I'm finishing up year 2 of my 3 year FLDP. I'm at a top Aerospace and Defense company, and a "perk" to this program is that I'll automatically be promoted to Sr. Financial Analyst when I'm done.
Here is the problem- A&D is arguably the lowest paying industry. I found a data pull in our financial system that shows exact salaries for different job grades in different cities, and found that SFAs with 5-6 years experience average right at $70k ($2k average deviation) in lower COL metros (think Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix). Higher COL areas (NE, LA, DC) take that average to about $75k. Much lower than I was hoping, especially at 5-6 years experience.
I've been looking to leave A&D after my FLDP for a handful of reasons that include pay. So here is my question- what SFA salary could I realistically command coming off a top FLDP? Would it benefit me to take the promotion to Sr, and then try to leave shortly after that? Any advice is appreciated.
Understand the predicament. As an FLDP though, you should have some upside to those numbers. Our first year FLDP's come in with about a 12-15% premium above what is offered to those outside of the program. Progression seems to be about identical, with those matriculating from the program almost guaranteed to land in SFA roles.
Assuming you can preserve the initial 12-15% spread, then you should be looking at something closer to 80k. Maybe this doesn't translate as well in your program though. In a low COL area, with flexible scheduling and lax hours, there's worse ways to start a career.
You can always discretely test the waters in the meantime. You will probably find that most companies are looking for 5-7 years experience for anything with a sr. title slapped on it. You might get some dispensation for the FLDP brand, and diversity of experience, but it's a significant leap. Your fastest, most direct path is probably to graduate from the program, get a Sr title, and then look to lateral. Maybe you'll get lucky beforehand, but if an employer is willing to disregard their hiring requirements or really stretch it's worth contemplating why and whether that bodes well for you long-term.
I appreciate the insight! I'm hoping that my salary forecasts are lower than the actual offers, but we'll see. As I said before, I was able to pull actual numbers from our financial system, so unless they pay me more than the people with 5-6 years exp (and pay me closer to what they pay the 15yr SFAs), I'll be around $70k. Which I objectively can't complain about- at 22 I was making more than the average US household income. But compared to what I might be able to command elsewhere, I should be looking to jump ship.
I like your advice about testing the waters- I'll definitely be doing that as I prepare to finish the program. If I don't get any bites then I'll wait a bit and look again with the credibility of a SFA promotion behind my name.
you guys really need to state which major city you're based in when putting this shit out there. I make $75k in a tier 3 low COL city, and to have the same standard of living, I'd have to make $136K in SF, per the cost of living calculators. Your $140k In a NYC/SF/LA isn't that much better than his $70K in a low tier2 / tier 3 city. Not hating on it, it's good money don't get me wrong, but you're comparing shit on absolute terms instead of relative terms.
EDIT: also need to add the amount of hours you work. If he's working 40 hours and you're working 55-60, its apples to oranges. I hear some FLDPs can average 60 hours a week quite easy.
Although I think it would be relatively straightforward to figure out that if I'm speaking about working for Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Facebook, etc. it implies a high COL location, I'll bite...
My personal experience is as follows: FLDP Rotation 1: $62k in CA (Relatively high COL area) FLDP Rotation 2: $67k in NJ (I'll just call it medium COL) Post FLDP: $82k CA (Same relatively high COL) this would have been my situation had I stayed with the company Current Job: $140k total comp in the Bay Area (SF/SJC/South Bay)
Now I'm going to use NerdWallet's cost of living calculator for comparisons since it's the first that popped up when I googled. According to them, in order to have the same standard of living, I would have needed to make $119,565 in my landing location.
Hours: First rotation: ~55 hours/week Second rotation: ~35-40 hours/week Post graduation: N/A Current: ~45 hours/week.
If you are content living in a "tier 2/ tier 3" city and working in the industries generally located there then, by all means, stay there. I personally am miserable if I'm not close to a large metropolitan center and have access to beaches. I was able to find a situation that afforded me the opportunity to live somewhere I liked AND come out ahead financially. I would hope that anyone reading these posts wouldn't just take online numbers at face value and instead would determine if the move to a high COL location is beneficial to them.
I think the downside of FLDP is the competition that comes with it (Similar to starting in Big 4). They recruit top talents so you are one of many options and that leaves you with little room for negotiations. You are asking the right question though. Sometimes, being underpaid is a good thing.
I willingly took a FA role that paid $5-7k less than market 7 years ago. But I made sure to track my progress. Here's my W2 YoY trend from Year 1 through 6 : 0%, 16%, 29%, 31%, 6%, 26%. This year projection is 10-15%. This is excluding my side hustle :)
Here's three reasons why I can negotiate - 1) My company doesn't do FLDP so I don't have any competition for promotions. 2). Leadership likes me so they don't want me to leave. 3) I'm always at the low end of the salary band/range for my role. So, I can just walk into my boss' office and tell her that I'm underpaid compared to my peers. I actually wore a suit and gave a presentation one time on why I'm worth it lol
So my advise is....factor in the COL adjustment (it's all about net income...not gross) and make sure to check out the salary ranges. If you have access to salary data, find out the range max for SFA level at your company. And don't worry about averages. Averages are for average people. You also don't want to jump ship to a role that'll pay you 80k but has a cap at 85k.
A boss used to tell me. Nothing wrong with asking for more money. The worst thing they can do is say no.
As a former Fortune 50 FLDP who slacked off in High School and went to a not-so-great school, I am going to highly disagree with the "top talent" comment here. FLDP/Big 4 recruit middling talent--I can promise you that the 3.8 GPA kid from Princeton is not going to be working at a Big 4 or FLDP.
And I am saying that as someone on the other side of the equation. Sometimes it is important to realize where you stand. Guys like me or you aren't exactly GS TMT > KKR material.
OP, only piece of advice I can give you is to complete is FLDP and make the jump to a higher paying industry as others have mentioned here.
I started off in a F50 FLDP with terrible pay (great company though) and jumped ship to a different industry as an SFA. It made a world of difference in my compensation and lifestyle.
Good luck and keep us posted!
I think we have a different definition on "top talent". I still consider top 5% from state schools as "top talent". They may not graduate from Ivy schools with high GPA but that doesn't mean they can't perform at high level in corporate finance.
I've worked with graduates from Ivy as well as state schools since we like to bring in both MBB and Big4 for projects. Some did not go to top schools but they surely can outperform their peers.