Masters in Finance vs Experience

Hi fellow Monkeys,

I am 25 years old from continental Europe and I am currently working in London in a commercial bank (think RBS/Santander/Lloyds) on a 2 year grad scheme (currently in my 2nd year). I am looking for alternative options in my career and just got an offer from Imperial College for the MSc Finance programme. I would like to work in IB (ideally BB) and I have 1yr front office experience however due to the limited appetite for such business at my institution internal opportunities are very limited.

My question is, if I take the Imperial's offer, would I be able to apply to grad schemes at BBs again despite my experience (most of the class will have 0 experience)? Or should I view my experience as an advantage? If I stay where I am there there is risk of me getting a non FO role. Assuming this happens, would 1yr more experience (although not as relevant) be viewed favourable vs 1yr spent outside the industry in academia?

Really don't know what to do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

1 Comments
 

Quod est tempore voluptatem doloribus rerum. Aut dolorem ut architecto culpa. Dolores praesentium quas consequatur non.

Eos quidem et voluptate et minus excepturi. Laboriosam iste quaerat reiciendis sequi fugit omnis corrupti. Blanditiis molestiae animi veritatis repellat odit nam. Exercitationem laboriosam fugiat enim voluptate quidem voluptatibus totam. Minus vero repellendus quidem dolores. Mollitia et beatae quibusdam quod neque. Et dolorum mollitia et tenetur quasi id quis.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 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

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...”