Investment Banking Associate Mega-thread
This board is filled with information regarding analyst recruiting and exit ops. I wanted to start this thread to gather information regarding associate recruiting. I am currently in Bschool and plan to recruit for IB this fall. For someone who wants to be a career banker, would you recommend BB, MM or EB? Which banks are best for:
- career progression
- pay
- hours
There are too many variables here to give a valid response. Are you looking to grind your entire career and strictly focus on M&A? Go with EB / Upper MM. If you are looking for better work/life balance and the ability to move within groups? Go BB. If you are looking to primarily work on sponsor-backed MM deals? Go MM.
Pay / # of hours: EB > Upper MM (JEF, Blair, Baird, HL) = BB > MM. Career progression highly depends on what you actually want to do.