I'm a third year, I want to work in finance in the tech industry when I graduate, and I'm not interested in a career in accounting. For the summer I have an offer for Big 4 Audit and an offer for F50 Corp Fin.
If I want to work in finance it seems logical to go for the F50 position but I've received a lot of feedback that big 4 would be a great brand name on my resume(Big 4 as opposed to Kraft, Caterpillar, Intel, Best Buy). My concern was that the difference in the name won't compensate for the fact that acc and fin are two different fields and it might create more hurdles for me when I recruit for fulltime.
Basically, my question is which offer would allow me to put my best foot forward for full time recruiting?
I'd love to hear any opinions anyone might have!
Best wishes. Good luck to you . Merry Christmas.
I'm in Big 4 and I cannot speak for what the Corp Fin gig will do for you, but you're correct, doing Big 4 audit will be considered a logical step to a career in accounting. Transitioning from accounting to finance is always possible, but it's not a given.
Stepping back for a moment, is the Corp Fin offer in accounting as well? If so, go with the Big 4.
Now hopefully some of the folks who've made the transition can chime in, although there is some good info in here if you search around a little. Good luck!
If you're interested in finance in tech, then it would probably help your story more that you interned at a F50 tech company in a somewhat finance related role. At least, you can work with that to get your story straight.
I would go with the F50.
(i'm just a student.)
I think either would be good, but usually from accounting you make the transition after 2-3 years. You don't usually make it after an internship. Though I've seen plenty of people who had an internship in accounting and also some other finance internships and ended up in finance. So it can be useful too, as long as it's not the only internship you do. If it's the only one, you should take the F50 corp fin.
Great posts! This will be my first and only summer internship so it was important for me to ask around as much as I can so I really appreciate the help. @Scott Irish and yes the F50 will be finance not an accounting role.
i work in big4 audit and i gotta tell you, transitioning to non-accounting Corp Fin roles isnt that easy. all these recruiters that are spamming my inbox and voicemail have nothing but internal audit/fund accounting/financial reporting positions to offer. id say take the Corp Fin gig even if its somewhat more on the accounting side because you can always try to get the FT offer within a more finance-oriented role within the company whereas with big4 audit, its pretty difficult to turn an audit internship into a FT offer in their Transaction Services or Consulting groups. just my two cents. PM me if you have any more questions abt audit.
Go CorpFin
Wanted to keep you guys in the loop. I went for the F50 fin offer. My school has heavy big 4 presence and I'm glad I asked for opinions on the outside. Thank you for all your help!
Congrats man.
I had to make the same decision about a month ago between a Fortune 50 (P&G, J&J, GE etc) and a Big 4 audit internship. While the F50 was not for finance (it was accounting), I ended up choosing the big 4 for a couple of reasons. Just my opinion, but it seemed to me that: Big 4 name recognition was higher, the room for promotion is greater and the timing of promotions is quicker. Also, I was originally looking to get into finance prior to accounting and when I would apply for positions, I noticed a ton of jobs which "prefer" or "require" Big 4 experience. You could guess I ended up choosing the Big 4 gig, either way congrats on accepting the offer. What state/city will you be working in?
Also, I would like to hear more from everyone if big4 really does that have name recognition or prestige over a F50 company. What are the general thoughts on that?
What jobs required big 4 experience?
Mostly just accounting jobs, but it really depends on the company. If a company is looking for a Senior Financial Analyst and they need the person to hit the ground running, they might require Big 4.I haven't seen Big 4 required too often, lots of times it's just preferred.
It's as much of a guarantee as a company can get that the person will know what they're doing, can jump right into the job, and can work hard.
As for the first part I wrote about promotions and name recognition, the promotion structure at the big 4 are all structured so that as long as you meet certain expectations you progress up the ladder(associate,senior associate,manager etc) within a pretty set time frame. Name recognition of the big 4 was so apparent every where I turned, even in my interview with the f50. They specifically told me that they prefer to hire experienced people with big 4 experience because of the training they receive. Also, after a few years at a big 4 you can enter a position that would take nearly double the time to achieve as an internal candidate.
as a current big4 slave who is looking to leave, i can tell you that the last part of your post is def incorrect. after meeting with recruiters and searching for jobs myself online, i found that my 2 years of big4 experience was still only going to count as 2 years of experience at all of the companies i looked at. this includes all sorts of positions from financial reporting, accounting policy, product control etc.
also, it is difficult to transition from big4 audit to more of a pure finance role at a F500. sure, they love big4 experience, but usually for their financial reporting/internal audit positions. their FP&A groups will occasionally take ppl with big4 audit exp, but that is not the norm. most openings for experienced positions within FP&A are looking for ppl with prior FP&A experience. you can def still get in with big4 audit experience, but a lot will depend on how you spin your experience in audit.
Appreciate your feedback. I probably should have added, and correct me if I am wrong, but the optimal time to leave a big 4 gig for a more finance geared role is 2-3 years. I was told by my cousin who is a senior manager that this will allow you to get a enough experience to speak confidently about in an interview and show you stayed long enough to learn that you want to transition into finance without pigeonholing yourself into strictly accounting roles.
