F100 Finance Grad Scheme vs Consulting – Does Early FP&A Limit Exits?

Hi all,

I’m deciding between two graduate roles (finance grad rotational scheme at a F100 aerospace/defence company vs associate consultant at Capgemini Invent) and trying to understand how starting in industry finance compares to consulting in terms of long‑term trajectory and exits.

Key question For someone who doesn’t necessarily want to stay in technical finance long‑term:

• Does starting in FP&A / commercial finance at a large F100 meaningfully pigeonhole you?
• How feasible are exits from early‑career FP&A into:
  • Commercial strategy / corp dev
  • FS‑adjacent roles
  • Client‑facing or business management positions?

The finance scheme would allow me to save significantly early on, but I’m trying to gauge whether that comes at a cost to long‑term optionality versus consulting.

Interested in hearing from:

• People who started in FP&A and moved into broader roles
• Anyone who regrets (or strongly endorses) starting in industry straight out of undergrad

Thanks.