regretting decision early in my career

im sure this post is gonna come off as naive or like a troll post but im just gonna launch this post out and see if i can get any advice . i feel like i fucked up bad choosing to go to big 4 audit. I started this fall. was a super conscientious student and got all my CPA exams done very early. cant help but feel like i should have explored IB more as an option while i was still a student. its not that i hate audit or something i just feel like ive learned more about banking and it seems way more interesting with much better pay + exit opps despite the increase in working hours. not to mention accounting got super hyped up in college and now i dont even like telling people what i do bc its boring as fuck

made the decision to go down the accounting route a couple years ago when i was much more risk averse but damn man i wish i could have a retry in the recruiting aspect here. is there any chance i can navigate into IB in the next couple years? how much weight does a CPA hold in IB today? the only thing i dont wanna do is get my MBA but it does seem like its my only ticket out. shit blows. open to any advice

2 Comments
 

I went from audit > FDD > IB > a PE role that I’m starting in a few weeks. It took a while but I did it and it’s doable without an MBA if you stay determined. You need to be willing to accept that you’ll be a late starter in the industry too.

The exact path I laid out above is probably your best bet. You’ll likely need to do a full 2 years in audit before you jump to FDD too, which is what I did.

 

Maiores vel dolor rerum aliquid earum dolores totam. At est veniam est quam. Consequatur voluptate qui voluptates explicabo eum commodi soluta. Fugit ea expedita et quia. Unde nihil qui possimus consequatur qui molestiae quis.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • 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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”