Breaking into Corporate Finance?

Hey guys, I'm new hear and just had a question regarding corporate finance and how to break into it. Is it something that I would be able to break into directly after undergrad (top 10 b-school)? Or is i-banking viewed as a pre-req? Also, what is first year compensation like? Any answer is greatly appreciated, thanks a lot!

 

You can certainly go straight into corporate-side CF right out of undergrad, and it's arguably easier to do that than to get into IBD, with the exception of a few firms with really well-known programs (Disney...).

As for salaries - I've heard a pretty wide range, but generally for F500 CF I think you can expect something in the 40-70k base range, with at the most 2-3 more months of pay in bonuses.

 

"b-school" generally refers to an MBA program, not undergrad majoring in business. You see a lot of resources for IBanking because it is so difficult to get in (not that F50 is easy). Undergrads aren't very "specialized" yet so all employers are looking for very similar things. Any advice you read about breaking into ibanking will be relevant to F50 as well, with some probably obvious exceptions that are very specific to banking. One route to F50 (or at least F500) that has a very high success % is big four accounting. You will need to hustle a bit to get into the finance rather than accounting department, but it's still a solid path. You can do big four internships, or a two year full-time stint during which you will be exposed to many F500 companies and can choose the one that suits you best. It is also very possible to go directly to F50 (for internships and full-time jobs) and if that is your end goal you should try to do that, but the big four route is a great backup plan.

 
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