Choosing a FT position - RE HF out of school or going safe route to BB? - Some insight or advice?

Hey guys,

I just want a little advice on choosing my full time career. I am 90% sure my end game is to end up at a hedge fund; however, private equity and even tech startups seem like a good fit for me. Basically, I'm pretty entrepreneurial and I like helping to grow companies either operationally or with investments.

I'm fortunate enough to have a ft offer to return to the investment bank I worked at last summer. It was a midtier BB and I would try to get into the credit lending group. I was initially interested in M&A but I don't think I could make it through two years with those hours. Also, I did't really enjoy my summer , but the credit lending group has better hours and is more interesting to me because its an investment role.

The other offer is to join a MBS and direct lending real estate credit hedge fund. This job seems like exactly what I want to do at the moment, but I would obviously be taking a huge risk joining a small firm and potentially pigeonholing me into a career in MBS or RE debt since RE debt is very different than corporate debt.

Does anybody have any thoughts on whether I should join the fund and potentially jeopardize my ability to do other things later or join the bank and grind through it for 2 years and then seeing if my interests change?

1 Comments
 

Quisquam et harum iure incidunt. Earum perferendis eaque atque est dolor.

Ut non voluptas minima quo enim est maxime. Illo illo ut reprehenderit facere dignissimos. Et non sint velit debitis voluptas.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”