30 and a bit lost in career - Advice Appreciated
I am reaching out to this community to help bring some clarity to my current career situation. I recently turned 30 and have been feeling a bit lost in my career. Although I am grateful for the opportunities afforded to me, I am having trouble envisioning what will come next. Hoping some experienced individuals on this forum can shed light.
I have been working at the same company (insurance) the last 6 years with progressing responsibilities.
I started as a Reinsurance Analyst, promoted to Reinsurance Underwriter, then Program Manager. Responsibilities include: priced and structured large reinsurance programs, developed rating methodologies, underwriting guidelines, liaised with c-level execs etc.
Just over a year and half ago, I invented an insurance product, pitched the idea to my CEO, and received authority to build out the facility. I managed a small team from product development to launch, and sold roughly six figures in premium (which unfortunately isn’t good enough). As a result, the company decided to close down the facility a few months ago.
In the aftermath, I found it to be a bit difficult to re-establish myself in my old position. Therefore, I shifted my career-focus to the accounting department and currently report to the CFO. I work on financial reporting and business analysis for the reinsurance department. I am also working towards obtaining the CPA license (on my own accord). The main reason I shifted focus was to hopefully develop a skillset/certification to offset the “insurance guy” stigma and move into a different industry.
I make $130k (mostly due to underwriting promotions and leveraging my idea), but am finding my new accounting/finance position to be very dull and un-motivating (CFO is not very seasoned). I am ready to leave the company as I feel my time here has run its course.
My dilemma now is I live in Los Angeles and will be moving to Texas, preferably Austin. I am a bit lost on what career move I can make that would not drastically reduce my salary, and is also something respectable. Obviously this forum is geared toward finance, but I am not sure my experience speaks to any lucrative finance jobs. I’ve even thought about tech sales, but again it seems like a jump. At 30, going for a full-time MBA seems too high an opportunity cost, as I plan to start a family soon. Not to say higher education is out of the question, it would just need to make sense economically given my situation. Altogether, I am having trouble envisioning what the next step will be (my progress towards the CPA is simply to have something to work towards in the meantime).
As you can tell, my thoughts are a bit scattered right now. It is understood giving advice without knowing my passions etc. is difficult, but I think it would be helpful to hear what you would do in my situation, as it will add some perspective.
Sorry for the long rant. Any advice is much appreciated.
Cheers!
Seems like you'd be a good fit for a F500 accounting/finance department. You can even paint the story that you've gotten a taste of it in your insurance gig, which fueled a new desire in that sector but you wish to learn under the tutelage of a more seasoned CFO/more sophisticated company.
Offhand, I know next to nothing about the F500 Austin scene but I'm sure there are large corporates hq'd there that you can start to reach out/network with.
The easiest way(s) to change careers:
Fuck... I feel you on this. I'm 31 and going back for a FT MBA program seems like a HUGE opportunity cost. I get the whole long term earnings thing but when you're staring thousands of dollars of new debt in the face on top of the life you've been building for the past X years, it's a hard pill to swallow. My plan, which may or may not be of any help to you, is to start a part-time/evening program in the next 1-2 years which lines up with my next expected promotion. I know WSO and the finance community as a whole likes to poo-poo on evening programs but whatevs. In my situation where I'm not looking to change careers but rather make myself more marketable within my company/vertical, this way makes the most sense.Have an advocate. This is someone who ideally works in your desired industry and will go to bat for you when it comes to the hiring decision. Mixing in the city change, this option is more difficult as you'll likely need someone who is either connected to Austin or lives there. My advice here would be to start networking in LA and see if anyone has the hook up in Austin. As an East Coast lifer, I don't know first hand but it seems that LA is more of a transient city, meaning that there's a decent chance LA "locals" will have Austin contacts.
Have some sort of "natural" transition point that increases your marketability. You're already doing this with your CPA. This shows your desire to move away from insurance and backs it up by showing the work you've already put into it. When you get your CPA, I would use that event as a springboard into your new career. (This all assumes that the CPA is relevant to whatever position you're aiming for)
Good luck
Thank you for detailed feedback, much appreciated. I completely agree envisioning a new career path is annoying, but must be done. Thanks for your input! +SB
Good luck with getting your MBA and advancing your career!
To elaborate a bit on your post, what roles do you think I should aim for? Any thoughts on career progression? Thanks!
As innovativeguy11 said, wealth management may be a good fit. I don't know much about the corporate fp&a progression but I imagine that you would work in a department (ex: payables) and work up to managing that dept and keep climbing.
You have a good shot at getting into a wealth management firm. Plenty of them in Austin and with your background in accounting and insurance/sales it could be a great career if you like helping people. The CPA designation would be great for tax planning, and selling insurance is similar to selling investment products as well as the firms sell insurance most the time too. Look into it for sure.
Thanks for the input! I hadn't considered wealth management before, but will definitely look into it. What roles should I look out for? Also, do you suggest any other industries prevalent in Austin?
Thanks again! (I would've +SB, but ran out of credits)
Dude if you want to have a lucrative career, FP&A or accounting isn't it I guarantee you that.
Good luck.
What is instead?
U mean what should he be doing instead? No idea, depends on his skillsets. Someone mentioned tech sales. If he is good in it the sky is the limit.
In FP&A or accounting... let's be honest, your sky is pretty limited.
Fuck it and do tech sales man.
Honestly I know quite a few guys in insurance. If you have a good understanding of underwriting & accounting there are some funds/firms out there buying/underwriting all sorts of risks for premiums, they are often times looking for folks like you. Checkout AmTrust Structuring/Unique risk underwriting (as a starting point and then move on to other firms) - they pay bank is might be more sexy and intellectually stimulating than what you are currently doing. You'll have to specialise anyway at some point, insurance is a niche that many people neglect but it can pay almost as well as high finance.
Appreciate the additional feedback... this is all very helpful. Do you think my opportunities would widen if I were to look in Dallas instead? I’m interested in any thoughts on possibilities in Dallas with my background. I understand it’s ultimately up to me to decide what to do, but It’s always helpful to understand how others view my profile and situation. Much appreciated.
Bump.
I've been looking into SaaS and Enterprise Sales as well. Any thoughts/advice on this? Sectors to jump into with my experience? I think I can build a story of building/maintaining relationships with C-level executives and implementing complex reinsurance programs (long-term relationships, 6-18-month sales cycles, $500k average deal size, etc.). Think I can skip BDR/SDR and jump into AE considering this? Appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Think you can if you hustle hard enough - SDR/BD's are simply prospecting and AE's are managing full cycle. All about how you position and sell yourself
Advisory and Transaction services at one of the big 4 accounting CO’s comes to mind
I've looked into this, but have no prior audit experience. Nor do i really have accounting experience other than building reports, data analysis, and working towards CPA. Is there a way to position myself for these roles?
Bump.
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