Finance Rotational Program for BB or FP&A for Highly-Regarded Tech Company?
I am an undergraduate finance student and have opportunities to work in Financial Development Rotational Programs for two out of the 4 BB (Goldman Sachs/JPMorgan/BoA/Morgan Stanley). I was wondering if these were highly regarded programs and what possible exit opportunities they would provide.
I am NOT interested in investment banking at all.
I am deciding between these Rotational programs and a FP&A role in a highly-regarded tech company. Comp/benefits similar across the board.
Thanks!
yarn, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
I don't know anything about BB rotational programs so I'm probably not the best resource here. But, you asked for opinions, so I'll share my thoughts.
Do you have any interest in working in Finance for a BB long term? If not, does the rotational program translate well to other businesses? Having GS/MS on your resume is good even if it's not IB, but if you're doing (for example) 9 months of auditing risk on a trading portfolio that won't translate many other places.
Personally, I will always see myself working in companies with tangible products. I've been getting a ton of calls from recruiters lately and if they're for any sort of professional services firm or SaaS, it's just not my thing. Because of that, I would personally choose a good role at a highly regarded tech company vs. a BB rotational program. However, your goals obviously may be different.
Bottom line - rotational programs are great and all else equal, I'd go for them. However, the experience needs to align with what you see yourself doing down the road.
.
Location worth thinking about too. Assume it's NYC for the fldps and Bay area for the tech company?
Location is one of the issues for sure: Unfortunately, the BB rotations are in unsavory east-coast cities (not NYC...) while the tech company is in a large west coast city. This may honestly be the deciding factor as I would rot if I had to live 2 years as a 21 year old in those east coast cities.
speaking as someone who has only known fp&A, i wish i had done a rotational program. it would give me a chance to see more than just fp&A. now i feel pidegon holed into fp&A.
There is definitely value in a rotational program, but still not always the right move.
What level are you at? What type of organization? I hope you're at least getting exposure to FP&A for different functions/businesses.
In my ~8 years of "FP&A" work I have had real opportunities to move into Marketing, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Treasury, Demand Planning and Strategy (had an offer at another company). Now that I'm a little more senior GM type roles are a real possibility and maybe even Corp Dev (although thats a little bit of a stretch).
Good FP&A should be partnering with many functions throughout your career. If the leaders of those functions think you're smart and hardworking opportunities should present themselves.
Can you really be "pigeon holed" in FP&A? I thought FP&A was a sought after type of position that has a lot of potential for strategic work that could lateral into a lot of other finance roles. Although I know that the role varies a lot and for some its nothing more than cost accounting.
what business lines will you be rotating through at the bank? if it's audit, compliance, retail banking, then i'd take the FP&A role. If it's credit risk, balance sheet management, Asset Management, corporate banking, etc then it's worth considering.
It's audit, financial analysis (FP&A/forecasting/variance analysis, etc), Treasury services. Each of these types of roles would be in any of the different lines of business (IB, Asset Mgmt, etc etc)
i'd pick the tech fp&a role. just make sure its finance-focused vs. accounting.
audit is boring, treasury could be interesting but only if you see yourself doing this as a career. banks hit the markets all the time + i assume you would get some exposure to balance sheet management. not entirely sure, but fp&a at a bank would probably be very specialized and less transferable to a traditional revenue generating company, so this has less upside.
Saepe eos molestiae dolorum. Dignissimos ut sed in et necessitatibus doloribus.
Ut tempore voluptatum autem eum cumque illo excepturi. Tempora repudiandae velit ex vel ipsum excepturi. Quidem quasi voluptate velit velit fugit dolor.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...