How To Maximize Next Move?
About to be close to one year in an strategic finance analyst position at a F500. Previously ~1.5 years in IB at a pretty good bank. Main pros are that I like the people I work with, very stable company and position which I am thankful for in this economy and there is visibility towards a manager promotion either end of this year (if not then definitely next year). Cons are the generally slow day-to-day can get quite boring, typical stagnant pay in F500 corporate along with much less visibility on upward mobility after the manager promote to senior manager/director level several years down the line. Thinking of looking externally for a next role around the 2 year mark next year for a faster paced role with better pay progression. I think it would be best to stay here at least to the next promotion to manager whether it be this year or next for signaling. Currently making ~$135k all-in but does not move up much until director+ levels. Have been thinking a pure corp dev role may be faster paced full of ex-bankers, or a similar role to now but at a PE portco or startup with equity opportunity for both additional upside potential and a faster environment. Would like to move my base to 150k as well. Have also thought about staying here ~4 years total and considering an MBA after if I can get into a M7 to reset a bit.
Appreciate any advice on how to best position myself early on from a corporate role - I've seen people at my company remain at a manager level role with 10-15 years of experience and everybody has different desires, but I'd like to maximize my momentum through my 20s as much as I can.
Hi Analyst 3+ in CorpFin, check out these threads:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
If it were me, and you're pretty confident you'll get promoted to manager, I would stick it out through the promotion. Do 6 months of manager level work or get a transaction (or some other work milestone) that you can say you led and then start looking for other manager positions that you could get more comp. Especially if that is within a year or year and a half. Not entirely sure if an MBA is necessary if you want to stay in CF. But if you have trouble finding another manager role with a good comp increase after your promotion it could be useful.
Not the same career path by any means, but I stuck it out in big4 audit until manager, did that 6-9 months, now I'm two years into being FP&A manager at a portco reporting to the CFO. My base+bonus has gone up 50% from big4 manager to now, counting (unrealized) equity my total comp is up almost 80%.
Thank you and yes I believe either the end of this calendar year or next calendar year I should be able to get the manager promotion and that will be either 2.5 to 3.5 total YoE since university. My plan was to start looking a few months into that promotion as you said, but I've noticed that titles can vary significantly across companies. Mine goes directly from analyst to manager, while some have analyst for 2-3 years, senior analyst for another 2-3 years and manager usually referring to closer to 5 years of experience. How much weight should I put on a role title itself i.e., if I get a manager role here but my total YoE is only a senior analyst elsewhere? Also, do you have any advice on how to approach maximizing comp in a potential move? My current company is a fairly large F500, how did you think about the pros and cons of a company that size vs. a smaller company vs. a startup vs. a PE portco etc?
No problem, I agree with the posts below, I think levfin, rx, etc. mentioned below are all good options but I'm assuming you want to stay in CF. It sounds like you currently have a pretty lean team and good exposure, but that you're looking for something faster paced like a high growth company or with more transaction activity. My thought is that if you're not in a bad situation, take some time and research or network to find what company/groups are your targets. Grab coffee with peers/alumni that are in PE and learn about their portcos. I still think if you got the manager title, that you lateral into another manager position that has direct/indirect reports or a higher paying individual contributor role, maybe I'm too optimistic. But if you found a great role I would not get hung up on the title.
To maximize comp, larger companies likely have set bands of base, bonus %, and RSU's, so doing some glassdoor and WSO snooping can give you a good idea of those ranges to set an expectation and make an appropriate counter. Example getting a manager position vs senior analyst III at a large company could have a big difference in bonus and equity %'s. Small companies, startups and portco's will likely be more open to an industry/area/role market comp counter offer so asking recruiters and again looking at career sites can give you an idea of a reasonable range. For portco's, significant equity probably won't come until director level and above, maybe as a manager you could get 10-20% of base in equity units.
In my experience, pros of a portco is more strategy work, working closely with management and ops, compensation, and working more with advisors/consultants. Cons for me have been not being able to attract top talent for certain roles and not hiring to keep up with our growth, and when there's office drama/politics (though not often) its more intense because of the smaller team...as I type the cons it seems like these are more company specific to me haha.
I spent about 5 years across various roles in Strategic Finance/Corporate FP&A at two F500 companies. Definitely understand the frustration with lack of promotion visibility and stagnation, as well as some of the work becoming monotonous. It would be helpful to know: (1) Where you are located and (2) if the Manager position is actually managing people or still an individual contributor, and (3) why you left IB.
