Lateral Advice

Hey everyone, was looking for some advice as I started as a first year IB analyst in a credit focused product group at a mid tier bank.
Having a good experience so far but feel like I’m not learning as much as I would ideally like since it feels like I’m not getting grounded a lot.
Most of my peers are looking to exit to PE given the nature of our group, but I feel more interested in being a career banker. With that being said, I want more M&A experience as it’s more interesting to me as a product I’d like to work on long term versus being credit and financing focused.
Would appreciate color on how doable a lateral would be to a top BB or EB within an M&A coverage group, if that’s worth doing, what the process would look like, any material differences between the two processes, and long term career outlook.
Additionally, when would be a good time to lateral? Is it too soon to make a move at the 6/7 month mark?

1 Comments
 

Et aut nobis provident repudiandae. Libero perspiciatis enim tempora assumenda ut. Tempore perspiciatis ex sit libero eum est quisquam iusto. Voluptatem necessitatibus officia et. Sunt autem ut quos commodi voluptatem iste consequatur quasi.

Dolor ea dolor et tempora. Dolor in quam in odit. Perspiciatis quis velit minima possimus est ducimus. Hic enim velit est. Odio tempore dolorem ducimus nulla ut.

Minima et dolorem odio quod accusamus maiores aut. Aliquid quia aperiam laudantium est velit consequatur.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”