Where do I take my career from here?
Looking for some advice...
I've been in corporate finance the past 5 years (since undergrad). I started off as a Financial Analyst, 4 positions later - i'm now a Finance Manager. I'm 27 y / o will be 28 next month.
While working, i passed the CPA exam, then went on to Booth for my evening MBA. I am involved in On-Campus recruiting this fall where employers come to the campus to hire fresh MBA Graduates. I'm graduating this winter.
I live in Chicago and want to stay here, i'm open to relocating later.
My options include the following:
1. Stay at the company and work my way up through FP&A finance. This offers okay stability, my pay right now is about a 110K and if i work hard i could make 150 in 5 years. This is probably enough to raise a family and stuff. Its a healthcare company and we are cost cutting like mad right now b/c of significant competition, not like it was when i started.
2. Apply to consulting firms, i was thinking if i make it into the top 3 it would be worth doing management consulting for 2 years and then decide what career path i want. Even if i get in, i'm not sure if i would survive the travel, stress and competition but i'm sure i'll come out better than i came in. This option wont be easy as there is a lot of competition from my school and i'm not a stiller student. I go to a target school and my resume shows constant progression, besides that i don't have a whole lot to brag about.
3. Not sure if its possible but try to get into PE or VC. I am an average student, my MBA GPA is a 3.2 and 680GMAT. The nice part about this option is the money and the exciting work (deals). I'm not sure if my work would fit well with this, i hang out all day in excel building models, P&Ls, cash flows now but i'm sure VC & PE is my work on roids. Or maybe work as an associate for a bank.
5. Do General Management rotational programs at corporations. I think having a finance background might give me an edge and the general managers are always paid more than the controllers who support them.
Banking? VC PE? Consulting? corporate finance? GM?
What would you try to do if you were in my shoes? My financial goal is to make around $250K when i'm 40s and limit myself to 60 hours a week - my girl wants to be a stay at home mom. I'd prefer to stay in Chicago but open to relocating in the future.
What are you good at?
Haha That's a great question! I haven't really found what i'm good at yet but i'm trying to become good at financial analysis.
Which of the following are you substantially better at than your peers? A. Technical expertise B. Sales ability C. Leading and motivating others D. Something else
Try to choose one. You can't ask people here to give you good advice about where to take your life unless you can get honest about your strengths and weaknesses and what you like doing.
How did you become a Manager so fast? Did you through a FLDP? If so, do you see limited potential to become a Director/ VP and make 200K+ in the next 5~10 years?
I think i made manager so fast is b/c i was aggressive, i just kept applying after 15 months in one position and kept moving up. The problem is once you've made manager, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to move up and you cant expect the same trend to continue. Sure there are a lot of super stars who prove this wrong but i'm not a superstar.
If i don't get into consulting or banking, i could try to leave my company and demand a salary increase. I am paid 20K less than my peer managers right now b/c i don't have as much 'experience' or years under my belt, even though my responsibility is the same.
I would be very interested to learn where you're at that they let you move after 15 months (I am fairly certain it's one of 3 companies) - PM me if you're willing to share.
Either way, you seem like someone who's going to be successful if you're given the right opportunities and you stay focused/interested. I'm not convinced that this can't happen where you're at today, but the opportunities probably could be better in consulting and your interest definitely seems to be in that area. At this point you might as well give it a go.
What size company? You seem to be on a pretty good trajectory to be a Mgr at $110k by 27.
To make $250k you'd prob have to make VP which is always a crap shoot, but given where you've come so far it's possible.
The size of the company is huge, probably fortunate 100, diversified healthcare.
I agree the that VP is a crapshoot. I think Sr Directors can pull down 250 but that's 4 levels away from where i'm at, and the competition is intense. My colleagues are true accountants and i'm more of a finance person so i'm not sure if i'll ever make it up that high.
I was thinking if i do consulting and work my but off the first two years i can make managers and those guys pull down 250 with very good job prospects afterwards.
