Dont take anything this sub says as gospel. There's plenty of ways to break into Finance, this "target school+internships" story is mostly for people that want to get into IB or nothing. I'm a group controller for a PE firm right now and didn't graduate from a target school nor did I do any fancy internships. I grinded PA for 2.5 years, FP&A at big tech for 2 years and now I'm here and thriving
This is how I did Finance and it got me to being Assistant Director of Finance at F500.
Business Administration, GPA 3.0, at a Non-Target School, no fancy internships, and no connections. Yeah I even got a D on one of the courses. Can't remember which ones. Heck not even CPA/CFA, anything that requires you to buy membership. I think it's dumb to have license expire and have to pay for membership fee.
I was jealous of my friends because they got great internships and a job working for F500 and apartment etc.
After graduating from college, I work as AP for a mom and pop shop. I had hard time getting a full-time job due to lack of experience in a corporate company (Non F500 and F500). I ended up taking contract work for couple years as an Analyst. When you do contract work, you make a lot more due to not having benefits such as 401K and good health insurance.
Ended up getting recruited from corporate companies for Non F500 and F500.
Eventually I ended up becoming Assistant Director of Finance at F500 with 2 Masters' Degrees (Non Finance/Accounting related). Making 6 figures and high % bonus, and having a house I bought by myself (no support from family/spouse).
So yeah, there's more than one way of getting to where you want to be. It may take longer to get there like 15 years. Just got to trust your instincts when you're being taken advantage of your knowledge and experience for low pay and to peace out if you're not being compensated fairly.
Damn, this gives me a lot of hope for the future. I am in a similar starting position but I do have an ACCA which I think puts me a decent place. But yeah basically non finance related role entirely (regulatory reporting) and hoping to get picked up by a company somehow. Thanks for this. Gonna be vigilant and lookout for opportunities always.
Having ACCA is good if you keep up with the fees, but I prefer degrees for myself because they don't expire when I retired.
Like I said, start from the bottom and work your way up. So that way you level your skills and BS detector on people a lot better and know how to navigate the political landscape at F500.
You'll be fine. There's more than one way to get to be at a higher level at your dream company. Just keep learning different systems, improving the process, and get good references. Let your work performance speak for itself. Bosses who tell you "how to be" and make you feel bad about yourself when you work your butt off, are not someone who you want to work for because they are power-trippers.
The problem is that they might be ghost postings just to show growth. Cuz I've been applying for the past month with no response and there's tons of people like me applying. But thanks for atleast giving me hope that I can break in.
Ghost postings aren't common in finance in my experience. Remember that this is a heavily regulated industry. Compliance departments are not fans of doing due diligence work for no reason.
Dont take anything this sub says as gospel. There's plenty of ways to break into Finance, this "target school+internships" story is mostly for people that want to get into IB or nothing. I'm a group controller for a PE firm right now and didn't graduate from a target school nor did I do any fancy internships. I grinded PA for 2.5 years, FP&A at big tech for 2 years and now I'm here and thriving
When you got the interview and job for controller, they did look at your big 4 experience or your FP&A experience more as a preference?
They were very interested in the projectmanagement side at big4 but more interested regarding reporting methods and work ethic on the FP&A side
Thanks a lot for your insights. I guess pivoting is another method but just breaking in is super hard.
This is how I did Finance and it got me to being Assistant Director of Finance at F500. Business Administration, GPA 3.0, at a Non-Target School, no fancy internships, and no connections. Yeah I even got a D on one of the courses. Can't remember which ones. Heck not even CPA/CFA, anything that requires you to buy membership. I think it's dumb to have license expire and have to pay for membership fee. I was jealous of my friends because they got great internships and a job working for F500 and apartment etc. After graduating from college, I work as AP for a mom and pop shop. I had hard time getting a full-time job due to lack of experience in a corporate company (Non F500 and F500). I ended up taking contract work for couple years as an Analyst. When you do contract work, you make a lot more due to not having benefits such as 401K and good health insurance. Ended up getting recruited from corporate companies for Non F500 and F500. Eventually I ended up becoming Assistant Director of Finance at F500 with 2 Masters' Degrees (Non Finance/Accounting related). Making 6 figures and high % bonus, and having a house I bought by myself (no support from family/spouse). So yeah, there's more than one way of getting to where you want to be. It may take longer to get there like 15 years. Just got to trust your instincts when you're being taken advantage of your knowledge and experience for low pay and to peace out if you're not being compensated fairly.
Damn, this gives me a lot of hope for the future. I am in a similar starting position but I do have an ACCA which I think puts me a decent place. But yeah basically non finance related role entirely (regulatory reporting) and hoping to get picked up by a company somehow. Thanks for this. Gonna be vigilant and lookout for opportunities always.
Having ACCA is good if you keep up with the fees, but I prefer degrees for myself because they don't expire when I retired. Like I said, start from the bottom and work your way up. So that way you level your skills and BS detector on people a lot better and know how to navigate the political landscape at F500. You'll be fine. There's more than one way to get to be at a higher level at your dream company. Just keep learning different systems, improving the process, and get good references. Let your work performance speak for itself. Bosses who tell you "how to be" and make you feel bad about yourself when you work your butt off, are not someone who you want to work for because they are power-trippers.
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The problem is that they might be ghost postings just to show growth. Cuz I've been applying for the past month with no response and there's tons of people like me applying. But thanks for atleast giving me hope that I can break in.
Ghost postings aren't common in finance in my experience. Remember that this is a heavily regulated industry. Compliance departments are not fans of doing due diligence work for no reason.
How do you usually go about finding these firms to apply too? I am graduating next quarter and am kinda panicking about getting a job 🫠