Thanks. If you have an internal audit offer, yes, it could be reasonable to start off there and then move into corporate finance or potentially banking/consulting, but I think you would probably have to move to some intermediate role first, such as valuation or investment banking advisory at a Big 4 firm. Or would working in public accounting and getting the CPA be the best path? in fact, the accountants are more likely to stay late due to month ends etc. though they’re schedule is extremely predictable. Thank you for sharing. Also which of the rotational roles financial analyst, project management, controller or business management tends to be the most “finance-y” and suited to my goals? I have a legal background and have experience working in loan recovery in a bank. As I’m reading this with my fairly new interest in corporate finance I really began to worry. Your article really inspires me. And I’ve heard about some companies that actually discourage their employees from leaving for b-school – how true is this for corporate finance roles in fortune 50 companies? If you really want to get into CRE brokerage, find a sales role or something where you interact with clients or potential clients. Thanks! I am considering the interest of the 2 jobs as well as my fit within the role, the interest of the position and most importantly evolution perspective. Depends a lot of your orientation, finance vs PR, I’d say. Yes it can be painfully long but in some companies which have accelerated programs for top performers some CFOs are as young as 30-35 and earns above $300k (some even get $1MM or more). I want a well paid, interesting career. – Business analytics and modeling (e.g. As someone who has made the jump from BB investment banking analyst (with deal experience in LBOs, M&A, and capital markets products) to a hybrid role of FP&A, corp dev, and strategy associate, I can say with confidence that the financial data you attempt to interpret and model as a junior investment banker are extremely neatly packaged. Both companies are in e-commerce related field; established with strong growth. Thanks for the article. The position also requires tellers to be friendly and interact with the customers, providing them with information about customers’ accounts and bank services. Should I search by company, or should I search by industry? Nicolas was a Financial Analyst at General Electric where he explored the world of Corporate Finance. So, that mostly has to do with positions in financial accounting, rather than management accounting? Much more quantitative than Finance/accounting. I love the idea of ER because of what goes into studying an industry/company and making a projection based on your research within the vibrant world of finance. In this article, we’ll give you a complete guide on how to select the appropriate job titles … I am applying for an MBA this fall for the batch starting next fall. Entry-level Analyst? They can also be “marketing analysts” between finance and marketing. The Treasurer is also the main contact for investment banks and investors. If so what roles later on in that category will help me become cfo quick, There is no “fastest route.” It takes years, sometimes decades. For the program right out of school though, it was 55k and 5k signing bonus with same 8% – 12% of annual salary as bonus. Thank you for your advice. See: https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/finance-investment-banking-jobs-tradeoffs/ for a summary of your options. Yeah it’s interesting to see it from that perspective, I would have the opportunity to add a few levels of the CFA to my ACA and I was hoping to leverage the work they do on competitor analysis and comparison of equity research reports. It all comes down on how you sell it. As with most courses though, they will typically cover more material with less depth than you would find in an actual FP&A role. Yes, quite a few analysts go back to do the MBA. I just wanted to thank you for writing this article which gave me a greater perspective into how the corporate ladder is created. That definitely helps. Yes, either focus on smaller companies or aim for roles such as Treasury that are more closely related to credit. I am currently 18 and pursuing my Business Admin. Yes, if you were to try and map your courses to the lines of work described in this article. Thanks for the detailed information above. Enter your email address to receive alerts when we have new listings available for Finance job titles. Do you think it’s realistic to move to investment management after an MBA in finance? You can probably just network your way into interviews if you already have that type of experience. Awesome, thanks for adding all that and glad to hear that the article is accurate for the most part. Definitely one of the better insights to the world of corporate finance. I’m posting here but my question also has to do with other articles you’ve contributed to.