Transitioning to Research - Advice Needed

I'm currently a DCM analyst at a BB and I'd like to transition into buyside research. I don't know anyone in research so I was hoping to get some guidance through this forum.

Does anyone have advice on what I should try to highlight in my resume?

Any thoughts on how difficult the transition will be given I don't have specific industry expertise or any ER experience?

Any help is appreciate. Thanks!

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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2 Comments

jankynoname

AM

14y

Hmm... how many years out are you? I've never worked in capital mkts so don't have a good grasp on the day-to-day, but do you have industry coverage or are you a generalist? MBA may be the best option since it seems like a fairly sizable transition. Not necessarily the only way to go tho depending on how long you've been working...

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Authored by: Certified Asset Management Professional - 3rd+ Year AnalystCertified Asset Management Pro

abs28

CF

14y

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Transitioning to Research - Advice Needed

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