ASAKI

1y

Why do MIS majors always land in IT Audit man you guys have such a good degree!!!!!!!!

So, IT Audit can be a difficult field to get out of in terms of exit opportunities, but you have some options:

1. Try to transfer to another division in your firm. Network with other departments' managers and you can land yourself in a place you actually like, even in PA. I know a friend who rotated from IT Audit (despised it) into Data A***ytics (loved it) and went on to do a career in it. I believe B4 has tech consulting/advisory but those can be difficult to land.

2. Exit into industry into compliance-related roles. There are easy opportunities here, but they will be similar to what you're doing now. That's InfoSec, GRC, and normal Internal Audit. However, I'm going to argue that these three are way better than IT Audit by itself. Get your CISA, CPA would be great as well. Down the line you can get the CISSP once you have enough experience and you'll immediately gain a ton of prestige in InfoSec.

3. Network and put your best foot forward to pivot into Corporate Finance. This will be a numbers game but having Big 4 on your resume is a big boon. This is only going to be an option if you stay until senior and complete the CPA.

4. Just do IT Audit in industry. This can range from being interesting (operational IT Audit) to being the same boring s*** in PA (endless controls testing) but you'll actually be paid a good salary and have WLB.

Again, all of these (except for maybe #1) will be much easier if you hit Senior first, but it's doable otherwise. @wes I think you can maybe correct me on any of these points or tell me I'm a f***ing dumbass/give some advice

ASAKI

1y

Why do MIS majors always land in IT Audit man you guys have such a good degree!!!!!!!!

So, IT Audit can be a difficult field to get out of in terms of exit opportunities, but you have some options:

1. Try to transfer to another division in your firm. Network with other departments' managers and you can land yourself in a place you actually like, even in PA. I know a friend who rotated from IT Audit (despised it) into Data A***ytics (loved it) and went on to do a career in it. I believe B4 has tech consulting/advisory but those can be difficult to land.

2. Exit into industry into compliance-related roles. There are easy opportunities here, but they will be similar to what you're doing now. That's InfoSec, GRC, and normal Internal Audit. However, I'm going to argue that these three are way better than IT Audit by itself. Get your CISA, CPA would be great as well. Down the line you can get the CISSP once you have enough experience and you'll immediately gain a ton of prestige in InfoSec.

3. Network and put your best foot forward to pivot into Corporate Finance. This will be a numbers game but having Big 4 on your resume is a big boon. This is only going to be an option if you stay until senior and complete the CPA.

4. Just do IT Audit in industry. This can range from being interesting (operational IT Audit) to being the same boring s*** in PA (endless controls testing) but you'll actually be paid a good salary and have WLB.

Again, all of these (except for maybe #1) will be much easier if you hit Senior first, but it's doable otherwise. @wes I think you can maybe correct me on any of these points or tell me I'm a f***ing dumbass/give some advice

wes

1y

· edited

but yeah, I'd agree with this. I have an MIS degree and ended up in security last year. I was originally gonna give up on security for the time being because pivoting into it is a b**** without any security related work experience.

MIS is a pretty broad major, but you can work it to your advantage, especially if you already have experience in IT. If you want something more technical, you could probably move into security like Asaki mentioned. IT Audit -> Security was actually my plan before I got my current job, but I ended up lucking out.

GRC isn't very technical, and I'd say it's closer to IT Audit than most other fields, but it's a pretty cushy one. I'm sorta thinking about getting into it because I can only deal with being on call so much lol.

Could also try and go for sysadmin as well. You really do have a good set of options. Just really gotta figure out what you wanna do and you should be more than fine imo.

@MangoPods56

NinaChopper

1y

Yeah, really regretting not taking the interview for a sysadmin job that got back to me a week after I accepted the offer at B4. Oh well, finishing out my last 6 months here and looking for a different career field that relates to my degree. Appreciate you guys being real rather than the guys on Reddit trying to flex how they work 70 hours a week as an associate.

wes

1y

I did a pretty similar thing when I got out of school. Ended up working at a place I interned at for a few years and definitely didn't enjoy what I was doing. Just took it because I liked interning there, it was in IT, and the pay wasn't too bad. I do think the work I did there helped me get my current job, so I guess it worked out in the end lol.

Fortunately, you're only "losing" a year of doing something you want and I'd say the experience is pretty decent so it's not the worst thing in the world you went in the direction that you did.

And no problem. My ass is entirely too lazy to do any of those 70+ hour work weeks so I will gladly work the absolute minimum amount possible from the comfort of my home

NinaChopper

1y

Yeah, hoping I can spin my experience to help with interviews, I know my company also gives out a bonus if you get some AWS/Oracle/Azure certifications (doesn’t even relate to IT audit at all lol) but that might help me. Guess it just sucks cause money in B4 is good relative to what other guys I know make, but those guys actually enjoy their jobs.