If the potential promotion results in you managing anyone, then this makes the experience of sticking around much more valuable. If you are still an individual contributor (more of a Sr. Financial Analyst), this makes sticking around less valuable. The question surrounding comp is a good one, but hard to answer without knowing what market you are in. The question about why you left IB will help with potential suggestions I have.
Hi Rob, thanks for the response and happy to expand. I am currently in NYC and would be open to other geographies that even with a slight pay discount probably net ahead in terms of standard of living, but thought best to stay in NYC for the most career opportunities in the medium-term. Manager would still be an individual contributor role. My team is extremely lean (~5 people) and I report directly to the senior director who reports to the CFO and there is a lot of cross functionality with the sales finance, marketing finance, FP&A, data analytics, etc. teams. The other members of my direct team are all manager to director level and report to the senior director as well. Given the small team size, it is more of a flat and collaborative team environment compared to say an IB deal team. I definitely left IB for the lifestyle but some of the work monotony and stagnation now isn't a great feeling either especially after getting over the burnout. Now itching for a bit more intensity. I did really like the M&A process as a job function but knew that as opposed to being revenue generating in IB, its another cost center at a corporate. Given how markets are, was wary of joining a pure corp dev team and thought it would be the first place for layoffs. In my current role, M&A would technically go through my group but it is not a big focus though I have thought about trying to do an international rotation in corp dev at my current company to get back to that type of work at a different region that is more active and would be interesting to get some international experience. My work now is more general ad-hoc strategy requests to the market and competitors, investor relations, competitor modelling and some FP&A (though there is a separate FP&A team as well).
I believe my setup has given me very strong access and visibility to management and leadership due to a relatively small office for a F500, but I think the monotony of either being at a F500 or being in general corporate finance is not very exciting which is why I have been thinking whether changing the type of company (smaller less established or portco) or different function (just corp dev? unsure what else would be interesting to me now) would be the solution. Cognizant of not wanting to be a job hopper so don't want to move unless I am 100% sure its the right move but also at the same time don't want to feel stuck eventually.
A lean team like that at F500 company is not the norm from what I have seen, but I think that is a good thing. The fact that there is a lot of cross-functional work is a big plus, the more areas you can be exposed to the better. An international rotation in Corp Dev sounds like a great opportunity, especially at this stage in your career. Despite the potential Manager promote remaining at an individual contributor level, it sounds like your company and group provide plenty of valuable learning experiences and the ability to move around within the organization. It is also a plus you are not getting pigeon holed into an accounting-heavy and/or strict FP&A role. Those are great baselines to have, but the real value is understanding those basics while adding value with the ad-hoc strategic requests and associated modeling, which seem like the majority of your work. As long as you are developing new skillsets or enhancing existing skillsets in a meaningful way, I can see the value in sticking around for the promotion and getting another year under your belt.
However, despite the above, it sounds likely that you will still be frustrated with the slow pace of work and stagnating comp (with limited promotion visibility after manager). I came to the same point in my last year at a F500. The work was slow/monotonous and I realized there were many top-performers who had been stuck in the Sr. Financial analyst position for 5 years with a layer of middle management above them that had been in their roles even longer.
I think an eventual move to Corp Dev or to a smaller company are good options. But I think there are some other alternatives below you may be interested in:
You may already be familiar with the above suggestions, but if not, I am happy to provide more information.
Have you considered going back to IB? The pace in corp dev sure is slower, but the pay is also lower. It might feel great working a long week here and there, but what I found was that it gets old very quick when you realize that you're not making IB money anymore. If you prefer a faster pace with more nuanced transactions, you might as well get paid for it too.
Hi Sil, appreciate your response. I've considered going back to IB but unsure on two points: (1) the realistic odds of getting back into IB after leaving already and (2) whether it would be something I'd want to do longer term this time. On point 1, think I'd have to wait on there being a big wave of lateral hiring at some point down the line to be considered and unsure how to gauge point 2 right now. I agree that working longer without the pay would get old fast but I think that's where waiting for the right opportunity and extensive diligence of finding the right culture group and a place that pays a premium for corp dev would have to come into play.
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Bumping my own post here - does anyone have thoughts on how much to consider geography in a next move? I would not want to be in NYC for the long-term especially on a corporate salary trajectory but worried about moving somewhere smaller too early. Is there a benefit to staying in the city or should I more seriously consider cheaper COL areas? Only other area where I have a group of people is Boston so haven't considered anywhere else.
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