Corp finance jobs for MBA

Skylar, What do you think adding Master of Accounting to what I already have? I basically want to be a business person with MFE as added credential showing I understand hard core finance.

Masters of accounting would help, I think significantly to get at least some corp fin - Financial Analyst roles. Keep in mind Financial Analyst can cover a wide variety of roles, depending on the company. At my company our FA is a much more accounting specific role. Build PL, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, work on MGMT reporting, variance analysis and special projects. Plus work on maybe specific accounting areas like R&D (Capitalization). Since it reports to the VP of FPA (which includes treasury for us, but that is a minimal role) it includes the budget/forecast process as well (for entire company since it is corporate division). We dont really do any true FINANCE things like NPV, IRR, etc. Some roles will have more reconcilations, pricing analysis, more detailed variance analysis (perhaps at the account level), more mechanical work, etc. Depending on the company/level. Some would of course be more finance focused and have little need for heavy accounting knowledge. So it really depends. Since ours was so focused on accounting it pretty much meant we were going to get a Big 4 person. One MBA candidate was a consideration, but we felt we needed a more heavy accounting person. I was the person we were replacing in this role and I am going for CFA right now and have MS in Finance and can tell you for my company, it means very little to that role. Hope this helps. I guess my point is, if you are looking at these roles, make sure not to lump them all in the same bucket, because they arent. And as the other person said, if you are thinking controller, you will almost certainly need more accounting knowledge and likely a CPA (or be on that path) as those are heavy on accounting.

“to be at the bargaining table with the I-bankers and Company Executives immediately, any time soon or maybe even ever.” What do you think corporate treasurers do for a living? Maybe South Florida is so bereft of talent that it’s a unique situation but I know that Corporate Treasury and Planning Directors in Fortune 500 companies are aggressively recruited by PE firms. It all depends on what your responsibilities are and if they include the “deal-making” responsibilities (capital structure, M&A) for your firm. Corporate Finance is such a general term that we could be talking about a completely different type of transition.

Gouman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Moving to PE is possible, however that doesn’t > mean you’ll be working in a deal making capacity. > > > PE firms have support and FO jobs too. Many who > make the transition do so in another capacity than > deal making. > > The only corporate guys I know who’ve make the > transition were executives at large or highly > specialized firms that are were in the industries > that the PE investors make investments. > > It can be done. I’m interested in doing it myself. > But we have to remain realistic, it’s not going to > be a cake walk for any of us. Just because you > land a gig at P/E firm does not mean your going to > be at the bargaining table with the I-bankers and > Company Executives immediately, any time soon or > maybe even ever. Gouman is on point here. There are many different roles in PE, but if you’re looking to get into the transacting side, it will be very difficult especially at your level. If you’re already doing an MBA, do understand that most people who get hired into PE post-MBA had pre-MBA experience in private equity. That means that even people who did banking at the pre-MBA level but who opted not to do private equity before going for an MBA have a tough time making the switch. At the firm I work at, which does tend to hire more non-traditional candidates, I’d still say that close to 95% of people who got hired in post-MBA still had prior transacting experience, be it banking/PE (most of them), or M&A or some other treasury role at a company or corporation that’s similar to the types of firms that a particular PE firm pursues. If you’re hoping to make the transition to a transacting role in the current economy, I’d say don’t count on it. Your skills would be more transferrable if you wanted to get into the internal finance side of a PE firm, or possibly fundraising or origination (if you have good contacts and are unafraid to be out in the field searching for new investment ideas all the time). Not trying to discourage you; just being realistic here.

I’m transitioning to PE on fundraising side. The partners have made it abundantly clear that after closing the fund in six months, they would like me to gradually transition to investment side. Whether this is possible depends on how open minded the partners are, and whether you bring something to the table (in my case that I am a native English speaker and also speak Russian). I think personality matters a great deal. If they like you they will help you and be supportive of what you want to do.

If you had good corp level experience I actually think there will be more of a shot coming up as the focus is more about the portfolio and imrpovement as opposed to new deals. I think coming from a corp Fin background obviously gives you a better shot in that regard, if it happens (I have seen some firms doing this…but not hiring anywhere of course). I guess this is akin to a restructuring role, in a way. I personally prefer this to some of the other roles that many like.

stupid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Skylar, > > What do you think adding Master of Accounting to > what I already have? I basically want to be a > business person with MFE as added credential > showing I understand hard core finance. There comes a point when employers question how many advanced degrees and certifications you have. These things are nice, but at the end of the day, large public companies need people who can project manage, multi-task, execute and deliver on their promises. Try to put it in perspective with your current job - do you think that someone who spent 8-10 years in finance, went back to school, sat for a couple of exams in your field - could do the job you do today? I echo everything that Kevinf12 said. The bigger the company and the better the name -most likely you will be one of several analysts, each working on a piece of the pie, whether it be one entity, subsidiary, segment or function. Accounting and business process knowledge will be important and theoretical finance will be less relevent. You might spend day after day analyzing pricing trends for a certain line of business. That being said, I think there is a significant need in the marketplace with people who have a technical background (esp. software development) that have a great understanding of theoretical finance. In my experience, I have seen a huge disconnect between the finance “experts” and the people who create the very software and systems that they get their information. Edit: One more thing I forgot to mention about Corp. Finance - there is a great possibility that the work you have to do will be tied with a month-end close and/or quarter close process. Depending upon what you do (esp. if you go the MA route) you could be spending your holidays in the office - FYI.