Are CPA's valued in Banking?/Life Advice
Hey Chimps, long time lurker here. This may be a stupid question so feel free to shit on me in the comments, but are CPA's valued in banking? For context, I go to a non-target(think UVA, Washington and Lee, etc.), am a rising Senior and finance major with a 3.8 GPA currently am an SA at a local botique firm with pretty decent dealflow. However, I want to break into the MM/EB scene (I know Moelis/Lazard/Greenhill is probably a non starter, not trying for that). What are my options here? Get an offer a local firm and lateral? Am I just totally fucked? I was thinking I could take a fifth year, get MA/CPA, and then try for an internship at one of my target firms next summer. Is that a stupid idea? I got started super late last fall, was pretty rushed, and didn't network effectively. Now that I know what it takes (sort of), and have some experience I think I may have an easier time, but I wonder if it will be even harder this time round because of COVID. Let me know what you monkeys think and thanks in advance for the advice.
not sure I would consider UVA a “non-target”. just network and try to get a job like everyone else. CPA isn’t going to hurt you, but not sure why you’d spend so much time studying for a designation that’s not required/common in the finance field.
Agreed. I also don't know why you would take the CPA rather than the CFA if you are looking for some type of designation that will make you stand out. Also from the schools you listed I'm assuming you are from the VA area. I would look into Harris Williams if you haven't already. They have an office in Richmond and it isn't top EB like Moelis but definitely a respectable firm. Like said above, no matter where you look you will need to network hard. Goodluck.
instead of taking any designation exams, just network and focus on getting the gig. no one in banking really has a CFA or CPA, not to say they aren’t valuable. consider a CFA if you want to work in the public markets and get a CPA if you want to do corporate finance. other than that, not needed.
Less looking for a designation and more thinking about giving myself an extra summer to go the more traditional SA->FT role instead of jumping into FT recruiting this fall. I figured CPA or something similar would be a nice filler on my resume so I am still eligible for SA roles without having a year gap on CV
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