Post Grad Career Advice

So I recently graduated from a T20, with solid internship experience. I feel as if I didn't apply myself as well as I could've in the early years of college, which led to me not really knowing what I really wanted to do until recently (working towards tech coverage, or tech pe, hoping to move towards climate tech vc down the road). I feel as if my options at this point (without a FT offer) are: 1) recruit for a non banking role, maybe corp dev or some type of consulting, or data analytics. What I want most of my career at this point is prestige, so I don't think this would necessarily be a step in the right direction. 2) try and get a fall banking internship at a boutique, recruit for FT25 roles while also networking during that internship. Also study for GMAT, if FT doesn't work out, apply to top Masters in Finance programs. At this point I would love advice from professionals. I'm worried to accept a job I don't want and be stuck with little to no mobility. I believe overall I failed to properly prove myself in college, and I see a masters program as another shot to do so. 

* I also just wanted to make it clear that I'm not entirely set on what I want to do with my career. I think in my first role mainly what I'm looking for is technical skills (valuation, comps, industry research) and to be surrounded by incredibly smart, hardworking people who can push me. The latter is largely one of the reasons I haven't accepted certain roles, as I feel they would actually work retroactively and prevent me from learning as much as possible in my first job. 

1 Comments
 

Illo aspernatur nisi quis voluptas impedit repudiandae. Fugiat corporis fuga sapiente officia. Magni debitis et quae aut maxime occaecati excepturi id.

In explicabo cupiditate nobis corporis. Et officiis quo et dolores sapiente.

Ut necessitatibus sit dolorum occaecati hic. Reprehenderit pariatur rerum minus animi at odit praesentium. Voluptatem occaecati sunt non reiciendis dolorem rerum voluptatem.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (23) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (82) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”