#FP&A #jobsearch #careeradvice
Hey everyone! 👋 I wanted to spark a discussion and gather insights from those who have landed a FP&A job. So, how did you get your FP&A job? It can be tough breaking into this field, but sharing our experiences and strategies can help others navigate their own job search journey. Here are a few possible solutions that might help:
– Networking: reaching out to connections in the industry or attending networking events
– Acquiring relevant certifications: such as CFA or CPA to stand out to potential employers
– Gaining relevant experience: through internships or entry-level roles in finance or accounting
I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic! Share your journey to landing a FP&A job and any tips you have for those currently on the job search. Let’s help each other out! 💼🌟
Get finance degree -> apply -> job
Cost accounting -> internal transfer
How many places have you applied? Job market in finance isn’t great right now. Also, education… finance is a lot reputation/network based. Just having a finance degree isn’t necessarily unique. You need to either know some people, have really good grades, or have a school name that carries weight either regionally (if you’re staying local) or nationally
I worked in treasury sales at a large bank for 3 years out of college, realized I didn’t want to make a career out of treasury, so pivoted to FP&A at another large bank. It took a few months to apply, interview and accept the job.
Boss got a job in FP&A and then told me he’d give me more money if I went and worked for him there. So here I am.
Depending on where you live, I know my firm hires about 1 or 2 new advisors a quarter. Go to the Merrill Lynch career page and look for either of these three roles, Financial Solutions Advisor (FSA), Merrill Financial Solutions Advisor(MFSA), or Advisor Development Program Advisor (ADPFA). These are all roles for new advisors with little to no experience to get into the firm.
The FSA role is probably the best if you have no experience in the industry out side of school and you can make a decent salary after you get up and running 70k to 110k in the first year or two. This will also help you get your sales pitch down before you have specific BG goals to hit. From there, you can sit in that role if you’re happy with not having to really manage a book or move up to the MFSA to own your own book. FSA’s salaries will top out around the 150k after comp’s once you’ve established yourself. MFSA and ADPFA willmit be in caped, but it is almost all comp based, and you need to bring in about $10MM in 18 months to keep the role.
If you have any questions, DM me.
I was at an accounting firm (not even big 4) and moved to Bulge Bracket FP&A a few years ago. I suggest learning some programming languages (VBA at the minimum) to put on your resume since automation is heavily valued in that field.
Interviewer told me knowing 4 programming languages + accounting experience is how my resume stuck out out of 200.
Nepotism, thank God
Graduated “Public Ivy” college with finance degree (2 finance internships) > Boutique IB (less than a year) > TAS (1.5 years) > Senior Analyst FP&A (1.5 years)> manager FP&A guaranteed $120k base $30k signing bonus ($150k total this year) but about to get stock and year end bonus so could end up around $200k total for the year.
I had a non-traditional entrance into FP&A. Worked for Disney in Florida and got into their Global Marketing & Advertising organization as a Budget Specialist. I worked closely with the Finance Team for two and a half years and moved over as an Analyst without even having to apply or interview. My office moved 20ft.
Bachelors degree at 30, started MBA shortly after. Networked until I landed an internship, and landed in a role by networking with the boss. Was easier since he was my age and gave me a decent return offer. After one year moved internally to an FP&A role. Looking externally now to make the jump to FP&A manager.
Pretty easy to get there from Big 4 audit
Applied and was hired for an FLDP. Program unfortunately sucked due to the merger it was going through so I applied for an FP&A role at another company.
I was lucky, I did a pseudo ops analyst/division FP&A role at my previous company that’s in the same industry, also have my CFA/MBA.
Not a great or helpful answer but my counterpart, hired the same day, did the same elsewhere at a larger company. Definitely seems like a bit of a tough market at the moment.
You get a lot of recruiters reaching out to you as an investment banking analyst, and I was fortunate enough to get an FP&A offer that ended up being a really good fit with drastically better WLB
Was working in big 4 tax and hated it. Couldn’t pass the CPA exam to save my life. Learned what FP&A was so applied to an analyst role for a hospital. 8 years later, promoted to director of finance / analytics on an FP&A team. My best career decision was to give up on the CPA and join an FP&A team. I’m proof that quitters can prosper!
Not a top school but have a great alumni network. A LinkedIn group page helped me land my first job.
Get an accounting degree focus on management/cost accounting. FP&A is simply just management accounting. Apply for financial analyst and FP&A positions. A lot are recommending finance but you’re better off in accounting degree. If your in manufacturing in North America learning Spanish would help a lot to.