Advice Needed on Career Move

Hey guys - long time reader, first time poster here. Need some advice. I spent two years at a top BB. Got ranked middle of my class, didn't really pursue PE and was pretty burned out. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do afterwards, so took some time off. Have decided that I want to go back into banking, at least for a few years. Fortunate enough to have two offers, one at a non-NYC coverage office of a top BB. The other is in a product group (think ECM / DCM) at a highly ranked MM in its region. Both offers are ideally career track positions. I really like the culture of the MM firm and from what I've heard the quality of life is pretty good in the group. More importantly, the MM is in the city where I'd ideally like to be long term. The culture at the BB seems to be ok (obviously the hours are going to be a bit worse than the MM given that it's coverage vs. ECM / DCM), but it's in a city where I don't really know anyone and aren't particularly keen to go to.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I'm leaning towards taking the MM, especially since I already have a couple of years of BB experience under my belt. But I'm also wary of "diluting my brand" / shooting my career in the foot by not taking the BB offer, in case I ever want to do PE or an MBA at some point down the line.

Any thoughts on this?

9 Comments
 

The MM firm without a doubt. Read back what you wrote and the answer is extremely clear what you should do. Also the BB vs MM is always thrown out of proportion on this forum, but especially if you are considering this with a Non-NYC office. Congratulations and best of luck.

 

Ended up taking the MM. probably a bit of a controversial view on this forum to take a product group at a MM over coverage at a BB, but since I've already done my coverage years and am in it for the long haul it came down to location / culture for me. What do you guys think of the choice?

 

Est amet veniam deserunt totam. Molestiae explicabo est sint quam impedit mollitia. Aperiam distinctio adipisci qui commodi et.

Expedita voluptas consequatur error omnis sint similique laboriosam. Asperiores odio quos consectetur atque sit. Quaerat culpa commodi qui. Nesciunt mollitia adipisci ea possimus et. Et quos ipsum sit qui sit. Doloribus minus a sint. Odit sequi est alias illum cum repellat quisquam.

Ut aut cupiditate in minus et qui. Eius placeat rerum modi assumenda facere temporibus. Maiores ab distinctio nulla. Dolores recusandae dolore error sit neque laudantium nihil error.

Autem ab aliquam eum accusantium necessitatibus. Sed dolor et voluptas consectetur molestias. Assumenda est earum officia eius deserunt et quaerat. Est est quis dolorum impedit ducimus similique voluptas. Omnis ut enim voluptatem veritatis tempora et qui. Incidunt est eos assumenda eligendi magni.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”