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I think most people here reading the thread would be interested -
Which firm?
How small are we talking about?
Compensation?
I think he's better off completing the MS as a backup rather then pursue IB for now. I believe he will have a stronger advantage at that point and be less stressed out about the MS as opposed to getting burned in IB (if he ends up hating it) without a plan B in place.
Best wishes.
Can your friend defer the rest of their MS to next semester / year?
The internship goes until the middle of the next semester as well, as it's not a regular 3-month internship. That's why this experience would be super valuable.
It's pretty clear cut to me. The most difficult thing about getting into investment banking is not having had any prior experience in investment banking. An internship in investment banking would be the best thing he could do to strengthen his application. Unless completing his masters could pretty much guarantee him a position at a better investment bank, I think he should take the internship and either convert to a FT role, or leverage it to get a position elsewhere.
However, I am quite biased against masters degrees, especially coming from the UK, where masters degrees are mostly for rich kids who couldn't get jobs straight out of undergrad, so their parents have to bail them out with an extra year to try again (we don't get student loans for graduate degrees). Throw monkey shit if you want, but deep down you know it's true.
Your friend seems to have been able to land an IB gig without needing a masters, so I don't see how having one is going to help him more than the experience he is getting.
^ What he said.
fuck the master program. focus on the internship.
He should absolutely do the internship. He can always go back to finish his masters.
I think your 'friend' should start playing Pokémon Go!
Most Ms programs would let him take time off. He should do that, then make a decision at the end of his internship, whenever that is.
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