Also, out of curiosity, which service group do you work in (fin. services, healthcare, etc)? I am trying to find out more about the financial services audit groups and how they differ from other groups. Thanks.
Thank you IHA and febreeze, that is all good to hear!
Highcheck, I understand your thoughts on the two different positions. Are you going into big4 with the purpose of getting into finance, or is it more you're interested in accounting but want the ability to transition into finance should you choose to do so?
I think it really depends on the sort of rotations you expect to land during the FLDP - which, the internship is usually a feeder to.
Big4 experience could be much more valuable, if most of what you do during the FLDP is accounting. If it's more finance related stuff, then the F50 will probably offer better opportunities for advancement.
Would this be a wrong way to look at it?
big 4 audit is the most dull thing you can do. if you want to make it as a hollywood actor, couple of years as a big 4 auditor may help you land a role in a zombie based film. you'd be a natural.
big 4 audit is the most dull thing you can do. if you want to make it as a hollywood actor, couple of years as a big 4 auditor may help you land a role in a zombie based film. you'd be a natural.
IHA, were those interviews for banks/Fin Inst internal accounting or IBD, corp fin, etc?
they were mostly for BO/MO positions like product control/financial reporting/accounting policy etc. in my experience, for BO/MO positions you can pretty much get interviews at any BB. i was actually able to land a corporate strategy interview at a F100 for which i am still waiting to hear back on. interview went really well so im keeping my fingers crossed. the company is in the same industry as (and a major competitor of) my main client so i think that def helped me out bc i knew so much abt the industry.
Wow that is awesome! Congrats and good luck IHA!
IHA mind walking us through your interview for the corp. strat. role?
sorry didn't see this comment earlier, but sure thing.
EDIT: deleted comment and sent it you in a PM. sorry, i figured its prob better to provide details in this manner.
If this makes any Big 4 auditors here any better - I've personally met two Big 4 auditors... One moved internally to a more transaction-oriented / financial instruments role and eventually landed a gig at a top BB (GS/MS) in high yield fixed income trading. The other one worked 2 years in audit, got his CPA, then started as a first-year analyst at a BB/Elite Boutique (JPM/CS/BARCAP/LAZ/EVR). Definitely EXTREMELY rare but things are possible...
Still, I would advise anyone and everyone to avoid a job at a Big 4. If you have no goals professionally and in life as well as have zero social skills wanting to do the most dull work known to man - go for Big 4
Not sure if this is suppose to come off as a dickish statement or not but it definitely makes you sound ignorant of the real world and a lot of the people that get into big 4 as a jumping off point.
TheBlueCheese's comment isn't completely off base. the part about having zero social skills def isnt true. you are in front of clients every single day. you spend very little time in your Big4 office, you are almost always at the client site and sitting right by the client (the audit room). social skills are def one of the biggest factors they take into consideration when hiring ppl. very few ppl are the stereotypical socially retarded accountant. i agree with his comment abt having "no goals professionally". the vast majority of Big4 auditors leave within his/her first 3-4 years and jump to industry for a Senior Accountant job working in Fund Accounting, Fin Reporting, or Internal Audit. these jobs aren't dead-end per se, but they offer very little upward mobility. most ppl leave to take these jobs because they feel "they've put in their time" and want a normal 9-5 job that pays 90k. its very difficult to work your way up from a Senior Accountant position to VP/Director of a group. that's why a lot of ppl will advise you to hang around until you make Manager so you can enter in at the VP/Director level wherever you go. from what ive noticed, most ppl are not very ambitious at the Big4. they feel that getting their CPA and putting in a few years in audit is sufficient and they can call it quits afterwards. when i mention my desire to get an MBA and breaking into IB/MC, ppl look at me like im crazy. they really don't have any goals post-Big4 audit. there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but i'm a very ambitious person and i'm guessing most ppl on this board are as well, so it kind of drives me nuts that these ppl really have no desire to accomplish anything professionally. so yeah TheBlueCheese's comment was a little dickish, but not completely untrue.
As an ex auditor i must say audit work is very boring and can be dull,uninspiring and drab.Of course it depends on the location,team,colleagues and strengths of the big 4 department you are in.But after my experience at an audit firm (just below the big 4) i must say i would select F-50/100/500 FP&A over big 4 audit any day , twice on a sunday.
As long as you are not made to do back office accounting at the F-50 then select F-50
Thanks for the input! As someone in F500 I'm glad I picked this route myself after hearing how much Big4 work sucks.
I went the other way; I had an internship offer from a top F-50 and for Big 4 audit. I chose the big 4 gig, did the internship this past summer, and will be starting in the fall for full-time audit. I think I made the right decision, but I guess only time will tell. Hell, if it is not right for me I can still just stay a couple years and make a jump to another relevant job in the broader field of finance.
If you are not interested in an accounting career, don't do an internship in it. That being said, if your resume is otherwise weak, then the Big 4 name can give you a good boost. E.G: You will assisting preparing financials for F500.
What exactly are you going to be doing in the Corp Fin internships?
If you dont want to do accounting, dont go to an accounting firm. Given the choices you have, F50 is equally as big of a brand.
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