19 Comments
 

Honestly, if you stay in capital markets, anything less than trading isn't ideal. Technology, risk, operations, compliance, nothing about it is sexy. For me at least, because I've been there and done and for me, trading in this business is the only thing that provided me joy. I mean, if you get bored from trading, it's mostly likely because you're not consistent or you're just truly can't handle sitting at a desk all day. In that case, move to a different industry. I remember posting awhile back of me going to the Army Special Forces, which I'm still progressing towards and I'm actually signing up in a few weeks but I have to decide whether or not I'm going national guard or active duty. The selection training is the same but the reason why I'm undecided is because I'm actually in transition to leave the bank to join a prop shop in the city and I feel fairly confident my PnL would be averaged $150K-$300K a month and although money isn't so important, I have a son and I need to provide and the Army won't give me that lifestyle that I want but at the EOD, I don't want to say all I ever did was make money and die. So ask yourself this, why do you want to walk away from trading? Is it because A) You suck at it B) You're bored... If you suck, get better at it because once you get better at it, it's actually fun. If you're bored, find a different industry by figuring out what your passion is (something you have to decide and not from other people's decision on this forum) because anything less than trading in finance is dreadful, that is... if you decide to say in capital markets

 
Most Helpful
  • Macro seats at HFs from macro trading desks (Rates, FX, Delta One, Commods etc).

  • Vol seats at HFs from vol trading desks.

  • Credit seats at AM/HFs from credit trading desks or credit desk analyst seats.

  • Buyside execution trading seats from trading or salestrading

  • Sales or IR seats at AM/HF firms from Sales.

  • Corporate IR seats in corporates/startups from Equity Sales or Corporate Access.

  • Trading seats in similar products at prop shops from trading

  • Sales seats in other industries from Sales

  • Downshifting: e.g. from trading to sales, from S&T to risk, from trading on the floor to trading in treasury etc.

  • B-school to transition to a more traditional business role or (much harder) networking into a more traditional business role

  • Entrepreneurship (whether vc-backed, traditional or otherwise)

  • S&T management

 

Overseeing a desk or group of desks on the floor and then eventually regional management then global management of S&T.

 

What about sales though? I am interning in a rotational program this summer at a BB (and I think I will like Sales better than Trading as I do not LOVE how quantitative trading is), but I am scared about exit opps. Is this rational? Is investor relations at a HF or in PE possible? How does this pay?

 

Velit fugiat dolorem beatae fugiat quia beatae. Quibusdam est illum veritatis ex quasi quia occaecati. Sed sunt dolorem harum. Voluptatibus non voluptatem totam quia esse repellendus et maxime. Facilis perferendis voluptatum possimus id est nihil. Eius soluta atque sint sapiente voluptate iure.

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 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 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 (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”