Just curious, as I am at one of MS/JPM. The reasonable person in me says there really really isn't, and neither is there between MS/BAML for example. But then again sometimes I admit I have a chip on my shoulder. Is the platform/talent there marginally better? Is it worth lateralling?
Maybe GS has a better firmwide culture/identity? I hear of GS "alums" helping each other out sometimes. But honestly in 10 years if some stranger asked me for a favor on the basis that he worked at the bank I worked at, I would pretty much just tell them to take a hike.
You cited the top 3 BB firms as of right now.
But I agree the difference is marginal, particularly at the analyst level. There are more "superstars" at these shops than the lower ranked BBs, such as CS, DB, UBS, BAML, Citi.
The difference lies in future doors that will be available to you, however with very few exceptions, a DB Banker isn't going to be told to go fuck himself while someone rolls out the red carpet for a GS banker. It is an edge, and for those at the bottom of the 9 BBs its a slight disadvantage that requires some hustling. If you're in GS TMT you'll get a dozen headhunters calling you and the process will be smooth. If you're a BAML banker, you'll have to do a bit of hustling.
If you're interested in staying at the firm and not jumping to the buy-side, then it REALLY comes down to culture. The company's are different, but honestly the bs presentations won't tell you much. If you go to a target you can get a sense for the culture by getting to know what sort of personality ends up where - disregard grades, etc;, comes down to what type of person they are. MS still has more of a "blue blood" culture than many of the other shops, Citi is quite fratty as is JPM.... but it also varies from team to team.
Where I think it matters most is if you intend to go to b-school. A Goldman Banker with a 730 GMAT will get into HBS over a UBS Banker with a 730 GMAT. Hold everything else equal.
If that UBS Banker also volunteers and has done so for 5 years, and is involved in his community, and has a better story as to why they want to get to HBS and where they want to go, they can overcome and get in over the Goldman guy.... but with the admissions process, everyone is just boiled down to numbers and papers so this is where I think there is the largest difference.
Some firms do have stronger "alumni" networks than others, but this is something you build on your own. You can build a strong network at any shop and choosing one firm over the other for this reason is nonsense since no one will, as you said, decide to help you because you happened to both work at the same 100k person company.
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