NinaChopper

1y

Yeah, I think sticking till senior would be better, but I find the work too boring to motivate me. I work in IT Audit, which I guess has a reputation for being boring, and it’s not really my intended career path at all. I graduated with a degree in Management Info Systems last year and honestly looking for something a little more technical and not accounting/audit related. I know the exit ops are pretty good with B4 but I don’t think this career path is what I’m looking for. I mostly took the role because it was the first thing that came to me after graduating. Mostly just planning to stay the year so I won’t have to give back the signing bonus. Mostly chill job but busy season hours right now are frustrating. Maybe it’s because I’m almost entirely remote too, but hardly any interactions with other coworkers here, my teams are basically just me and a manager.

Olsen

1y

Sounds just like me word for word

ASAKI

1y

On my second interview with a big fintech company If they give a 20% bump in base salary I might consider leaving my current role

They haven't been doing so well in the market though lol

ASAKI

3y

Where my fellow accounting majors at staff accountants, auditors, tax boys, FP&A, M&A, advisory, we accept all

also for anyone looking at a possible career in accounting

Birdie

1y

Have a research associate interview tomorrow, guy could only schedule it on weekends because of earning season trying to lock in a higher salary before the labor market finally slumps this year — my current firm said no bonuses this year because deal flow was so low

best luck to both of us

ASAKI

1y

Be careful out there. They've been saying a recession is coming but it still looks like the markets are strong. Only time will tell

TImes like this where I'm glad to be in IA and basically required for any public company lol. What % of raise are you looking for?

Birdie

1y

Lol the guy told me he already filled 2 research roles but the firm plans to hire more in the summer so he wanted to sit down with me and talk anyway to connect. He was impressed with my B4 exp and masters in accounting so shout-out to that.

We talked about the labor market, where the firm (Wolfe Research) is positioned currently. Basically, they’re looking to capture market share from the larger investment banks research divisions by expanding during the upcoming contradiction while the bigger banks continue to cut headcounts ahead of when asset prices come down this year. We had a convo about my resume and background and he said he’ll keep my resume on hand for the hiring cycle.

Not that mad about it tbh, my current role I only have to do 40 hours and have my workflow down to efficiency. I’ll enjoy the smooth sailing until I get hit up by thet firm or the fintech tech role I was recruiting for before hiring froze. I have time to actually gym, study maths/code, and hobbies before I jump into another 70 hour a week role like before.

I’m targeting 150-160k total comp.

ASAKI

1y

I'm guessing research a***ysts are similar to something like valuations where a good chunk of the comp is bonuses? I'd only be afraid that if they're a smaller firm they might skimp out when the markets get rough, or worse lay you off depending on your performance compared to peers

I'm surprised he was impressed with a MS.A. I was honestly thinking of getting a MS in Comp Sci or Economics down the line but I may reconsider now.

Birdie

1y

Lol the guy told me he already filled 2 research roles but the firm plans to hire more in the summer so he wanted to sit down with me and talk anyway to connect. He was impressed with my B4 exp and masters in accounting so shout-out to that.

We talked about the labor market, where the firm (Wolfe Research) is positioned currently. Basically, they’re looking to capture market share from the larger investment banks research divisions by expanding during the upcoming contradiction while the bigger banks continue to cut headcounts ahead of when asset prices come down this year. We had a convo about my resume and background and he said he’ll keep my resume on hand for the hiring cycle.

Not that mad about it tbh, my current role I only have to do 40 hours and have my workflow down to efficiency. I’ll enjoy the smooth sailing until I get hit up by thet firm or the fintech tech role I was recruiting for before hiring froze. I have time to actually gym, study maths/code, and hobbies before I jump into another 70 hour a week role like before.

I’m targeting 150-160k total comp.

Birdie

1y

Base is 100-110k I think with bonus being 30-50% for associates

Bonus matters more for senior people

I don’t think masters personality have good ROI unless it’s for very specialist jobs which 70-80% aren’t

Dedication 666

1y

congrats king. what cost of living you in?

ASAKI

1y

That's not too bad then.

The master's I would be getting is going to be pretty low in cost (UIUC), and it's only in my cards in case I want to pivot to a quantitative field (i.e. Transformation/International Tax Quant Solutions/Data Science). Only if I get bored of IA/Corp Finance lol

NinaChopper

1y

IT Audit with an MIS degree as well? Sounds like a lot of MIS grads get suckered into it and hate it haha, just boring for me and I really don’t want to pursue account related careers at all.

Birdie

1y

My goal is getting a fintech job like I almost had and having the corp office be in Texas so I don’t pay tax and can work remote indefinitely

I was so close it was a 120k role and remote with no tax

Whenever tech comes back versus this guy hits me down later in the year first I’m going with

ASAKI

1y

Textbooks came in The size difference between FAR/AUD and BEC/REG is insane. Thank god I'm taking those two first

Dealers In Paris

1y

You doing Rogers? Nice, I’m using his review course too. Best thing about his review course are his lectures, very engaging and explains the concepts throughly.