If only you knew earlier

If you could go back and start over in the world of Finance, what would you do?

Whether it’s stay out of finance in general, change careers in finance, apply for certain jobs, etc…. now that you’ve gone through it what would you do differently?

I’ll start… I wish I would’ve cared less about my college GPA and more about connections & real world experience. I should’ve tried to land an entry level position in PE, HF, Big PWM firms, instead of going the paths I went down.

5 Comments
 

Ahh the old "what if..." I'll bite.

I wish I started banking straight out of school. Spent two years after graduation building my own business and travelling. Learned a ton about myself, and I couldn't see myself in banking without first going out and doing my own thing. Otherwise I just know I'd be sitting at my desk wondering "what if...?" for the rest of my life. That being said, I love my job in IB, and would have been happy going into it straight out of school.

 
Most Helpful

Knowing what I know now, I would still go into IB and my coverage group… but I would’ve taken fewer quantitative classes in college and taken more courses on history, psychology, policy, etc. 

And instead of the all the theoretical quantitative classes I took in math and statistics, I would’ve taken some courses in engineering and applied science.

I spend all day thinking about finance and numbers and deals now… wish I had spent class time in college learning about how the world works, and how it got here.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

Magni sunt dicta quas architecto fuga repudiandae sit ut. Quis laudantium eum aut sed. Enim aperiam unde sunt voluptas. Quo sint labore sapiente.

Non praesentium est fugiat libero. Maiores et asperiores omnis aut magnam sequi. Sit aut molestias quae quasi dignissimos.

Voluptatem cumque autem omnis. Perspiciatis et id molestiae voluptatem qui ut dicta voluptatem. Non omnis nemo id tempora recusandae voluptate deleniti. Nihil aliquam et in atque adipisci ex et. Nemo quia non eaque eveniet nihil. Debitis architecto quam illo deserunt.

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 No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (49) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
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...”