London Career Anxiety - Audit -> Finance (29M)
Hi Everyone,
Posting here as I thought some of you might be able to provide me with some guidance, as I'm feeling an impending sense of anxiety about the trajectory of my career (and obviously by extension, future finances, but that's second fiddle right now at this point in my life). I went to a target university in the UK, but that feels like a very, very long time ago right now.
I qualified as an auditor at a non-big 4 firm last year and I'm currently an assistant manager. My specialisation is in PE/HF/AM clients. I started at the Big 4, but due to exam failures ended up here. My intention has always been to transition into high finance, primarily either investment banking or equity research (leaning towards the former now for several reasons, but that's not really relevant at the moment). I understand that a direct jump into either of them is unlikely, so I am currently scouting the job market attempting to transition into either a valuations or a financial due diligence role. However, it has proven to be nigh on impossible to even get an interview after over 6 months of aggressively applying to everything I can find on efinancialcareers, LinkedIn and recruiter websites.
I would not enjoy working as a fund/management accountant/controller whatsoever, but those are the only roles that are being offered to me. It had never crossed my mind that I would ever be an accountant (I'd honestly rather do anything else), but I'm genuinely getting absolutely nowhere in my job search and recruiters have all said that I'm currently competing with former i-bankers for even these lower-tier finance roles, never mind something I'd actually want to do like corporate finance etc. Going down the list, there is a tier of semi-interesting/relevant jobs such as FP&A and portfolio monitoring, but even those wouldn't be ideal and would still be competitive. Honestly, because of my client specialisation, FP&A is also mostly off the table given that I haven't worked on clients in 'real' industries.
Does anyone have any advice to help me with this transition? Recruiters aren't helping me and direct applications obviously aren't going anywhere. These recruiters have said that even these fund accountant roles have potential for upward mobility into finance director roles and even CFO roles at smaller firms etc., but it just sounds so disingenuous and my job satisfaction would be terrible despite the minor increase in pay. Without getting into too much detail, I will also say that my mental health has been suffering quite a bit because of all of this as well, though I am trying to put this into perspective and be action-oriented as opposed to drowning in self-pity. Has anyone else been in a similar situation before? I would honestly appreciate any and all advice.
Based on previous WSO threads, here are some actionable steps and advice to help you transition from audit to high finance roles like investment banking or equity research:
Networking:
Skill Enhancement:
Tailored Applications:
Recruiter Strategy:
Mental Health:
Alternative Roles:
By following these steps and staying persistent, you can increase your chances of successfully transitioning into high finance roles. Good luck!
Sources: Transitioning Veteran Advice Please, Who here is trying to transition careers?, Advice: Transitioning from Csuite healthcare -> PE, Laid off, Depressed and Giving up..., Want to quit, but have no clue what else to do. Anyone have a similar experience?
I think your best bet would be to try to lateral to the M&A division of a big 4 (or your current firm, assuming its GT/BDO/Mazars etc). Banks and even MM PE firms often hire ACA guys from big 4 M&A.
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