Was thinking about the hiring market today and then thinking back to 2021 where like an Audit Associate was able to get a IB offer at reputable MMs with like 4 months on the job. Whats the craziest jump people have personally seen? I personally saw someone go from B4 to GS/MS IB. Any other crazy huge jumps?
Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
| +86 | Who is the final boss in Houston Energy? (GS, JEFF or EVR) | 19 | 10h |
| +85 | [2026 - October] Unbiased Prestige Rankings | 52 | 12h |
| +71 | You should probably leave IB | 26 | 21h |
| +49 | McK vs A&M Offer Decision | 25 | 6h |
| +45 | Why Do We Turn Comments? | 10 | 1d |
| +43 | Tomorrow Will Be Better | 5 | 3d |
| +41 | Moelis PCA vs Lower tier BB Coverage | 30 | 14h |
| +24 | How much should you ask questions / seek feedback as an intern? | 8 | 1d |
| +24 | Banking (Un)fortunately Still Needs You: My Case for Bankers in the AI Era | 3 | 1d |
| +23 | UBS IB #24 in US M&A in 2026 | 8 | 16h |
Career Resources
Big 4 to Lazard
Happens all the time in London and get credit for their shitty private markets M&A experience too.
So many banks have dedicated recruiting channels just dedicated for accountants not that unusual
exactly, in fact I don't blame banks for prioritising big4 hires at the analyst level - more efficient, big4 will be price takers, no training cost if they have the aca
my big4 inches (in)to your mom
Front or back?
Smbc to gs fig
Lee
A few random boutiques to GS FIG
DA Davidson IB —> GS IB —>
Centerview IB
seems like the key to these crazy laterals is to be in a specialized group like FIG, no way this would happen in smth like c&r or tech
As with most things in life, it’s a factor of luck versus skill.
Just happened to ride that 2021 hiring cycle to the top
Actuarial analyst to GS IBD
DB HC to CVP Menlo
Once you realize recruiting / job hunting is relationship based you can lateral anywhere. Hiring decisions are made by a few people not a committee of 30
Lincoln Val to GS M&A
Grant Thornton transaction services -> MS M&A
2021 was insane, I helped out with lateral recruiting at the time. Had someone from a tiny, lowest of LMM single-MD boutique join my top industry group at a BB and we were begging them to do so.
Also had someone join out of a corporate finance rotational program at another BB, which is not a move you see happen often
Lehman IB -> Barclays IB back in '09
Forced downtier
Stifel M&A to KKR
Bravo to this person
KKR PE or what
del
For anyone who lateraled to GS in 2021, what was that process like? If you did it, you would remember that they made it a general application for "Finance" that IBD fit under and teams could select you based off of your application. You then did a Hirevue as the "first round." I think they got rid of this after a bit since it didn't work well.
After doing the Hirevue I got multiple non-IBD teams literally cold calling and some emailing me practically begging me to interview there but I was trying to lateral IBD teams from a top group at JPM. Never got an interview for IB, despite a 4.0 at a top target and being in a top group at JPM (wanted out of that team). Ended up lateraling to MS in a top group that was my dream group so its not like my application sucked.
Surprised to hear that everyone had such an easy time moving to GS in 2021 when I couldn't even get any banker on the phone nor could I ever get an interview.
I never ended up fully going through the process but I remember cold applying late 2020 / early 2021 (forget at this point) to GS TMT SF through Linkedin and was surprised to get an interview invite after a week or two (tier 3 bank / semi-target)
HSBC Global Markets --> Lazard RX --> SVP
SMBC LevFin --> Ducera RX
AGC --> CVP M&A
Rabobank > Lazard
H&F has some interesting hires in SF e.g. Big4 -> associate
are they PE associates or just put "associate" on linkedin? they could be tax or valuation
Community College --> Georgetown --> BofA FIG --> CVP TMT --> Tidal
Congrats on Tidal lmaoooo nobody’s leaving CVP for that one-deal-a-year bank
Not me, one of the founding principals of Tidal
dude you do realize the entire original team left CVP when tidal was founded right
Vaquero Capital --> Moelis SF Tech M&A
Go Big Green!
FIU kid - Cross Keys -> WF -> EVR
As someone from miami this is impressive
Pretty sure you got it reversed, no one’s leaving WF to go to EVR
I lateraled directly from big 4 audit associate to MM (think Blair/Baird/HL/etc.) IB analyst back in the day
Congrats on baird
I went Back office > MM IB > EB
Wake Forest --> FTI RXCO --> GHL RX --> Charlesbank Special Sits
This is seriously the craziest thing you’ve ever seen? Not associated with either by any means, but neither WF nor FTI RX are “bad enough” to bat much of an eye at a GHL lateral.
Jobless grad --> LMM RX Boutique --> EB RX --> MF Special Sits --> Event Driven SM HF
can I PM you? Would love to hear more about how you pulled this off
Can you shoot me a PM?
I’ve seen PJT RX to Jeff M&A….no clue how he got Jeff but insane dude. Must be frat.
I work at a MM IB (reputable in my industry but not known elsewhere)
I lateraled to EB IB
But th week prior to my EB IB I had signed a PE offer for a large cap buyout fund
Needham for 6 months to Veritas
He's a nepo
Only Fans > Scotia > TD > MD’s Mistress
Aut quas eos qui a eaque eos excepturi. Et qui hic vel reprehenderit dolor modi ipsum. Iusto aut sint distinctio iusto cumque. Sed accusamus ut rerum optio.
Ea ut eius corrupti vel eos nisi. Dicta enim cumque et eveniet recusandae. Sunt quis sapiente magnam laudantium tempore nihil rerum. Laboriosam nesciunt aliquid voluptas pariatur. Velit accusamus blanditiis voluptas voluptatem omnis repellat qui.
Quaerat dolor ab sit ducimus illum. Quo consectetur quam est. Rem incidunt perspiciatis culpa eligendi. Voluptas occaecati quae est qui eligendi veritatis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Voluptatem voluptatem similique quasi ea iusto amet harum. Quia accusamus ab et voluptas delectus rerum consectetur. Itaque distinctio cumque id provident rem. Vel fugit quam provident et. Eveniet cupiditate deserunt est dolores qui ratione quod.
Quod maxime dicta et saepe id aliquid. Autem accusantium ipsa commodi nihil. Consequuntur delectus quis voluptatem totam. Et aut repellat et.
Voluptatibus et reiciendis maiores consectetur quis cupiditate. Maiores qui quidem fugiat. Cumque molestias alias impedit et mollitia exercitationem. In odio sit error. Maxime aliquid voluptates eos ab qui consequuntur molestias. Vel dolor aut corrupti consectetur vitae iusto. Et ut cumque esse officiis cumque. Sed autem voluptatem exercitationem eum non voluptatum quaerat.