Advice for incoming IB/M&A analysts in the midst of a likely recession?

Purely Armchair Logic so take it all with a grain of salt:

Pro's and Con's of this situation for incoming IB/M&A analysts (boutique and BB)? Pro: incredible experience to start during a truly unprecedented crisis in terms of what deals/market reaction will be and will be building interesting models (full revolver draw downs, etc.) Con: if starting remote, it will be tough to get reps in traditionally and connect with team- may be behind the 8-ball once starting in the office Con: with testing centers closed, getting licensed may be delayed- not a big deal short term, but tbd long term if this lasts

How will this Covid19-related crisis affect the industry? Low/no deal flow probably- but still very unclear what the economic shock will look like- for many reasons given this is causing both a supply and demand issue and we don't know when things will stabilize and move up. Expecting a lot of training modules and reviewing old materials to prep for when things get back to 'normal' Also working remotely just isn't the same as being in the office, it may create long term changes in terms of work-from-home vs. facetime culture, but probably not.

How to navigate Investment Banking through a period of low/zero bonuses? Keep working hard, no bonus is better than no job. You are still making more than a significant majority of people and the hours may not be 'as bad' as they typically would, but again its too early to say

How to deal with lower deal flow? Will this impact exit opportunities? Still too early to tell, but pipelines are pipelines. Attrition may slow/change a bit, but IB analysts will still generally leave at the 2 year mark to go to PE which in theory when the market stabilizes will have many new deal opportunities and need a big team.

Do you believe in a V-shaped recovery and in a consequent boom in M&A and PE activity? Too early to tell, want to say yes, but no matter how smart you are- nobody knows how this situation will play out- not the fed, not the world bank, not your MD- it's anyone's guess. Would love to believe in a V-shape recovery, but there are a lot of variables at play ranging from how long and how much of an impact the virus has on economic activity (predictions for millions of unemployment filings this week- which is crazy) to how the political landscape impacts things, remember people have lost jobs and things like taxes, rent and other bills are frozen for the time being- what happens when payments are necessary again and people don't have jobs? This has exposed lots of systemic issues in the US and Europe and we will likely have to reckon with them through policy changes that we can't truly predict.

These are just my bs opinions, I have no idea wtf will happen tomorrow. Just stay safe and work hard- you can control those things.