Did anyone make a tough career decision this year?

you can certainly go from IB to S/T and vice versa from a summer analyst position, I summered in IB moved to S&T full time. i think a lot of it comes down to personality and i thought my personality fit s&t better and the markets/investing were my passion and i am happy with the choice i made.

yes you will probably not go into PE but with the credit markets in their current state why would you want to?

i also may have a tough decision to make in a few weeks if certain things work out. such is life but just be confident in your decision and make the best of it.

I was deciding between IB (UBS, DB, Morgan Stanley Capital Markets Division), Sales and Trading (Barclays), and consulting (two of MBB).

I ended up doing consulting, it seemed to be the most fun way to spend 10 weeks this summer and I got to pick a location near my home (instead of needing to be in NYC).

We'll see if I enjoy it, and regardless, I'm certain all of us can reapply for whichever positions we want in the fall. Keep in mind that any of these offers puts us near the top of the barrel in terms of self-selection.

I wasn't quite on the level as you guys - but I had to choose between two MM banks. One in NY, the other in the south/mid atlantic. The southern bank was very strong in their field, with the NYC bank being a bit weaker (and not doing too hot given the current market).

Having interviewed at both extensively, I felt that I might have had gotten a slightly better experience at the southern bank, but being in NY after graduation was pretty important to me, and after some advice from alumni, the NY bank seemed like a better choice. I don't regret my decision, but it was pretty tough choice since it was a toss up between experience and location. Had the southern bank been in NY, I would have chosen it no question.

I know that advice seems contrary to what I say a lot of the time, but honestly for a summer banking internship it doesn't really matter where exactly you go as long as you do banking/trading/working in finance at some level.

It really does set you apart from everyone else to do that, but UBS vs. Morgan Stanley for summer internships is way less important than most people think.

The point of a summer internship is to decide whether or not you want to do the job full-time, learn something, and hopefully get the option to do it full-time if you want. And hopefully you can leverage it into something even better.

For full-time recruiting back in the Stone Age (ok it was only 3 years ago) when I was still recruiting, I had a HF offer, couple banking offers and other possibilities outside finance.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have just gone with the HF and skipped directly to the exit opportunities, but you know what, you just never know and it's pointless to speculate.

Sure, I COULD have gone to a small HF to start out but it may have also limited me down the road before I had even decided what I wanted to do.

In the end, I'm glad I did banking even though I'm not really going the traditional PE/HF route afterwards.

I spent a lot of time considering what to do in the fall of my senior year, and everyone should probably do the same. It really does affect a lot of what you do going forward, because certain jobs will lead to others more easily, others will be harder to leverage, etc.

Still, not worth dwelling on quite as much for a summer internship so I would go with your gut on this one.

def great point

...

Had to choose between GS, MS, and Lazard. Had to choose bw the top 1 or 2 group in each.

Had to choose between MS and GS in different locations (one NY, the other a very strong regional office).

Ended up picking the regional office. Most people say I should've picked NY, but at the end of the day I felt I'd be much happier in the regional office.

Lol. Is this Great Point Partners?

i'm in the midst of deciding between M&A and a derivatives position... both are great opportunities... and my goals are to end up in principal investing down the line... i am taking the derivs route as i feel like it can accelerate the path to the buyside, if nothing more but simply through the ability to contribute your own capital (make more in derivs). Also... if offers are comparable you have to look at your time commitment. You are working 90-120 hours in IB while working 60-70 in s&t.. that leaves you between 30 and 50 hours a week to find ways to make the derivs offer even more lucrative (i.e. improve your knowledge of certain things, build your network, invest, pursue girls with rich families... this is what will set the S&T side ahead... plus if you end up wanting out.. .you always have B-school as a reset button. Either way you can't go wrong... you will make a ton of money and end up on the ever-sexy buyside... do you do it under the ibanking umbrella or do you walk the path alone (higher risk)... red pill, blue pill

I chose S&T at a BB over IB. Hope I made the right decision for the summer.

I had a question relating to this whole mess.. Why is it advantageous to start at BB and then move to a HF? Why don't you just start where you want to end?

Is it the training?

The fall back that the BB gives you for the "reset" button (b-school)?

Thanks

Is great point a good firm?