What do you actually do in a Finance Rotation Program?
I'm a finance major in undergrad and considering applying to Finance Rotation Programs at F500 companies. They're not very clear on what they actually do though. What does the job actually entail? A lot of the job posts list "finance risk analysis" skills as a requirement. What does that mean exactly, in this case? How does that apply to a F500 FRP analyst position? I'm just confused. What is this job all about?
When I was in undergrad I went thru one of these programs as an internship. The work was incredibly boring and not meaningful. Not to mention most of these finance rotationals are
more accounting than anything. Highly suggest not doing it but if you are a rising soph or junior it wont hurt
When I was an intern in an FRP I built models and dashboards that are used throughout the company/across the country. Not all work will be meaningful but depending on the team/company you definitely can work on meaningful projects.
^^ Yea I guess youre right that it depends on the firm. I would say to do some networking/digging about the kind of divisions you rotate in and then make up your mind
Varies by industry and company but by and large the programs are designed to rotate you through different groups within their finance organization (as well as accounting but that’s not advertised). In my FRP there’s upwards of 50 teams that regularly take rotational analysts and additional teams that will take someone on if they need help. Can be anything from M&A, Tax, Real Estate, Audit, Project finance, FP&A. There will also be industry specific rotations within other units like supply chain and international.
The other poster seemingly just had a bad rotation, and those happen, especially as an intern it’s very possible you won’t love your unit. The good thing about rotational programs is you get to try out multiple jobs in a 2-3 year setting without quitting and finding a new place if you don’t like your current job. It’s completely disingenuous to write off FRP’s as “mostly accounting”, as there’s much more to what companies do than that.
Corporate jobs, especially on this board, are unsexy and “boring” work and will play second fiddle to almost everything else within the finance industry. FRP’s can provide you with a broad experience and are generally fast tracks to promotions compared to people who enter corporate through other means excluding banking and consulting.
I worked in a top A&D FLDP after college. Biggest thing to point out is that there isn't really "a job" in particular- it is just as you mentioned, a rotation program. Another poster said it was boring and not meaningful and just accounting, and that is true of the boring, non-meaningful accounting rotations.
Each year in my program we got a list of open rotations- typically there were about 1.5-2 rotations open per person, so we had our pick of what we wanted. And it was pretty broad. Actual accounting, cost accounting, FP&A, pension analysis (like an internal hedgefund), Investor Relations, Internal Audit, corporate strategy, foreign rotations in MENA and euro countries, etc. We had plenty of time to scope out future rotations and learn what the work would be like.
I got stuck with a pretty shitty first rotation and hated it. Lots of sitting around, lots of manual brainless work. I scoped out an FP&A rotation in a fast growing R&D product line and enjoyed the heck out of it. Fantastic rotation. By that point I was realizing A&D wasn't for me, so I scoped out a rotation that would be highly transferable to other companies and industries and took that. Dry and difficult, but good experience. Got a great SFA offer in my target city at another F500 company.
The FRP/FLDP is what you make it. Most corporate jobs are not glamorous or sexy, and you are not surrounded by glamorous/sexy people. Which means you can be a big fish in a small pond- any communication skills and drive that are above average will stand out and you can climb the ladder faster. In my opinion, you find the above-average IQ/EQ at the Sr. Manager/Director level. That is where they land after getting enough experience. So that is the advantage to corporate- competition is not as high. Sure, it is a slog to get up there, but so is any role after undergrad.
If you can make it into IB/MBB then I'd say that is the best path and you'll be golden, but if not I'd say that an FLDP is a great path as well. Get a broad experience and take your own career by the horns. Hit 2-3 years of experience and the company is not promoting you to SFA (and that promotion isn't on the near horizon)? Leave, get the promo elsewhere. Hit 5-7 years and not getting promoted to manager? Leave, get the promotion elsewhere. Rinse and repeat. The average corporate career sucks because the average corporate worker is average. The cream rises to the top.
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