Currently a senior at Wharton, interned in IB this past summer and interviewing with a few SMs for FT. To people in the industry - how would you go about evaluating SM opportunities out of college v a top IB analyst program if long term goal is publics. Happy to provide more info on the funds if needed, but mainly looking for broader advice regarding starting at an SM out of college, and if its worth it to take the risk.
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Not worth it in 95% of cases. I was in similar shoes a few years ago and went with the IB offer.
It's generally not worth it. Had the same options coming out of Dartmouth. Glad I didn't because (1) training is much much worse and (2) if/when you flame out, you have no tangible skillset outside of stock picking.
I have been at a SM for ~10 years and am a partner in my fund. For the love of god, go do IB and/or PE first.
I have been watching unprepared kids make the decision of skipping banking for a nascent PE firm or a HF role since I graduated college. Every single time it has been the wrong decision. Every. Single. Time.
If you had an opportunity worth pursuing and you were good enough already, you wouldn’t be asking this question.
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