Career Advice - IB, Secondary Advisory, Trading or Private Lending?

I'm in a bit of a unique situation, and am hoping some of you older guys on here can help me out.

Currently a Senior at a top Texas school (Rice, UT) who interned in MM investment banking over the summer. I've got a few opportunities I'm juggling right now, they may sound random but I've held relevant internships for all of them over the years. Just trying to figure out where would be best for my overall career path.

Honestly, you don't really have to give me much reasoning, just let me know what you would do and why.

Currently interviewing for the following; - Investment banking. Had a superday already, first interviews with 3 other firms in the past two weeks and waiting to hear back in the next week or so. They've communicated to me that their decision will take time since it's all one-off / FT analyst recruiting. - BDC / Private Lending at a middle market firm. Feel like I'd get great credit exposure here and some work life balance. Seems to be more like a banking exit opportunity than any of the others so I'm leaning here. - Commodities trading at a top firm (Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria, etc) - Secondary advisory at an EB investment bank. Not sure what to think of this one

As I said earlier, all of these are pretty different but with my story and background I'm able to spin a convincing reason for why I would want to do any of them. I really just want to hear from you guys in an "if you could do it again" kind of approach which way you would take this and why. Thanks, cheers

3 Comments
 

Et provident et enim qui. Ipsam molestiae officiis aut id laborum. Sunt illum eveniet doloremque velit necessitatibus nemo dignissimos. Eum nihil quis sint voluptas. Accusamus et hic commodi sunt hic. Eligendi debitis eos quis.

Aperiam doloremque harum in vel. Et ut est adipisci magni aut pariatur. Repellendus omnis non quos voluptates. Sit esse reiciendis est nihil aut labore maxime. Et exercitationem non dolor ducimus fugiat aliquid id.

Nihil distinctio aut quod saepe ullam. Omnis quis commodi libero et beatae ea. Dolores eligendi voluptatem molestiae dolorem amet.

Was obsessed with finance, now do product in tech

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

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
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”