Corporate Finance in Middle Market vs Large Cap

Hi all, 

I started an analyst 1 position at a lower middle market boutique in NY last September (Is a small firm c. 50 professionals, covering 3 sectors), we operate in the lower MM spectrum (deal size between $20m and $120m), and I must say that I am hating every aspect of my job. 

I pursued a career in banking because I have always been fascinated about the markets, and I was very good at Corporate Finance and accounting at uni. However, after 9 months into the job, I have not done a single DCF analysis

I spent all my time arranging calls (basically acting like a PA), doing some market mapping, and preparing slides for IMs or pitchbooks, and doing all kinds of random tasks, but my job is absolutely zero corporate finance-related. I do zero financial analysis, zero modelling, zero valuations, zero LBOs, no merger accounting or modelling, to give you an example I haven't use merger market in 3 weeks, everything I do is just project management and nice slides. 

I am thinking about transitioning to large cap banking, and get a job at a BB or a second tier bank. I understand that the Project Management part of the job is unavoidable everywhere, but do junior analysts working on upper middle market and large cap also experience this? 

1 Comments
 

Velit omnis alias rerum quisquam voluptatum dolorem dolores. Inventore enim repellendus quaerat excepturi magnam. Minima in recusandae magni. Aliquid velit voluptas occaecati labore ut facilis reiciendis.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”