I was wondering what your guys opinion on this would be. I’ve been doing pretty bad in my undergrad (3rd year now at schulich), so for now my goal would be to end up doing my MBA (in canada) and then move into a proper finance job (as ibanking associate possibly). Would you guys suggest starting an accounting role in the big 4 or some middle/back office role?
big4
Whats better, accounting role in an accounting firm that most people have never heard of, or a middle/back office role in a bulge bracket bank?
the one thing i can see is that if you do Big 4 you can say i wanted to do accounting and now i realize it sucks. While if you do back office or even an commercial roles you can’t do that.
after socgen it’s not that easy to go from MO to FO anymore.
I reckon for that to be the case it would hav eto be from MO to FO in the exact MO related to the FO, and in the same firm. Even so, lets hope this guy hasnt ruined it for all.
Id go for a MO role over audit work any day…
The answer is obvious and would be obvious to you if you understood either role. Clearly, accounting is more useful than middle-office experience. Why? Because you are dealing with financials. Qualified accountant -> Corporate finance is a very common move.
You’re finishing your 3rd year or you’re going to be starting it in the fall? With sh*tty grades at Schulich I can almost guarentee you’re not going to get any finance offers for graduation (unless you have something else that really makes up for the grades). Just because the financial sector isn’t huge in Canada, and recruiting at Schulich for finance isn’t great (coming from someone who took Finance at Schulich). If you’re going to be starting 3rd year switch to Accounting. 90% of the people in Schulich accounting get internships and have a full-time job upon graduation. Does accounting suck? You probably think so too. But if you can apply yourself enough to pass the accounting classes you’re setting yourself up for the future. You’re really looking at big 4 vs. still trying to get into finance 2 years out.
IMO Big4, as accounting FO, is better than most finance BO. Also, transaction work (financial or tax DD, valuation) at Big4 is better than any finance BO.
If your doing so bad in your undergrad, how can you still get into Big4? Don’t they look for atleast a ‘B’ Avg? If so why do you not try to pull up your average, I have heard of SSB students getting into front office with a B±"ish" average, but they had solid ECs/Internships/networks. The real question is why did you just wake up today in 3rd year, and see if you want Finance or Accounting, did you not do an internship last summer?
with shitty marks you won’t get corporate finance at big 4…i had a 7.6 3rd year and my dad was a partner and i got stuck in audit…and all the i-banks didnt give me an offer…see you in audit.
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You were on the deans list and landed no interviews? Seriously? Another thing OP should consider if qualified is to apply to something like Inroads, I know a bunch of SSB/Queen’s kids that got good jobs going that route, its much less competitive.
If your doing so bad in your undergrad, how can you still get into Big4? Don’t they look for atleast a ‘B’ Avg? If so why do you not try to pull up your average, I have heard of SSB students getting into front office with a B±"ish" average, but they had solid ECs/Internships/networks. ---------- I’ll still have my B average ---------- The real question is why did you just wake up today in 3rd year, and see if you want Finance or Accounting, did you not do an internship last summer? -------- I know man, I don’t know what I did for 3 years.
with lousy marks, take whatever you can get. serioiusly. from the people i know, accounting at the big 4 is easier to get into than ibanking. and i echo the thoughts above…unless you’re stellar in school, be prepared for two years of audit. think about getting your CA first and then moving into finance/your mba…there are quite a few CA/MBA’s or CA/CFA’s out there that i know of. plus, you mention you wanted to do an mba. you better pull your marks up asap if you want to get in anywhere other than brock!!! hahaha
lol kids at schulich always whine about bad marks, he probably has a mid B average. They kick you out if you keep getting below that anyways.
Dont they bell up at Schulich? I dont know of anyone who has ever finished that program without at least a B+
hahaha, a prof from UWO used to answer questions from students in class: “well, if you still don’t get this by now…you might as well transfer to york!”
Samething at Waterloo. York gets alot of abuse. Either way though, no way a ‘B’ avg student from Schulich, which arguably easily is a top 5 bcomm in Canada. Should have to start off in the backfoffice. I mean the OP can even go work F100, in a strategy group or position in like GE, and get way better exposure, training, and actually have results to show on their resume. I mean doesn’t PnG finance recruit big time at SSB? Audit should be another option. I think the amount of people who make the BO-to-FO jump in Toronto, is about .000003%, proof most of the posts on this forum. While I have talked to a Associate at BMO, who did UWAFM and was a CA before. Heard of a finance manager at Unilever that went MBA and then equity research in consumer goods. Various other examples.