Does my choice of group matter?

Group matters for a few reasons:

1. What are you interested in doing long term: there are a few groups that can siloh you (FIG, RE, P&U, etc.) and a few that are broadly applicable (Tech, Consumer, ~HC). Will the group siloh you into a certain industry/exit opp, or will you be able to keep your options open, whatever it is you want to do (PE, MBA, leave finance, etc.)? If you are just interested in PE then it won’t matter as much, but if you might leave high finance then it would have more of an impact (e.g. trying to work for a tech company).

2. Culture: this make a huge difference - are the other analysts nice? Are they social and want to go out? Do you like talking with them? Do you want to be friends with your coworkers, or just colleagues? Are the senior people nice, or are they hardos that will treat you like shit and work you to the bone?

3. Deal flow: does the group have good deal flow? Would you rather be pitching (less hours but BS work) or working on multiple live deals (good experience but shitty hours)? Does the group do mostly M&A, equity, or debt + which product do you want to work with most, if any?

4. Hours: this is influenced by the 2 above points - are you going to be working all weekend? Sundays? Are protected Saturdays (if your bank has them) enforced? Late nights (consistently working till 10pm, midnight, or 2am makes a difference)? Do you to be in-person in the office? Is face time expected in the group, or can you can you leave at 6pm if you want and WFH?

5. Group size: do you want to work in a small group with only a few other analysts and the same senior people? Or a large group where you don’t necessarily know everyone but there is more going on?

6. Which industries do you like: do you want to work with oil companies? Insurance companies? Tech companies? Know you said you are indifferent - so was I, except for knowing that I probably didn’t want to do P&U/FIG

You have to decide which of these factors are most important to you, then ask the right questions while networking for placements, and then make a choice from there. I prioritized joining a group where I would get good experience (good deal flow, nice people/culture) but also where I would have reasonable hours/WLB (e.g. our tech group is sweaty, so I decided not to aim for it even if I was more interested in tech as an industry). I got lucky and I found that.