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Interested in this as well - also want to know where can I read more about it. Going to B school and while I am inclined to stay in consulting, I would rather to do something corp strat related in a Big 4 consulting firm than say do digital transformation in MBB.
Corporate/Business Strategy in F500 - Found my interest (Originally Posted: 04/20/2013)
Hi experts here
I am a undergraduate student who will graduate in the coming June.
Recently, after a long and tough road of hunting job, I finally find my interest and decide my long-term career goal.
I discover I am interested in marketing, meanwhile dealing with business clients, enjoy international exposure and going on business trips etc. In the future, I would like to become one of the analyst in corporate strategy of F500 companies. For example, I will enjoy making decisions in areas of bringing a certain product into a new market, withdrawing a certain product from a market, analyzing competitors' movements etc...
I have actually obtaind an offer from one of the F50 companies graduate recruitment programme, it is also the market leader in its industry.
But I did not apply marketing. Instead, I applied a department that is likes sales roles, but with some marketing knowledge and consulting needs. Of course, the department fulfils my wants of going business trips too.
However, because it is sales roles, most of the time I will be dealing with business clients. But they are not as prestigious as those clients in consulting, like CEO/ top executives....for example, they may well just be the random groceries store owner or department store manager etc.
Does this position sound good for my long-term career plan? Choosing this role implies i will be giving up finance/ accounting (I have accounting major, finance minor, interned in a global financial services company and an int. bank before)
If not, I wonder what would be a good starting point for it.
Do I need to be very quantitative to work in such roles, like obtaining CPA from big 4 or working in banks/ibanks?
or I should work my way up to enter consulting?
Thanks very much!
(re-editted with more information added)
advice plz! thanks!
Getting a CPA would not help at all for the type of role you are describing. The way I see it, there are about four different paths you can take to land in a corpdev/corpstrat group: 1) Do the company's FLDP program, work your ass off, network with the group you want to land in, and hopefully get an offer. 2) Do the company's APMM (or a similar) program, work your ass off, network with the group you want to land in, and hopefully get an offer. 3) Work at a good management consulting firm and get an offer from client after a few years. 4) Go to a top MBA program and land a gig through recruiting.
CPA won't help. Zzari brought up some great points, but to add some more:
1) If you're interested in marketing, you don't necessarily have to join an FLDP program. You can also look for positions within marketing departments of F500, whose recruiting tends to be much more need-based. It'll require more searching on your part, but more feasible than an FLDP at this point (if you're looking for something right after graduation).
2) Another route is to work for market research firms or strategy & analytics groups of a marketing agencies. Again, I recommend these because their recruiting tends to be later than consulting firms or FLDP programs. From either, many move to the client side. People on this forum will probably look down on these jobs, but they are decently paid jobs in a great working environment. Friends who went this route are much happier with their lives than my consulting or finance friends.
I realise this post is 4 years old, but do you have any more information about this route? where can you progress to from a client-side insights and strategy type role?
Hi All! Thanks very much for the reply. They are very useful indeed!
As I am study outside of the USA, I wonder if FLDP and APMM are recruitment programs exclusively for fresh graduates? If yes, I have obtaind an offer from one of the F50 companies, it is also the market leader in its industry.
But I did not apply marketing. Instead, I applied a department that is likes sales roles, but with some marketing knowledge and consulting needs. Of course, the department fulfils my wants of going business trips too.
However, because it is sales roles, most of the time I will be dealing with business clients. But they are not as prestigious as those clients in consulting, like CEO/ top executives....for example, they may well just be the random groceries store owner or department store manager etc.
Does this position sound good for my long-term career plan? Thanks very much!
oh ya,,, to give a little bit more background about myself
I am going to graduate from one of the best universities in my country. I have accounting major, finance minor, interned in a global financial services company and an int. bank before.
Choosing to do this job also implies i will be giving up my financial/accounting career path. Is it worthy?
I think you're fine. Marketing is essentially sales support, so starting in a sales type role is ok. Many of our top Marketing people have spent some time in sales b
do i need to ultimately switch to marketing/ consulting in order to enter corporate/business strategy?
and giving up finance/accounting is worthy?
You have good suggestions from few folks here. What Zzari mentioned is very true. To enter corporate/business strategy, your best best is to do an MBA from a very reputable school or network your way in to either industry or management consulting firm. CPA won't help unless you want to move into financial/accounting side. If you are still in early stages of your career, see how your interests evolve. I have noticed that people's interests and long-term goals change as they get more experienced and mature.
In sales, you will be selling your product by making various pitches and will determine what works and what doesn't based on your communication and psychology. You can leverage this in your marketing role by contributing ideas in terms of how to better position a product and messaging.
Thanks for the ideas.
I am sort of worrying at my choice. Because in the long run, I would like to go for corporate strategy/ consulting. But first career after graduation is important to determine your future path. I wonder if my first job - Sales role in FMCG leader , is a good choice in the long run?
After all, it is totally different from my previous internship exp anf my studies.
anymore opinions?
Corporate/Business Strategy in F500 - Interested in marketing and dealing with business clients (Originally Posted: 04/22/2013)
Hi experts here
I am a undergraduate student who will graduate in the coming June.
Recently, after a long and tough road of hunting job, I finally find my interest and decide my long-term career goal.
I discover I am interested in marketing, meanwhile dealing with business clients, enjoy international exposure and going on business trips etc. In the future, I would like to become one of the analyst in corporate strategy of F500 companies. For example, I will enjoy making decisions in areas of bringing a certain product into a new market, withdrawing a certain product from a market, analyzing competitors' movements etc...
I have actually obtaind an offer from one of the F50 companies graduate recruitment programme, it is also the market leader in its industry.
But I did not apply marketing. Instead, I applied a department that is likes sales roles, but with some marketing knowledge and consulting needs. Of course, the department fulfils my wants of going business trips too.
However, because it is sales roles, most of the time I will be dealing with business clients. But they are not as prestigious as those clients in consulting, like CEO/ top executives....for example, they may well just be the random groceries store owner or department store manager etc.
Does this position sound good for my long-term career plan? Choosing this role implies i will be giving up finance/ accounting (I have accounting major, finance minor, interned in a global financial services company and an int. bank before)
If not, I wonder what would be a good starting point for it.
Do I need to be very quantitative to work in such roles, like obtaining CPA from big 4 or working in banks/ibanks?
or I should work my way up to enter consulting?
Thanks very much!
sincerely need some help thanks
Do you have any other post grad offers? If no, take the job.
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