F500 media corp finance (reporting/strategy) vs growing MM Bank Trade Support MO role ->
Its a rough market for jobs these days in IBD, especially for a 50ish ranked undergrand with 3.3 gpa. Want to do another year of work and go to top 15 business school, then mostly IBD to get into MM PE or HF. Have passed CFA level 1.
Question: Stay in very boring role at media company and try to get manager level within a year to go to business school or take trade support role to hopefully get ER job (this bank is not as rough with pigeon holing, friend is about to make that exact jump) then B-school.
In either case I am going to be cold calling Boutique NYC IBDs to see if i can get in at analyst level for the next 6 months until I have to study for CFA level 2.
What should I do, Im at my wits end? I know this is hurting my "story" but I dont see myself getting looks at IBD no matter how well i can market the F500 work... Will Biz Schools think im a botard for switching to Trade Support? If you work at MM IBD and want to help a brother out I will not disappoint and will reward handsomely.
Resume below:
Professional Experience
(Media Company) – New York, NY January 2010 – Present
Financial Planning & Analysis – Senior Analyst (Europe and Emerging Markets)
• Conduct strategic brand analysis for product lines across global markets to highlight key drivers of growth and provide initial cost/benefit analysis of continued investment. Review findings with Business Development team for preparation of Long Range Plan
• Produce variance analysis on revenue forecasts to prepare yearly budget for regional teams
• Coordinate with Legal, Sales, and the London Finance office to reconcile European and Middle Eastern partners’ financials, arrange settlements, and create new agreements
• Prepared a robust analysis on 30+ Europe/Middle East partners and acted as liaison between the partners’ CEOs and MTV senior management resulting in a multimillion dollar settlement agreement
• Manage and develop procedures for a team of 12 operational analysts to increase workflow efficiency and enforce SOX/GAAP compliance
(Media Company) – New York, NY February – July 2009
• Moved across various departments within the organization from Production, Development, Finance, HR, IT and assisted in ad hoc projects.
(Regional Company) – Niagara Falls, NY August – December 2008
Accountant
• Performed a full reconcilement of all financials after acquisitions
• Calculated month-end accruals of income and expenses for all the company entities
• Investigated payoffs of debt restructuring and presented findings to upper management
• Built best/base/worst case valuations for an equity offering
• Developed cost cutting strategies and wrote sections of the business plan for a new venture
(Venture Capital Fund) – London, UK May – August 2007
Analyst
• Performed financial analysis and due diligence for two equity purchases totaling over £20 million
• Analyzed the investments’ past financials, the 5 year future expansion strategy, market position, exclusive technology, government contracts, private development contracts, and management expertise
• Organized incoming financial and operational data into databases and presented results using daily PowerPoint presentations
• Conducted research across clean-tech industry for attractive investment opportunities
Im pretty sure B-schools would prefer people working in industry, rather than a bank.
I'm sure this has been beaten to death at other postings, but you should really not take level II. Spend that time networking, going to CFA society events, cold calling, etc...
I just completed level I and am in the process of moving from my current position. There is no way in hell I can manage to spend 300 hours for level II and still network into a better position. Build your career first, then when you have a solid job and you still want to pursue the CFA charter, go for it. Business schools won't care about what level you passed and it is not going to make or break your chances of a MM ER gig. Not networking will, though.
Just my 2 cents... good luck with the transition.
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