Hey guys,
The short version of my question is as follows: is it possible to go into internal corporate finance at a F500 company after an MBA, with no prior experience in corporate finance (background in sales, marketing, or something else)? If so, what kind of starting position is typical? I'm asking because it doesn't really make sense to me that a company would hire an mba with no prior experience instead of just promoting a junior financial analyst from within.
More details: I worked in trading at a BB for one year, but I had to leave due to health problems with a family member. After that I did some other stuff, mostly volunteer work oerseas, so I haven't held a job for 3 years. My degree is in science. So I don't think I could get a position in corporate finance now because of my giant resume gap, and my lack of a business degree. Plus trading doesn't translate very well to internal corporate finance. I'm trying to decide between attending the MSF programs at WUSTL or Vandy versus a program in another discipline which would set me up to enter marketing. I'm inclined to go to the marketing program, partly because they are offering me a full ride plus stipend, whereas the MSF programs would be 50K-ish. Placement (salaries) out of the marketing program is equivalent or better than the MSF programs. My concern is that I end up hating marketing and wanting to switch to corporate finance. The only way to do this at that point would be to do an MBA and enter corporate finance as a post-MBA associate...but I need to know whether this is even doable. Thanks for any advice.
