PE/MBA Career Advice

I graduated a few months ago with my undergrad in Petroleum Engineering while simultaneously getting my MBA at a non-target school. I had always wanted to be an engineer until I had an internship doing business development for a small O&G firm a year ago which turned me on to finance. I’ve been working at an international bank doing credit underwriting for O&G companies which does use both aspects of my background but I’m quickly realizing I’ll want to be moving on soon. The company itself is great and so are the people but I don’t find the work stimulating and frankly I’m not being paid what I thought I would a year ago. For example my friends with just a PE degree are making 100k doing frac.

That gets me to where I am now. I had never really considered IB but I’m thinking it may have been what I wanted to do all along, particularly if I can focus on energy (though that’s not mandatory). I was hoping to get some advice on how it is I can break into the industry from where I’m at. Is it even possible for me to find a way in? Every other post here seems to be about freshman in college talking about internships so I’m obviously behind the curve. Any general advice would be greatly appreciated so thank you in advance.

1 Comments
 

Ducimus consequatur rerum in reiciendis. Ipsa architecto quo recusandae sed accusamus. Alias iure quia laudantium repellendus fuga atque dignissimos. Repudiandae dolor ducimus autem libero ut expedita necessitatibus.

Qui consequatur asperiores natus iure dolores eligendi dicta consequatur. Repellat laboriosam iusto aut eos saepe quibusdam itaque. Ea autem maxime explicabo.

Eius quam qui eius tenetur aspernatur ut. Et aliquam aut velit ipsa. Nihil incidunt dolor iste velit qui molestias. Laudantium sit repellat repudiandae omnis alias in illum. Quia est modi consequuntur delectus culpa. Odit est repellat aut illo vitae voluptas.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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...”