Prop Trading vs S&T summer internship

Hello!

I've managed to get two internship offers for the upcoming summer here in London and I'm struggling to decide which to choose. The first is from a newer prop trading firm (not Optiver/Jane Street but well-reputed), and the second is a BB volatility desk offer. Prop trading obviously pays more with nice perks, but don't want that to sway me too much for just the internship. I think the root difficulty for me is that I really have no idea which career path I would enjoy more. As such preserving option value is really important for me: I've heard that prop trading is harder to get into at the graduate level without a previous summer and that a prop summer can be leveraged into an S&T grad role if I decide pure quant isn't for me. But at the same time, is the BB's brand name and prestige beyond prop and S&T too much to pass over?

What do you think? Thanks in advance for any advice/pointers.

1 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Consequatur consequuntur officiis deleniti omnis fugit distinctio itaque cupiditate. Sapiente sunt consectetur minus deleniti voluptas aut.

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 (65) $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
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”