How Difficult is it to Switch Industries in CF?
Hi WSOers,
The duration of my FLDP (CPG industry) is 3 years. I've read around that it's quite easy to switch industries in CF, which is something that I'm not very sure of myself. My goal is to move over to the following (in order of preference): (1) O> (2) Tech; (3) Healthcare.
From what I understand, each industry may have it's own unique technicalities for CF, which may prohibit me from moving over. For example, I may need to acquire knowledge on the oil extraction process in order to switch over.
Am I right with the above? Or is CF really exactly the same for all industries? Appreciate your replies!
I believe each industry would have their distinctive technicalities or specialties as you correctly pointed out. The market, valuation, and financing dynamics can also be a bit different. I think that it would generally be easier if you switched to a "similar" industry because of assumed market familiarity (easier learning curve). However, if you network enough and do plenty of research on your intended industry, you can overcome these hurdles.
It's harder to switch between industries than it is to switch positions within - that goes without saying. Like stepbackfader3 mentioned though, it shouldn't be a problem if you try hard enough. The issue is really more prevalent with corp dev / corp strat / product-type roles than general corporate finance.
Some industries are harder to break into than others. CPG is probably easier to break into than tech (notoriously exclusivity) or O&G. If you wanted to so something like tech, then it would be nice to pursue a tech firm with a focus that matches your profile. For example, if you worked at Wal-Mart, you could leverage that into working for Amazon much easier than you could for Facebook.
Adding on to Cartman, you should have no problem switching across industries in the same role. If you're doing Treasury in a CPG company like General Mills you should be able to switch easily Treasury in a tech company like Dell for an example.
I believe because you're in an FLDP you're at a bigger advantage in flexibility of moving around more since you'll be gaining experience from rotations through various CF roles (FP&A, treasury, operations finance, internal audit, etc.). With this you should have no problem switching to Procurement Finance at GE Healthcare or FP&A at ConocoPhillips, for example.
Thanks everyone. Sounds like a viable path would be like this:
1) FLDP (3yrs, CPG, Rotational) 2) SFA (2yrs, CPG, Focus on a specific department with transferable skills) 3) SFA/M (O&G/Tech/Pharma, Actively network around for roles which require more technical expertise + Pick up relevant skills) 4) M (O&G/Tech/Pharma, Roles which require more technical expertise)
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