Which F500 industry to pursue?
Hey guys,
Currently rising senior here doing financial analyst internship at F100 Aerospace company. Found the industry interesting prior to going into the internship and come from an aerospace family which also bolstered interest as well. What I didn't know was how much I didn't like the overall industry culture which wasn't very laid back and a little too much red tape for its own good.
I don't intend on returning to the same company or the same industry actually and I don't want to blindly go into recruiting again not knowing how the industry is so I am hoping to get some industry perspective from my fellow corporate finance monkeys on WSO. With this I was hoping if any of you could shed some light on culture/lifestyle/nature of work/outlook of the following industries (Pre-MBA): Oil & Gas, CPG/Retail, Tech, and Financial Services.
I'm curious about these industries in particular since these are the industries that dominate recruiting at my school for F500 CF positions. If you can shed any light on other industries as well please feel free to share as well (e.g: Media/entertainment?)
Any feedback/guidance/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Here's a little bit of second-hand knowledge, note my responses are all relative to corpfin at F500 companies and large private companies:
-Oil & Gas: upper level pay, outlook is great, not sure about the culture, I've heard a couple of people say they get in at 9 and never leave after 5.
-CPG/Retail: Mid or low-mid level pay, normal to long hours, a bit more laid back depending on the company (more diverse cultures and companies, hard to generalize)
-Tech: mid-upper to upper level pay, hours are somewhere between O&G corpfin and Big4, fairly laid-back but not as much as the programming/engineering departments that get the hype from best places to work articles
-Financial Services: mid-upper level pay, longer hours depending on the company, pretty straight-lace (I'm guessing this would be the most similar to A&D)
-Entertainment: hours are going to be longer, pay will be lower
It's hard to generalize for whole industries. A&D is actually probably the most uniform in terms of culture followed closely by fin services. Really you have to research individual companies to find out what you're getting into.
D M, I've done CF in Tech, Entertainment, and CPG and I can vouch for your description of those 3 specifically; you're dead on accurate.
Beauty of CF is that the skills are transferable across any industry, so it becomes pretty easy to job hop and climb the ladder provided you're willing to be mobile.
I like to think I pay attention to what you guys write haha
I would say healthcare is the 3rd best industry to go into out of your list behind Oil/Gas/Energy and Tech.
Retail/CPG outlook is pretty shoddy unless you find the right company. Financial Services have longer hours, often better pay, but also still unstable when it comes to job safety. Have some friends in entertainment. Benefits can be AWESOME if it is in an industry you enjoy (ex: Sports or Casinos). But I wouldn't go into it unless you have some level of passion for that specific field within entertainment.
I'm currently at my 3rd company in the Apparel/Retail space. DM is spot on, but I'll try to generalize a little bit based on my own experience to give you some additional insight, particularly between the wholesale and retail segments.
Department stores & big box retailers: More buttoned up, with plenty of red tape. If you dislike this about your current industry, you may not find this to be a good fit. Many offer rotational programs and have in house training sessions. Higher name recognition means stronger talent pool and better lateral opportunities vs. wholesale. Outlook is pretty flat for this segment.
Wholesale/Manufacturers: Even in high workload environments there can be a lot of flexibility, with more emphasis on getting the work done rather than clocking the hours. Training resources are poor to non-existent. Companies tend to be young with low comp, but you can move up fast. Sales usually runs the show, and CF works closely with them. Being a good fit for the sales team culture is crucial to the success of a Financial Analyst. Outlook completely varies by brand/product.
Thanks for the o&g description. Maybe this is lumped in with tech, but does anyone have information on pharmaceuticals/the biotech industry?
O&G Finance intern here. DM pretty much summed it up real well. Big Oil hours (especially Exxon) will be a little more demanding starting out the day around 8 and leaving around 6. I would also like to emphasize the great outlook part for that industry once more.
Also, I too would like to see a Pharma/Biotech perspective as well!
Not interested in Bio Tech & Pharmaceuticals?
Financial Services is definitely longer hours if you are doing FP&A for say MS or Goldman. But if you are doing the same role at Amex or Discover it's not. But it's also true that MS and Goldman will pay better than almost all other CF companies.
The comment about job security is true, though. There is much more volatility in the industry and it's an industry generally far more willing than others to lay people off. However, the point about the culture being like A&D isn't correct in my experience.
I've been in three industries (Financial Services, A&D, and Healthcare) and I'll say that the culture was, for me, BY FAR the worst in A&D. A&D as a business is so regimented and with have essentially one client there is a real lack of creativity. It's often a case where people get silo'd and you are expected to go step by step just like the last person. It causes the industry to be very tenure based and they aren't good at identifying young talent because they don't want you standing out. But it is pretty 9-5. And while it's intense it's more intense in the military sort of way with structure and regiment but not your day to day life or pressure/stress put on you at work.
OTOH financial services is more of a grind because of that banking mentality but it's a meritocracy. No one has to stick to a step by step process if you have a better way. People are much smarter and it's much more of an industry that respects and values it's young people. But it can be a little more intense and things are expected of you quicker and for you to be sharper so it's not for the guy who just wants a laid back 9-5.
Healthcare was a good medium and there is definitely an opening to make your mark there right now because of all the changes in the industry. ESPECIALLY with reimbursement because very few people understand the nuances of the revenue side at hospitals/LTACs/Etc. In fact my goal post MBA is healthcare IB because it fascinates me.
Lastly I'll say that part of this talk of culture has as much to do with location as industry. Financial services is more intense partly because any job in NYC is more intense than other areas of the country. Likewise with O&G being more laid back being predominantly in the south. So where you live is a big consideration.
I completely agree with AllDay in that comp/lifestyle can very much be dependent on location and not just industry. I've worked in in a few cities/industries and can agree and disagree with some of what's been mentioned in this thread -- feel free to pm if anyone is interested in more detail. I think it's difficult to make generalizations because they tend to be situation specific and more of an overgeneralization.
I agree, I think most of the people on this board are looking at entry-level compensation though. That tends to be a bit more standardized than after you've been in the workforce for a year or two.
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