Serious help needed deciding on offer

Here is my situation. I have an offer at one of the big 4 accounting firms in their enterprise risk advisory group that I am not thrilled about but it is a brand name and maybe I could move around to something more relevant.

I also have been interning this summer at a small regional boutique M&A shop in NYC that brings in about $8 million in revenue from banking fees, but there are only 8 of us working on deals (I am only analyst level person) and 3 secretary/office manager people. I am supposed to find out next week if they want me full time or not.

If I were to get an offer does anyone have any insight as to which would be better for my career? Does "banking" really mean that much if it is coming from a no name shop? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

9 Comments
 

I had a similar situation (as did one of my college friends) and we both decided that M&A and a no name boutique > any non-IB role if your goal is to pursue IB. Work at the no name shop for a year and then lateral to a better shop. Sil has a lateraling guide that you should check out. Ultimately, it will be easier to go from a no name boutique to a better shop than to even get into any IB role from big 4.

 

I worked at a "no-name" boutique in a large city (not NY, LA, or SF) and made $60,000 all-in. I would expect your base to be between $50,000 and $60,000 with a bonus between $10,000 and $15,000. Some boutiques pay per transaction (i.e. you get X% of every transaction's EV as a bonus and nothing at the end of the year).

EDIT: Since you asked for firm size in another post, my firm had seven bankers including me and closed one to two transactions a year. There is no way we brought in anywhere close to $8M in fees.

 
Best Response

Repellat cupiditate et eum dolorem mollitia sed sapiente. Ut sit vel autem tempore. Ut dolore odit quia enim aut. Voluptatum cupiditate suscipit explicabo veniam.

Sit minus et voluptas dolore aliquid explicabo qui. Ut delectus deserunt enim voluptatibus quis in. Dignissimos in at praesentium.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.9%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 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 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 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

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
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”