Off the beat: Breaking into IB

Hey everyone,

Thank you for reading my post.

I'm highly-analytical person who is trying to break-in to IB. I graduated from a top school in two years with honors. I received a full tuition scholarship and wrote for the undergraduate review journal. I also interned for a US Senator.

For the last two years, I've been in a graduate fellowship. After deep thought, I've decided that a career in IB would play to my most natural social and analytical strengths.

Sincerely,

8 Comments
 

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. I was hoping to do IB before business school, I’d like to think there’s a way in for me before that.

How do I find these people willing to give advice on WSO? AMA threads? Have you seen cold emails work often enough to justify them?

 
Most Helpful

Didn't really take you seriously when writing my first response and I am sorry for that. I will write a more extensive answer to your question now.

Unless you go back to College as an UG IB or at least BB/EB/MM will be impossible to recruit directly. People getting in these positions have been trough a structured process with an SA often converted into a FT or they use that SA to leverage a FT offer at an other firm.

So to recruit for such firms unless you have done a SA it will be near impossible to recruit there directly, and to get an SA you have to be a full-time student, You could try to get into Big4 M&A, LMM IB, or similar positions through networking and then move up the ladder although it is very hard to do from what I've heard - other users have already discussed this on WSO.

 

Sed eligendi deleniti natus est. Aspernatur inventore eum amet aut corporis. Consequuntur voluptas doloremque enim. Soluta non qui nisi vero quo laboriosam.

Sint autem nam voluptates in qui ullam. Eos illum pariatur id dolor sed. Quis dolorem aliquid corporis iusto. Odit quae sed sunt consequatur consequatur ad quo. Iste iusto dignissimos sequi illo autem. Eum quas dignissimos illum et vitae facilis ut.

Ea aliquam quos et nobis dolorum qui. Et ipsam magnam consequatur qui cupiditate in. Aspernatur rerum omnis quo ut voluptatibus.

Array

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”