than investment banking?

It is a different trade. You run fewer deals for one company with better hours, while banking gives you more deals, more variety, and wider exits.

Do corp dev internships lead to full-time offers?

Inside a finance rotational program, the summer is usually how the company fills its full-time class, though you may start in a different finance team than corporate development.

Can I get into corp dev without banking experience?

Yes, through a company's finance or strategy program, or later from consulting. Banking is the most common route, not the only one.

Which companies have corp dev teams that hire undergrads?

Mostly large technology, healthcare, and industrial companies with structured finance programs. Check the live table and the firm pages for the ones we watch.