When and how to leave Big 4

I’m starting my job in Risk Management at one of the Big 4 in Australia (in 2 months) after my Bachelors in Maths degree and am already worrying about potentially having poor exit opportunities. I had pretty good grades (just below HD WAM) at a G08 university and really just took the first option that came my way. In terms of the job description, I find the job extremely interesting and I am excited to start, however I am just worried about the company itself and how well it lends itself to career progression.

Career wise, I’d like to work in Asset Management, Risk Management, Trading or Data Science at a big (and higher paying firm) down the line. I also plan on getting my CFA level 1 in the next year or so. If required (eg. for data science), I would be happy to go back to university to complete a relevant masters degree.

How long should I wait before moving? I feel like the longer I stay the worse, however leaving after a year would probably look quite bad and I would probably only be qualified for graduate jobs anyway. So I’d effectively be a year behind.

Does anyone have any advice or experience regarding this? Namely, how to optimise chances of getting into a bigger, better firm from a Big 4.

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