Full Blown Career Change- Grad School or Entry Level Job?

3 years in operations consulting and just left a job two weeks ago. I was a Project Manager on an International scale for the most prestigious advertising firm in the world.

I am in the middle of studying for my GMAT and plan to apply to Business School in the fall. My education was in International Relations, so no Finance background whatsoever. I know for a fact I want to go into ER for Luxury, it's what I'm most interested in and I fit the profile perfectly from a diplomacy, information and interest standpoint (at least from those in ER I've talked to).

What would any of you recommend? Look for a Research Analyst job right now? I'm willing to start over.

409 WSO Academy Equity Research Session Reviews: 4.83/5

Class of '25 Nov 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Equity Research Career Roadmap (optional)

“Chris was very easy to talk to and made the session feel relaxed and genuinely useful. He gave me clear, actionable tasks that I can go away and work on straight away to expand my network. I hope to reconvene with him at a later date to discuss the progress I have made and get his feedback on the work I have been doing.”

Springfield College

Class of '29 Sep 2026 Cohort

4.85/5

Equity Research Mock Coffee Chat

“Craig gave me a really clear picture of how sell-side equity research actually works. The biggest takeaway was that research is a service business built on trust, not on picking stocks, and that analysts are paid on rankings rather than on whether a call is right. He was honest that even a 60% hit rate is excellent, and that it matters more to understand where you went wrong than where you were right. I also liked his point about not being “unintelligently wrong”: own the mistake and explain it well. On the practical side, he told me to start now by running a blog, posting on Seeking Alpha, using Koyfin as a cheap Bloomberg alternative, and using AI to draft commentary so I have more time to think deeply and explore other sectors. He also explained that research recruiting is much more targeted than IB, since sector teams are fairly autonomous, so I should reach out to senior analysts in specific sectors and recommend based on fit. His own path from no finance background, through China, to Wharton was encouraging. My one suggestion would be a quick walkthrough of what a strong first report looks like beyond the core pieces (recommendation, risks, summary, price target).”

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+13	Is Equity Research Dying - Where Are the Future Opportunites?	4	2d
+10	Associates who stuck around for > 5 years working for the same analyst. Why?	4	1w
+9	Detailed Revenue and Cost Builds	3	1w
+7	Analyst with no coverage or ranking	5	1w
+6	Preparation for grad scheme - buyside ER	0	4h
+1	IB SA -> ER FT	4	2w
0	Equity Research Rankings	1	1w

1	redever	99.2
2	BankonBanking	99.0
3	kanon	99.0
4	Secyh62	99.0
5	GameTheory	98.9
6	CompBanker	98.9
7	DrApeman	98.9
8	dosk17	98.9
9	Betsy Massar	98.9
10	Linda Abraham	98.8

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Full Blown Career Change- Grad School or Entry Level Job?

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Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

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Full Blown Career Change- Grad School or Entry Level Job?

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