Leave big4 FDD for small restructuring shop at 1.5 years?

Could use some advice here! Intrigued bc it’d be a 50-75% raise but don’t want to pull trigger on anything just because of comp this early in my career. I’m not worried about extensive hours. My hours have been brutal in FDD and the only thing that bothers me is I feel I’m not compensated. Hesitant my stint in big4 is too short though. Wondering what questions I should be asking/what I should know about firm before I pursue?

4 Comments
 

Need some more context like 1) how small is small? 2) what do you want to do long term?

Without that info, just off what you mentioned, I'd maybe say stay in B4 a little longer. If this is a tiny shop we're talking about, B4's brand name will outweigh what you might get at the RX firm, especially if you're as early in your career as you mention. Sure the comp may be better at the RX firm, and it may open some niche doors that B4 can't but overall it's the safer bet. It's not like you're in audit or something at B4, FDD has solid respect. Once you get a better understanding of the environment and what your long term goals are, then recruit again. I wouldn't do RX if your heart's not in it. 

 

Long term unsure what I want to do. I’m assuming realistically I’ll want to be in some sort of corporate finance role at a higher level. Cant see myself in client services forever. In younger junior years I want to build as strong and diverse skillset as possible and maximize earnings and opps until I’m burnt out lol Rx consulting seems to be a step up from FDD in terms of comp and exit opps.

Shop size is about 75 employees. Works both debtor and creditor. Many ex big4 TAS background.

Space is still very new to me, but people tell me it’s transferable and it’s intriguing to me. Any insight helps

Gme
 
Most Helpful

I work at a similar sized RX CO firm and previously did FDD. Personally, I hated FDD and was glad to get out. The skills you'll learn in RX are way more transferable to anything in corp fin. Not only are you building proper FP&A forecasts/doing true budget vs actuals analysis, if you're at a non-audit firm, you'll also be working on interim CFO/CRO deals where you'll see first-hand how FP&A/corp dev works. Plus, the comp is way better and WLB is actually a bit more predictable, outside of the beginning part of a deal (although there will always be surprises with financially distressed companies). 

The main risk is that if you truly hate RX, then it'll be harder to get out of that world vs Big 4. That said, you still have Big 4 on your resume, so it's not like you're dead in the water. Up to you, but having done both, I'd roll the dice. Just leave on good terms with your Big 4 so you can potentially come back later.

 

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