Appreciate your advices on career change from accounting to finance.

Hello,

First thread here on WSO. Appreciate your help, advices, tips, leads or anything on a career change from accounting to finance. Open to all in finance - corporate finance, PE, VC, banking, consulting and etc... in any capacity.

Background about myself:

MBA - Boston College, CFA charterholder since 2018, CPA license since 2010, 5 years in public accounting at Big Four auditing investment companies, 4 years in accounting at investment companies (one Fortune 500, the other a giant fund); last two years in the greater NYC metro, Unemployed since last week.

Most recent employer had "dismal year" (to quote a news article) resulting in reduced headcount. Unfortunately for me, my role didn't survive the cut. It's all business; all good.

Being a decent saver, I can ride out the unemployment situation for a while (though not indefinitely). Wanted to take my time to consider the a potential career change carefully. Am also thinking of extended travel (6-9 months) to clear my head and plan next steps.

Based on my background, I am curious as to how best to break into finance in NYC?

Thank you!

1 Comments
 

Aliquid corporis aut et. Sit et minus veritatis aut.

Voluptas rerum nulla non dolorum voluptas quam. Non deserunt accusantium et. Aspernatur nemo enim assumenda neque.

Est sed repudiandae earum facilis quis. Minima corrupti ipsa quas consequatur. Et laboriosam maxime consectetur eius sed ex.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 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 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (27) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”