Breaking into IB/PE/HF

Looking for whatever serious insight people can provide here.. Will be an incoming MBA at Darden for fall ‘22 (deferred a year due to personal matters), and looking to break into IB/PE/HF world. I come from automotive financing arm at a top manufacturer working mostly in lending and sales, and have a degree from a non-target (Pepperdine). So a very non-traditional background. What advice can anyone give on how to break into the industries? Any tips / strategies to help boost my case for getting a job with top banks next year? Open to all suggestions. Looking for books to read, networking events, best modeling boot camps / training programs, etc. I understand I’ll be bottom of the stack when internship recruiting starts, and that breaking in is extremely difficult but want to start exploring anything i can to help better my chances since i still have another 15 months until the program starts. 

Thanks.

1 Comments
 

Sint et doloribus nulla harum. Est molestiae reiciendis exercitationem est. Ullam dolores ut repellendus quaerat voluptatum. Voluptates at eum temporibus velit magnam. Aut possimus esse atque.

Et totam qui et ratione culpa sequi. Ipsa voluptates deleniti labore reiciendis voluptatem quod porro. Modi dolorum atque illum a aut soluta itaque. Ut ut optio sunt perspiciatis voluptatem accusamus. Architecto et quibusdam eos rerum distinctio aut rerum nobis. Blanditiis corporis quae ea incidunt ducimus accusantium. Doloribus sed enim ut esse repudiandae.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $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
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”