Advice needed...

Newbie to the forum here, and seeking advice on how to break into IB (M&A).

Here my circumstances:

Final year Business Management Student (2:1) and I’ve accepted an offer to study MSc Finance at U.K. uni.

Experience: - 1 year work placement in data analytics - 2 months of various “online virtual internship experiences at various banks - 1 year of running my own e-commerce brand on amazon and shopify - 1 year experience trading (equities, Forex, commodities...) just as a hobby - 6 years of non-professional roles (bars, fast food, supermarket...)

If I can’t find a IB internship, and settle for a finance one will it be harder to break into the industry after my MSc?

I’m just a bit worried in general as I know people advice of thinking about how to break in as soon as they get to uni and I’ve decided to do it in my final year.

Any advice is appreciated.

2 Comments
 

Animi voluptatem at eos rem eos. Dolores odit voluptates et nulla iure soluta fugiat aut. Aspernatur debitis at iste esse porro et minus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 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

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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”