Credit Rating Agency or FLDP for PF? 24 y/o
Posted in IB forum because PF is technically under "IB" but it's loosely connected. Little background on me. I'm a 24 y/o who graduated from non-target in 2018, but enlisted in the military for a year or two. Long story short I'm back home and working part time at a close family member's PWM firm and looking for advice for where to go next. I have no interest in being in corporate finance whatsoever. I got somewhat drawn to project/public finance because of my military background and really want to work in the industry long-term. I got offered a financial analyst/FLDP type gig that starts in a few months at a pretty reputable F50. however I've semi-interviewing/networking with a rating agency about a full-time analyst job at the entry-level. I've tried recruiting for project/public finance for entry-level roles but it's been hard since I've been out of school for quite some time and associates are the only role for people coming from a few years out of college. It's also very competitive too as most people come from 1-2 yr experience from financial/municipal advisory firms. My network has told me to stick with FLDP to get into an MBA program and move into PF, however they acknowledge that a rating agency would be a good starting point before getting into PF. Only problem is that a rating agency may be slightly less development oriented and less prestigious as an F50, especially for MBA admissions. Thoughts anyone?
Your comment about rating agencies is not true at all. In fact, the CRA role is much higher in rank in terms of learning and prestige than an accounting role at a F50. Credit rating agencies don't have much respect here because most kids are shallow and to them finance is only doing investment banking at Goldman/JP, etc.
Credit Rating Agencies have Project finance groups, and you'll learn a lot working at one. The role might not be as sexy as IB at Morgan Stanley, but you'll have the opportunity to learn skills that will take you far into your career. Examples: reading legal docs, evaluating the collateral, writing research, presenting, understanding the credit rating process which will be important if you ever want to issue bonds that need to be rated). Most importantly, if you like Project Finance from the credit rating side, you'll probably love it more on the banking side. 1-2 years at a CRA will position you for interviews for Project Finance groups at IBs without wasting time and money for school.
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