Honestly, i think i just have to buckle down and try to ace some consulting interviews so i can make it into the big 3. I can always come back and do fiance at another company with my experience and CPA but the consulting experience is once in a lifetime.
I have a good idea of where you are given your location and company size. If I was you I would probably look for a change of pace/raise job change. Like you said you can always come back.
I'll be very interested to hear what you decide to do & how your career falls into place in the next few years. I'm 1 year into corp fin in Chicago and will probably follow a very similar path to yours. I'm currently working towards becoming CPA eligible, and in a few years plan to get a top MBA as well. I'll probably give it 4-5 years total at this company before weighing my options. I have the same kind of goals in terms of hours and pay for when I hit my 40s. (Still 17 years away)
Thanks for your response. I think its consulting for now. I might flash my resume at a couple banks and see if they are interested but consulting provides the best training to become a corporate officer, which is really the end goal.
If i don't get into consulting i'll just try to get a raise or leave. I plan to get married soon so its probably would work out to have a chill job the next 3 years, rather than traveling like a lunatic.
BTW good luck with your CPA... I used becker and i thought it worked well, knew others who did not pass but they used NIU or something, not sure.
Also, are you taking your classes at a community college to become eligible, that's what i did and it saved me a ton of $$$
Thank man. I've heard great things about Becker, so that's what I'll try after I get all my classes done.
Yup, I'm taking them at a community college and almost all my expenses there are covered by my current company.
SeaMonkey,
It seem that you are on a good upward trajectory. What motivated you to pursue a MBA at Booth (part-time) after you passed the CPA exam? Do you think your enrollment at Booth has helped with your recent promotions or provided other career benefits?
Did you initially pursue an MBA to advance internally or position yourself for other positions (consulting, banking, etc.)?
Booth is a great school. Honestly, i shouldn't be bragging about it i only scored a 680 on my GMAT and i was surprised they admitted me. I didn't think i would get in because of my score but when i got it i though i should take it. Plus i was single and it was a good time to get this kind of stuff done as oppose to being older with baggage.
I think booth has helped get promoted as my managers tend to brag that they have a Booth student in their team.
Any interest in tech? You might enjoy getting on projects at an Amazon if you're willing to move west. Sounds like you don't really care about accounting. I don't blame you
Amazon is hiring like crazy and it does interest me. My concern with places like amazon is that i got 5 years under my belt in healthcare so of i transition to tech, i'm throwing that experience away rather than leveraging it into something like for example pharma consulting. I believe there is value to sticking to one industry.
Banking/M&A is pretty painful and something you probably will only want to do until you are 30. Your pain tolerance and overall value for quality of life changes significantly at 30 as opposed to 23-28-29. So if you want to do it and go thru hell and then jump off to something less demanding that is an option.
Booth is pretty legit, I would try to go to a global top 10 corporation and get a solid finance/rotation role. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks that's basically what i'm doing now. I finish the rotation program for finance graduates 3 years ago and i'm a manager now. I'm going to apply for consulting. If i don't get in, i'll just stay in finance.
You should consider looking at companies like Google, Amazon, Sears... huge corporations. Most don't care much about GPA, pay well with great benefits and hire MBAs.
Have you looked at Sears? The HQ is right near you and it's a great company to work for and I know they pay corporate strategy/development people about $200k all-in out of MBA programs.
Thanks man. I did notice they were hiring but i looked at their financials :(
Sears is burning through cash and i don't get what their strategy is. Actually, right now they only have enough cash to last them six months. I'm sure how they'll sure up their cash account but i'm sure you get my point. Long-term career is risky.
Running into something similar but... i switched companies and got myself hired way too junior for my capabilities. I stuck it out for 18 months now i have an option. Stay with my current company and look for a more 'senior' role (having full support) or just recently got an offer to go back to my old company in a slightly different role in a business that's more in line with my capabilities.
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