Continue to work in Finance vs Go to business school

Hi there,

Background: I did my bachelor's in a B-school in finance in Portugal and did a summer internship in a small bank, and after finishing my bachelor's, I went to work at EY in M&A.

I received an acceptance offer to study for a master's in management at Nova SBE (my first option was Finance, this is the best university in Portugal). If I accept I will have worked at EY for 9 months. The good part of this program is that I can also specialize in finance.

My dilemma: 80% of the people I work with have a masters in finance from Nova Sbe. I know some people who even with a master's degree in finance from Nova were rejected, so why would I leave to go for the masters, would that increase my chances of working in IB or VC... Everyone around me tells me I have to get the masters and the truth is that everyone has a masters, but at the same time I feel like I´m working in a competitive place learning a lot. What should I do? If I don´t want to close my work options, would it be a good decision to go for the master's instead of 1 more year at EY? I also am not sure if I postpone my master's for 2-3 years if then I will want to do it...

Thank you for your help.

4 Comments
 

Some addtional info, I am 22 years old. Everyone tells me the best option is to go for the masters and they might be right the university is great, the professors are great, but I am still unsure.

 

You've hit the nail on the head, you'd just be leaving to likely end up in the same place. 

Where do you want to work? If you want to stay in Portugal, and think having a masters will positively impact you in the future then you can take it. If you want to go to London or elsewhere on the continent, you'd be much better served by other programs. If you are working with lots of SBE grads, I am going to guess the majority of recruiting outcomes for this program are not IB/VC. Could you likely not go from EY M&A to EB/MM IB? 

 

I´m just afraid of not doing the masters, because everyone around me has one. I could probably leave to EB/MM IB, but long term not having the masters degree won't it hurt? The thing on my mind is that the masters is just one year, but at the same time I am in a great place of work that I wouldn´t mind stay longer. I also think that I have a lot of time to work, so why not enjoy one last year of student life... Nova SBE would open my mind in othe areas, it has great professors and great talks from people that come from all over the world. I mean I am truly lost in this decision. Thank you for answering.

 
Most Helpful

Iure ullam reprehenderit est sit. Nostrum a illum qui. Cupiditate iste molestias quo nobis.

Et quia iusto earum eum qui sapiente. Nisi asperiores magni a eum voluptas. Iusto possimus qui ab dolores. Maiores voluptas placeat maxime id. Quia sit assumenda quia dolorum. Error facilis illo in a maxime tenetur.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $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
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”