All riled up - I wanna get in IB so bad - Advice brothers?

I'm 23 years old from the Philippines in the Asia Pacific, graduated at 20 since our HS curriculum is shorter here. I regret lounging and bumming around in college and though I graduated from a target school on a scholarship, my GPA is not stellar - 2.9.

I worked as a Management Trainee for 10 months in a Finance company and was assigned to the FX Trading desk in Int'l Treasury. I didn't have my shit together that time nor did I have my head in the game so I spectacularly burned out and resigned a few months after. Good thing i'm in good terms with my boss there the Senior VP and he's even helping me find a job right now.

But I'm dead set on IB or at least PE. I'm currently studying Financial Modeling. I know a few people in IB and even my aunt was a former investment banker. But I don't wanna approach them until I'm prepared with the basic skills such as modeling, making pitch books, and communication skills.

I'm still asking myself which ones here in WSO are applicable to the Philippine IB context since these mostly target U.S. IB's. I've been told by my former boss and mentor the SVP that you have to get your "target" career by 25 otherwise it's much harder to break in, so I got less than 2 years left.

Back in college I got an interview with a boutique IB here, they posted in our FB group for an opening, sent a CV and cover letter and got the interview. But it was all coincidence, I wasn't set on IB then so I didn't bother to follow up or anything and just took a non-finance internship that was offered me.

Looking at my college batchmates who are now in BB and Boutique IB firms here, I can't help but get stressed and rush myself through financial modeling skills, networking, cold-calling and all. I'd like to know if I'm doing this thing right and if I'm in the right direction.

As brothers who has been through what I'm still pursuing, what would you advise?

1 Comments
 

Necessitatibus iure earum accusantium culpa consequatur vero. Sunt vel dignissimos provident ex similique saepe. Accusantium illo ea culpa labore rerum sit dolorem praesentium. Consequatur quod sunt reprehenderit harum. Eveniet asperiores perspiciatis qui voluptatem ad laudantium consequuntur.

Ea dignissimos perferendis ex qui omnis. Eius rerum sed sequi ex aut error.

Sapiente quaerat laudantium voluptatem rem dolore omnis. Harum quidem dignissimos cum qui quidem qui voluptatem minima. Facilis quod quis harum sit.

Laudantium exercitationem et corporis. Aperiam porro ipsum in asperiores repellendus numquam voluptatem dolores. Est magnam ullam ut aut. Ut delectus voluptatem quia et maiores impedit. Tempore dignissimos ab eum est sit et perferendis. Autem nostrum non sunt quaerat praesentium.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

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 (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (24) $180
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (82) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
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...”