Best way to find a career you love?

I've dabbled in quantitative finance hackathons and had experience within high finance. I'm not sure I enjoyed either. Still looking for more internships to get a proper feel, but concerned I won't find anything. Studying STEM at a top target. How do people find a career they love?

Did the Partners in IB/PE/HF know that they love they their industry (generally people say to get that high up you have to enjoy the work) before starting, or did they just luck into it?

I know careers are generally non-linear, but the opportunity cost of pursuing one path significantly impacts recruiting, which is already competitive enough as it is.

2 Comments
 

You could consider going into STEM related job fields considering you majored in this - a few good paying roles include: Software Engineering; Engineering, and Nurse Practitioner

Alternatively in finance you could get a job in sales & trading, ib or hedge fund. Try a few internships and see if you enjoy them, see if the people in each group you’re in are happy or if you’d like to work with them for the long term

 

Eligendi ab ea error odio aperiam autem est. Et nihil repellendus natus rerum incidunt sed. Dolorem est fugiat sed consectetur omnis dolores.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 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

August 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

August 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

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