Hi guys,
Not sure if i posted this in the right forum, i apologise if it's not the right one.
Just wanted to know what kind of finance roles would be available in an FMCG firm, and how does it differ from say, a typical finance role in a bank or financial institution? I am currently applying for a finance internship in an FMCG company, so I would like to know more about this.
Also, would anyone have any experience in a case assessment format interview, with tips to share?
Thank you.
Maybe not the absolute best person to answer this, but I'll tell you what I know. I'm currently at a top 15 MBA program and next year will be going to work in marketing at a blue-chip CPG (FMCG) firm. There are people in my class going to almost every top CPG firm marketing and to some of them in finance. What you should be especially careful about and look for is the role that finance plays within the organization. These companies are marketing-driven, and so the marketing guys are the ones who go on to become division VPs, COOs, CEOs, etc. In some of these firms finance is honestly not much more than a back-office function that runs numbers for marketing and gets stuff done at the behest of the marketers. In others (P&G being an example) finance is intimately involved with business planning and strategy and will work as a partner with marketing, not a subordinate.
Within all these companies the roles generally break down into:
Brand Finance (day to day support for brands, i.e. P&Ls, scenario modeling, etc) corporate finance roles (Controller, Treasury, etc) Other (Logistics Finance, Transfer Pricing, etc)
Most of the work in the corporate roles and other is very similar to most manufacturing companies.
Hi, thanks for your reply.
I have a FLP offer at one of the blue-chip CPG, and now am a little apprehensive because of your reply (i.e. BO function).
Would you be able to to describe the prospects of a finance FLP, particularly for the following companies: 1) P&G 2) Unilever 3) Nestle
Thank you.
Unfortunately I can't help you much with FLP projects as I'm a) not an undergrad and b) not going into finance. See my comments above about P&G finance though. I'd assume pre-MBA finance (FLP) is the same sort of strategic bent as post-MBA there. As for Unilever and Nestle, I'd be a little bit wary since the HQs are overseas and so most of the major strategic financial decisions are made there, not in the US. At those I'd expect most of the work would be brand finance.
Bro, prospects for what? It all depends on what you want to do with it. If you perform well at P&G for 4-5 years, you can get into a good MBA program and you'll have a shot at a top MBA. After the program, you'll be able to lateral to just about any company in a corpfin position. It's not different than corpfin anywhere else. Exit opps are great, and they are wide-ranging if you don't mind getting an MBA first.
Thanks, i would also like to ask if bank careers are more lucrative than a career in an fmcg company?
For corpfin? Maybe, but it depends on the company. And at a bank you're also probably living in an area with a higher cost of living.
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