Hello All,
I am a long time lurker, just soaking in all the advice that has been throw around on this board. Anyway, I am a CPA at a big4 accounting firm, and I hate it. I am intrigued with the trading profession and very possibly want to pursue a career in it. I've spoken to many seasoned traders at every firm, both friends and professional contacts, and it sounds like there is no proven way to break in.
Either way, I am dead set on going back to business school as I feel that will best position me for a career in trading. However, business school is at least 2 years away for me, and I wanted to know what everyone thought would be the best route to take post-public accounting and pre-business school.
My two most prevalent options are to go to a big investment bank and work in product control/financial reporting role for a couple of years and return to school. Or, try to find a small private equity/hedge fund and work as an accountant there, and hopefully interact as much as possible with the Managing Partners/front office/deal teams. Can anyone shed any insight as to what route may better position one to get into a top business school and allow for some relevant experience for a career in trading after school?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Have you thought about making the transition into the Corporate Finance or Transaction Advisory side of the big 4? Corporate Finance of the big 4 is basically middle market investment banking, and Transaction Advisory deals with due diligent work. Both appear to be more interesting for people with finance passion, and they are better experiences for business school than audit.
Yes I have thought about it immensely. However, I have seen (and experienced) that, for whatever reason, big4 accounting firms are reluctant to let their auditors move into these positions. Usually, if they do allow you to rotate or transfer, you are still relegated to the very accounting focused type work and still some considerable steps away from the deals. Others have told me that I simply have to leave public accounting because even if you're at a big4 firm doing "transaction-related" work, you're still at a public accounting firm and still viewed as an auditor. This may work against one that is trying to break into a finance/quantitatively driven field like trading.
Currently mulling a Big4 offer as well, but I have the same sentiments. What's the best way to move over to finance from a Big4/CPA background?
Every bank has an accounting department. At Illinois, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and even a lot of hedge funds would routinely come out to recruit CPAs. It's not front-office, but it pays well and offers opportunities to move to trading and banking if you are an outperformer.
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Many people suggest what you are suggesting but I hear its few and far between, hence the plan to go back to school. Have you actually heard of people making this sort of transition within a bank or know of anyone that has done it?
Thx
Well, I went from the middle-office (Analytics/IT) to being the desk developer for our traders.
The guy who sits behind me started in operations- I think he had an Accy degree- and now he is a trader.
A lot of folks made the transition. It's true that coming in through the back/middle-office and working your way into the front is probably going to be more work and less of a sure thing than an Ivy League degree, but if you're looking to save some money or you're worried about how the market will be when you graduate, that might be a route to take.
I've heard similar thoughts - anyone from the finance side have a take on this? Or, does HR realize that transaction services or valuations is very different than auditing?
anyone else possibly have some input?
Wanting to desperately move out of Accounting & into Finance (Originally Posted: 07/14/2013)
Hey everyone, I'm relatively new to the site as I've viewed from afar for the past few months. That being said, I'm currently a CPA in the Southeast and have zero desire to continue this career path. I've been out of grad school now for a little over 3 years and have been stuck in this line of work about 2.5 years longer than I wanted. Not that it's important now, but I went to a top 100 university (non-target) and finished undergrad with a 3.5 & grad with a 3.9, along with being very involved on campus and in the community, worked 40+ hours a week supporting myself in college, and served as President of my fraternity among other things.
I've been researching certain finance roles and it seems as though I may miss the ship due to my previous experience (I'm in my mid-20's). I never researched much while in school due to me choosing accounting as a major as it seemed like a for sure job out of college. I took a job in accounting to support myself during grad school as the economy hit bottom as I was completing my undergrad. I'm pursuing the CFA since it seems to be a good option in order for me to somehow get the Finance credentials behind my name I need to hopefully move out of public and into more of a sales/investment management/banker/analyst type role. I've worked a countless number of 70+ hour weeks absolutely hating the type of work I'm doing, which transitioning into another industry working those hours or more doesn't seem too bad when I'd actually enjoy the work more than auditing. I currently work for a top 40 accounting firm (pursuing a big 4 as an auditor isn't appealing to me since I want out, the only option may be to join in their valuation groups if nothing opens up outside of accounting - I've passed on joining a top 5 firm due to me wanting out) and have both tax & audit experience but I need to get out and do something more engaging and interesting for myself.
Any advice would be appreciated as I have zero experience in the finance field but all the options are very intriguing. My goal is to somehow get out of this hell hole I'm in and move into an M&A type role or somehow find a sponsor to get my credentials in order to begin a sales or trading career. I've even thought about pursuing a law degree in order to bring the CPA & law credentials together in regards to M&A type work. The process of deal making intrigues me very much and I need to be out in a more fast paced environment with constant changes and not stuck doing the structured type of audit work I'm relegated to now. Again, any advice would be very much appreciated.
consulting??
CFA is a great idea. How about MBA?
Thanks for the comment. I've contemplated going back an getting an MBA but I think it'd be better to pursue the CFA. I'm not real sure what an MBA could do for me now with my work experience and already having an MS, which I know doesn't mean much outside of my field due to the specialization.
If you could provide some insight I'm overlooking about what an MBA may provide to me this far along in my career that would be better than pursuing the CFA please let me know.
getting out of cost accounting (Originally Posted: 04/06/2011)
Graduated from Drew University 3.0GPA in Economics, took a job right away as a Financial Analyst for a manufacturing company. Worked here 3 years, promoted last year. The problem is this job is glorified accounting and my real dream was to get into equity research or even as a real financial analyst. How do I break out of my current position and make myself attractive to say, Goldman Sachs?
What's a real financial analyst?
.
Didn't you know that Financial Analyst in industry is different from Financial Analyst at a BB? The only route for you is MBA, since you have been out of the game for so long. BB usually hire college graduates, MBAs, or other employees from BB.
A time machine would have not helped him, since he graduated during the crash. FA at manufacturing firm does not correlate into WallStreet material. A dream and a reality are to different stories. So get a MBA to hit the redo button in life.
You should focus on networking.
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