Going Back to IB

Left IB about a year ago during my second year for a corporate finance job. Interested in going back to IB for a few reasons - would the best way be through an MBA at the associate level? I technically have the experience for lateral analyst hires but given the market and other current analysts looking to lateral, assuming an MBA would be the best way?

10 Comments
 

Yeah currently in NYC and probably would want to stay here. I've seen the boomerang more at the mid levels (associate/VPs) but not really analyst levels though not sure how much of that is because of difficulty vs not wanting to go back. Willing to wait it out for more favorable markets to see if its possible but more worried that my past banking experience becomes stale after a certain point.

 

Yeah currently in NYC and probably would want to stay here. I've seen the boomerang more at the mid levels (associate/VPs) but not really analyst levels though not sure how much of that is because of difficulty vs not wanting to go back. Willing to wait it out for more favorable markets to see if its possible but more worried that my past banking experience becomes stale after a certain point.

NYC might be more harsh - guys could just assume you got pushed out or sucked

what level bank were you at?

 

I'm too far removed from the bank ranking days ha but something like RBC/Jeff/Gugg level. I had a promotion offer if that eases performance concerns. Prob similar story to most corporate boomerangs, always planned on a corporate exit but the lifestyle in corporate is feeling like too much of a slowdown in pace and progression for my liking. 

 

can you speak about the pace with respect to work demands, facetime, etc. within CF vs. IB.

 
Most Helpful

Sure - I'd describe work demands as the amount of work that would be expected to be done in a day or even just overnight in banking would be several days or even a week's worth of work in corporate. No FaceTime culture at all - can work mostly remote as I please and in the office there's no pressure to stay late and older people will leave early to pick up their kids, etc. You wouldn't even get props for staying late anyways because nobody else would be there to know that you stayed late ha. There is more autonomy in working as there isn't the equivalent of an associate, VP, ED, MD all checking and giving comments on every work stream and even at my level I have mostly complete ownership over certain tasks. All of this does sound great, particularly with hours and FaceTime after having done banking or if someone currently in banking is reading this. Its definitely the lifestyle job that I thought I wanted and would probably be great for those with a family and other commitments. On the topic of progression, the pay definitely scales significantly slower than banking obviously. More importantly to me, the increase in responsibility and title progression are much slower too. Being in my mid-20s, I do think it would be best for my career and my own personal fulfillment to grind a bit longer before slowing down to this level. 

 

Explicabo est et deserunt nulla. Qui labore ex veniam rerum reiciendis. Suscipit eius dolore quasi velit non. Iste quam aut ipsum vel iusto fugiat velit. Eius inventore nihil perspiciatis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”