Deciding between Consulting and IB and other options

Basically, I have to decide what kind of job I want to pursue post MBA in order to even apply for an MBA. How do I decide between Consulting, PE, IB without any internships beforehand?

My background: I am a CFA charterholder, working in Transaction Services (Financial Due Diligence) in one of the Big 4 accounting firms.I also have a very good GMAT and TOEFL score.

How can I make the decision? To be honest, I have no reasonably defensible preference for any of those jobs as I believe any of those jobs would be "better" along most dimensions compared to my current job.

Dimensions being:

  1. Pay
  2. chances of moving up corporate ladder (lot of stuck senior managers at our firm, probably a lack of attractive exit opps + lack of demand for partners)
  3. Prestige: as the accountants on any deal, we are always at the bottom of the totem pole.

Any help?

1 Comments
 

Quibusdam non veritatis quaerat quia molestiae quia nam. Doloribus illo temporibus vero earum facere consequatur non quia.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”