Need a Little Bit of Career Advice (tl;dr version at bottom)
Hi guys, I need a little bit of career advice.
Basically, I'm a rising senior with no banking/consulting internship and need to start looking for a plan B. If I were to do banking, I'd eventually want to work in finance in either (listed in order of most to least preferable) infrastructure/real estate, media/telecom, or renewable energy/biotech (dream gig would be director of finance or something at a renewable energy/biotech startup or working in film/television financing for a large media corporation). Additionally, I'm more interested in working in Asia versus the US.
So aside from gunning for the typical banking/consulting FT offers (crossing my fingers), I need help looking for other opportunities that could still eventually lead to my goals + are enjoyable for my own personal satisfaction. A job I believe I would enjoy in the industry would involve creating business plans for the organization and evaluating the financial feasibility of projects (i.e. if a infrastructure company wants to set up a new bridge in India, what sorts of revenues can it produce, what are the costs, how do we obtain the money, etc.).
In that case FP&A seems interesting, but a lot of the job descriptions I've looked at seem to be more accounting-oriented (i.e. preparing financials, checking payrolls, etc. versus assessing projects and figuring out how to grow the business), which is something that I am absolutely not interested in. Can anyone guide me in terms of what job TITLES to search for that match my preferences as well as what companies have offered roles in that area? Some of the areas I'm interested in, namely biotech/renewable energy, aren't as mature so I'm a bit confused about what companies hire in those areas.
Also, aside from assessing projects and making/evaluating business plans, I also have a strong interest in real estate development. REPE looks very appealing, but coming from a non-target background, it might be unrealistic. Any other areas related to investing in and developing certain real estate properties that I could look into? Sorry for the long post, but I'd really appreciate the help!
tl;dr version:
1. Non-target rising senior, no bank/consulting job looking for a plan B.
2. Eventually want to work in infrastructure/real estate, media/telecom, or renewable energy/biotech industry as a finance director. Also want to work in Asia vs US
3. Am especially interested in project assessment (i.e. want to invest in project x, how do we get financing, what are potential revenues, costs, etc.) and creating/evaluating business plans. Lots of FP&A jobs seem more accounting related (prepping statements), which job titles to look for that would avoid this and involve more what I'm interested in?
4. Also have interest in investing in and developing real estate properties. Understand that REPE involves this, but that may be unrealistic given my circumstances. Any other possibilities in mind?
5. Thanks for the help!
I think it's still early enough for you to focus on one or two industries that you want to get into. With all due respect, judging from your post, you have absolutely no idea what you want to do. You mentioned REPE, capital budgeting and planning, consulting and IB. At least get a story for why you want to do each of these fields and then hit your Alumni directory.
If you are at a smaller school, you will have much more success, but there will be less people in relevant financial fields. Start sending them cold emails asking for advice. I have a few templates I'd be happy to send you. If you go to a smaller school, chances are, they will respond to you by email or ask you to call them. Talk to as many people as you can. If you have any recent college graduate friends, start chatting with them too.
If you have a career center, go in and talk to them. Tell them you want to go into x-field and would like to know if they have any contacts in that field. Finally, go chat with professors, tell them you're interested in x-field, and are looking for contacts to "informationally interview" with. You still have (a little) time. Talk to everyone you can and polish up your story.
I went to a complete non-target pre med school in one of the least populated states in the country, got a degree in a completely non-relevant field, barely had any alumni who worked in finance and still managed to get interviews at respectable MM IB firms, CF gigs, etc. Talking to people and refining your "story" makes all the difference in the world. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
To be honest man, you're right in that I'm not 100% sure WHAT I really want. I do know for sure that those industries are my greatest interest (and I know that infrastructure is far and away my top choice with media second...not as sure about biotech/energy but it's probably up there). I also know that as far as job responsibilities go, the things I have most enjoyed in my classes and work so far are evaluating feasibility of projects/new markets to enter, making/critiquing business plans. More broadly, I also like analyzing past data to produce forecasts, but I don't like accounting work, which is solely backward-looking, either.
But as you can see from that last statement, I'm not entirely sure what category of jobs that falls into. Is that brand management, financial analysis, or what? I've been gunning for banking/consulting because that's what everyone recommends due to exit opps, prestige, etc. I have typically been more interested in traditional finance/general management at companies, but I figured that if I did get into banking, these doors would still be open and I might jumpstart my career a bit.
Real estate I just mentioned because I have been interested in the field, but it's more of a plan C compared to the others I mentioned. However, if you do have templates or whatever for informational interviews, I would really appreciate it as networking isn't my strongest suit. But yeah, if you have advice on what roles I should be looking at (sorry, that first post was probably confusing since I mentioned so many fields), I could still use some advice on that because my career path is quite muddled at the moment.
tl/dr
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