Big Tech Finance or IB

Hello everyone, I am from a non-target public school (think PSU, Wisconsin, Ohio State...). I recently got an intern offer in operations finance in a huge tech company (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) and also an investment banking intern offer at a lower tier investment bank (Nomura, Santander, D.A. Davidson). What opportunity would present itself better over the long run, pay, and work life? What would you rather start in and grow in the company?

5 Comments
 

Really depends on your goals / wants.

Big Tech Finance is great due to WLB, and culture. However, you are technically "back office" at Tech firms.

If you want to chase the larger paycheque, IB is a no brainer, even at Santander / D.A. Davidson (especially in this hiring environment).

I personally interned at Amazon in a hybrid Finance/Consulting team and decided to go down the IB path.

 

Of course choose investment banking.

Finance is back office in big tech. It’s just typical FP&A stuff, not much different from being a controller or FP&A at investment bank. Unless it’s a investing role for big tech’s internal venture capital or hedge funds, then it’s not worth it.

Or unless you don’t have any ambition and just want a 9-5 corporate life with an okay-ish salary.

It’s very impressive that you made to ibanking from non-target ! Congrats !

 

This is far from reality. Even in tech golden years, finance role isn’t given large equity. Not to mention the tech golden years is over. Meta just released news to cut all recruiter equity. Finance roles aren’t much better than recruiter in terms of priority within company.

Investment banking is just way better. 10 YoE ibanker easily make millions. It’s a path into being tech investors.

 

Ab omnis quos a autem unde. Ut voluptatibus esse incidunt beatae adipisci.

Ex nulla et consequatur et dolor facilis et. Dolores ut molestias expedita in asperiores distinctio. Itaque possimus autem a. Et aut eius culpa odio saepe error commodi. Quis aliquid sunt vitae eum unde voluptas architecto.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

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