Purpose of this thread is to get some insight on the likelihood of jumping over to IB or a pure finance role (ex: PE) after some time as a Financial Analyst focusing on operations at an oil and gas corporation.
To give some background, I am about 3 months out of school and about to start this new position. I went to a reputable college in the south, earned 3.7+ GPA, and did an international fixed income HF internship, a BB IBD internship, and another internship at a major global macro hedge fund in CT (I took that offer mid internship at the BB bank thinking I'd rather just skip the IBD step and go straight to an HF analyst role). That said, taking the HF spot eliminated an offer from IBD, and ultimately the HF was not where I saw myself (the decision to go to the HF proving to be a less than optimal decision in hindsight).
Since then, I had offers from BlackRock, a BB IB (which I opted out of because of the firm's "prestige" level and added value to my resume so to speak), and an oil and gas firm. Originally, the O&G offer was for Strategy and Planning but it has since turned into me starting at a satellite office focusing on the Bakken region as a financial analyst. Doing things like operational optimization, Asset Management, etc. It is what I would expect to do as a BBM consultant on a project...except full-time.
Apparently there's "a chance" that I'll be able to move to the Corporate Strategy/Development group after a year or so, but I'm a little worried that I siloed myself into an average position (i.e. I had been working at the top IB's and HF's in school, and afterward verbally accepted an offer full-time at a company that ended up differing from my initial expectations.
There's obviously a chance this could turn into an awesome position where I can move up quickly and learn a ton about O&G, but being that I derailed myself from the typical IB--PE--B-school--PE--executive track, I am concerned that I will not be able to get back into an IB or PE role a year or two down the road if I decide I want to get back into a Wall Street oriented spot.
I know this was a little long, but any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
I would avoid the financial analyst job unless you really want to be in oil and gas. Even then, I probably wouldn't do it unless the particular company actually values it's financial people. I work at one large independant, my wife works at a supermajor. I'm a petroleum engineer and she's in a job similar to the one you describe. She generally likes her job and gets to be involved in interesting stuff (generally stuff outside her job description, she has to get after it to land the fun stuff, but it's around). She has a real chance at moving up somewhat rapidly provided she continues down the path she is on and gets on the high potential list etc... Her company is big into the "functional model", they would prefer people stick to their disciplines more than my company would. At the company I'm at, she would be fucked and probably hate her job. She would have a very small chance at ever making it to a good management position in BD or A&D, while she has a good shot at doing so if she stays where she is. Most oil companies are very big on their petroleum engineers and when you look up the fun jobs on the org chart they are generally filled with an engineer that maybe got his MBA at some point. I would make sure that the offer you are considering is not from one of those companies. If you have a real passion for oil it's not a bad gig, money is decent, but not amazing, hours are decent, and the work can be a lot of fun.
As far as getting off your track, you might not make it back to WS, but there is plenty of finance stuff going on in Houston that you could probably do provided you get the oil experience. Definitely consulting work to be had as well, A friend of mine applied at WoodMac last month and when they called back to follow up they had like 7 analyst openings and sounded desperate to fill them. Things are hot right now, will probably stay that way unless oil tanks to $50 or something.
The full reasons I took this offer over the others were:
1) Better base comp than the BB IB offers with FAR less hours 2) I have a family connection on the management team who initially connected me to the company stating it would be the best spot I could be in to learn the O&G business. 3) This company's management team has built 2-3 companies all of which sold out at a significant premium...the last of which sold at a premium higher than any mid to large-cap O&G firm as far back as records go (I know that bc at the time I was working at an IB that ran part of the deal). That said, the time frame on this company seems to be 3-5 years MAX, as I know some of the executives are considering retiring. To me, that meant (among other things) that I am not locking myself in to a career position...merely a huge learning opportunity and a good launchpad.
My concern is that launchpad is not actually as good as a BB IB would give me. And, if I decide that is the case after ~1 year at this firm, I will definitely be sending out feeler emails to my network within the high finance world (bankers, PE guys, etc.). The concern there is that even if there are spots open, my experience at this O&G firm won't put me in a competitive position as far as recruiting goes.
Thoughts?
Just my opinion,but:
Stop worrying so much about finding the perfect role for you for the moment and do your best to enjoy what you have. Jumping around so often at the very start of your career is a huge red flag. If you've already signed with this firm, try to make it work. For better or worse, you've already committed to it.
But I thought that was the point of this website! Kidding (kind of), but you may be right. I may be over thinking things. I like to think I'm considering to be prepared...
Numquam mollitia neque quo velit. Ea non aut atque sunt. Accusamus corrupti quaerat magnam eveniet quia. Repellat qui ut commodi molestiae. Et sit fugiat assumenda nam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...