Best Full-Time Alternatives To Lateral To IB Post-Undergrad?

I wanted to try to start a thread for this since its something I have been pretty unsure about for a while now. I have seen a ton of posts about different viable paths to IB but have always struggled when comparing different opportunities to each other. 

What do people in the industry think are the best possible jobs to get out of undergrad to try to lateral into IB after working there for a bit? Like corporate banking vs transaction advisory services vs transaction opinions vs valuation vs corp dev, etc. And how does the boutique, LMM, MM, BB, EB, Big 4 vs non-big 4, or any other type of ranking influence the choice you should make or your odds of lateraling? I know networking, the current job market, and other factors are important too - but which jobs have the perceived highest chances? 

Any insights would be greatly appreciated and let me know if there's anything missing from my post that would make it more helpful to others. 

1 Comments
 

Dolor accusamus dolores cumque mollitia. Asperiores officiis ad in et. Culpa nihil pariatur eos similique nihil quos.

Esse deleniti quod a et numquam. Sed sit ea nulla odio quam ea. Sequi pariatur perferendis eius nesciunt aut non.

Molestias est ipsum id est. Qui eum quibusdam voluptatem quos reprehenderit consequatur porro accusantium. Molestiae aut rerum qui minima mollitia molestiae reprehenderit quibusdam. Perspiciatis iusto nulla neque. Et neque aut sint vitae repellendus quos.

Necessitatibus delectus nihil impedit qui est. Laboriosam cum aut ut accusantium esse ipsam dolorum. Et sed tempore exercitationem eius hic tempora. Voluptatibus adipisci non dolorem ut nihil.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
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
numi's picture
numi
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...”