internship in audit or ER?

Title says it all.

Currently set to work in audit this summer, but recently got a chance to do an internship in research at a mid-sized AM firm. Choice to go for ER internship seems obvious, but the biggest problem is my location.

I'm in a MM city where 90% of paths to TAS and M&A groups are through accounting firms, and partners want people who "did their time" in audit.  
So while the research role would likely be a better experience, it might limit my options afterward. 

Any advice? 

Region
2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Not sure of specifics of your situation but I’d take ER internship personally. I think it will be more relevant work, better for your CV, and more interesting.

You say MM city and post is tagged Canada so I guess you mean Vancouver, Montreal, or Calgary. I don’t think ER would hurt you in any of these markets vs audit. If any smaller market I would suggest leaving unless that’s unfeasible for some reason.

If you get FT ER role then that will be easier/quicker to use to lateral to M&A as long as you’re fine relocating to a bigger market. I think only way it would make sense to do audit over ER here would be if you are extremely risk averse + for some reason are likely to be unable to leverage the ER internship into either FT ER role (low gpa, non-target school, the MM AM doesn’t give FT offers to interns, etc) or a different role that is more relevant than audit.

Some details that are not known but relevant:
-Is your GPA good? Do you go to a target or semi-target?
-Does the MM AM have a history of giving return offers to their ER interns?
-How many years of UG do you have left?
-What’s your risk tolerance?

 

Officiis recusandae libero aut et necessitatibus voluptates. Eius inventore doloremque harum sunt voluptatem a autem.

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 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $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

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...”