bad idea to recruit for both s&t and m&a?
Going into 2026 summers in London, I am still undecided between going only for s&t or m&a. Here are the pros and cons ive thought about.
m&a pros: slightly higher pay, more flexible exits, more experience on cv aligned to m&a, higher return offer after summer (s&t overhire way more)
s&t pros: better work life balance (no weekends), seems more fun and interesting
Would it be a bad idea to recruit for s&t at the BBs + MMs and m&a at the EBs? Learning completely different technicals might be too difficult or time consuming over summer. Better to just concentrate on either one and try hard for the technicals in one area?
Are the s&t return offer rates also really that low? (40% compared to 80% for m&a) this is one of the main reasons putting me off s&t to be honest
focus on what you'll enjoy doing long-term
this is like saying should I prepare for marketing/IR/M&A/programming roles? It will require more effort, but it may increase my chances of getting job
well, although you'll have greater chances of getting an interview, you'll fall short compared to the guy that only prepared for a specific role and mastered all techicals/case analysis/etc.
Not a bad idea at all, you may have to learn more technicals but that’s it. You should be choosing S&T or M&A on an individual case by which sector your connections/network at the bank are working at to maximise your chances of an offer
Recruited for both earlier this year in the US, would not recommend. Focus on one
Disclaimer: having worked in trading for many years I might be biased!
My thoughts: as others have said I would strongly recommend choosing one or the other. And then (here comes potentially the bias...) working very sensible hours Monday to Friday is in my humble opinion so much better than working every weekend. Another thing I found that is mentioned less frequently is that it seems (I could be wrong) in say M&A you just have to do whatever your line manager / the MD says. In trading I always felt it was very meritocratic: if you are making money than it does not matter if you are only 23 or 25 or whatever, then you get rewarded. And on a trading floor in general I found it a fun working environment.
I am sure M&A has lots of good things going for it especially as you say exit opportunities and it seems return offers, so make sure you get balanced advice!
Totally agree with this
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