Should i take PWM role in sophomore year, if my goal is to go into IB?

So my situation is that I am in my sophomore year (in Australia) and have been offered my first role at a pretty good PWM firm. This would be my first corporate job.

However, my goal is to get into IB eventually. I also have a close connection with a valuations manager at big 4, who i am confident (but not certain) i can intern with this summer. This would be a good stepping stone into another internship in my junior year or potentially a graduate role in IB or doing work similar to IB.

I have a strong 3.9 gpa, but no real world finance experience.

Should i start my PWM role (as it should be better than nothing) whilst i try and secure the valuations internship at big 4? This could mean that i start work at the PWM on a 2 year contract but then quit after a couple months. Bridge burnt. Maybe a bit of a waste of everyones time. Or i could forget about starting the PWM role altogether, in the hope that i secure the big 4 for summer- here i risk ending up with no sophomore finance experience if my big 4 connection doesn't come through.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated !! :)

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

100% take the PWM role and try to leverage that into something more relevant like a boutique Corp advisory / big 4 Vals. Can always just use the excuse after a few months that you've realised it's just not for you and you feel you're better suited to a career in Corp advisory / IB.With that GPA and 2 internships across PWM/Big 4 Val's you'd be a strong chance for summer internships. Icing on the cake would be a short internship at a boutique advisory firm after your Val's internship and you'll be well placed

 

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