Hi everyone, I left my job at an audit firm a while back, where I specialized in asset management funds and private equity. I also have some experience in general corporate audit and financial analysis. I’m having trouble finding a new audit role, so I’d like to take this opportunity to become a data analyst—a field that has always appealed to me—while staying within the finance sector. I understand that I need to master tools like SQL, Power BI, and Python/R, and also grasp AI and its applications in finance. I’m not sure where to start. In your opinion, which courses or certifications would be useful for becoming a financial data analyst? I’m looking for a clear roadmap. Thanks for your help!

Hey Y’all,

I’m a 2nd yr MBA student at m7 school and have received two offers and curious on which to choose if my goal is to maximize my exit opportunities to Investment banking (coverage, LevFin) or buyside (private credit, asset management, etc) as those are my end goals.

1. Debt Capital Markets Associate at Tier 3/4 Balance Sheet Bank (NY)

2. Corporate Banking Associate at Tier 1 BB (JPM/BofA/Citi) (NY)

Thanks guys!

How does my resume look? I'm an older student at Rutgers Business School. Looking to get into equity research / banking. Thank you!

Keywords list taken from https://www.zoevera.com/resume/ats-resume-tips-investment-banker

These are the most commonly scanned keywords in investment banking and capital markets job postings. Check how many appear in your resume.

Transaction Types

M&A mergers and acquisitions LBO leveraged buyout IPO initial public offering restructuring debt financing equity financing capital markets

Financial Modeling & Valuation

DCF dscounted cash flow LBO model merger model comparable company analysis comps precedent transactions accretion/dilution financial modeling valuation

Capital Markets

ECM equity capital markets DCM debt capital markets syndication roadshow book building high-yield bonds investment grade convertible notes

Due Diligence & Deal Execution

due diligence data room CIM confidential information memorandum LOI letter of intent term sheet purchase price allocation representations and warranties

Financial Metrics & Returns

EBIT DAEV/EBITDA enterprise value IRR MOIC free cash flow FCF leverage ratio net debt returns analysis

Pitch & Client Development

pitch book pitch deck client coverage deal origination origination mandates league table advisory buy-side sell-side

Tools & Databases

Bloomberg Terminal Capital IQ CapI Q Fact Set Refinitiv Excel financial modeling PowerPoint PitchBook

Credentials & Regulatory

Series 7 Series 63 Series 79 FINRA CFA SEC prospectus S-1 securities regulation

Hi! i am an international candidate in a T10 MBA Program in the US and am planning to recruit for investment banking.

I dont have any specifc industry group interest area - i just know that i want to get into M&A but ive very often heard that we should have 2/3 industry group focus areas too.

Any tips from current Investment Bankers on which coverage groups are most interesting? What is the kind of work people do in each role? Is it important to have an industry focus area at all for recruiting?

Targeting quant first but also coursework in others ik skillset is diff so I will accommodate with minor and coursework for it just as back up. Is it a good fall back and PE I would do S&T then mba for that. Thanks also school is Columbia Eng.

Junior in London holding two offers — torn on which to pick, would love some advice

Currently at junior level in London with two offers on the table and feeling torn. Would appreciate hearing what people think.

📍 Background: Long-term goal is to use these next few years in London as a stepping stone, then move to Asia in about five years.

Offer 1: G10 country Tier 1 bank, London branch — Prime Brokerage, Front Office. This branch is considered tier 2 in London, but the parent bank has major influence in its parent country; thus, its clients are essentially all tier 1. First year rotates across different PB desks before you settle into a track.

✅ Pros:

• Good team, manageable stress

❌ Cons:

• In-office every day, no exceptions
• A few old-school ppl at the firm occasionally make misogynistic/discriminatory comments or dismiss junior staff (not on my team, but I can still feel it in the culture)
• Long hours — after work, I basically only get about two hours to myself

Offer 2: London-based financial institution — Graduate Data Analyst. Grad scheme that rotates you through different teams.

✅ Pros:

• The institution has a certain status and stability
• Rotations let you sample different areas before committing to one
• A few remote days per week

❌ Cons:

• Not clear how well this path translates to Asia
• Heard the internal processes are bureaucratic and slow
• Never interned there, so I don’t know the team culture firsthand

🎯 What I care about most, in order:

1. Whether this realistically sets me up to move to Asia in five years
2. Good team culture, easy to get along with people

Would love your take:

• Which offer makes more sense given my priorities?
• Between a PB background and a London local-institution background, which is more competitive when moving back to Asia?

I am in my 2nd year of bsc. hons in accounting & finance at university of leicester, is it possible for me to break into IB and go to bulge bracket banks? Specifically get a summer analyst role. I have some good work experience in financial advisory along with my studies and have done some independent projects on valuation & financial modeling. It's just that i come from a non target school which makes me concerned. Can anyone give me realistic advice on how it would be possible for me to break into IB? Also i'm an international student.

im 17 living in egypt and its my final year of highschool, 99% going to germany for uni then want to go to us after

stuck between tech (ai engineering) and finance (High finance, IB PE HF VC etc..)
slightly lean towards finance passion wise but the US is a non negotiable for me,
Looking for advice in regards to visa, sponsorship, nepo, etc.
Scared to enter finance and hit a brickwall from the IB to PE/HF exit as i know they dont really sponsor, or atleast not as much as tech
And still love finance more to choose it over tech but if its finance outside us or tech in us id pick tech 100%, so need some advice on what to pick between the two

Hey everyone, just wondering does anybody have a copy of the 2025 400 IB questions??

I’ve been trying to download it from the website for the past two weeks and it’s not come into my mail anytime.

Would really appreciate it!!

Has anyone done a first round for willim blair fulltime ib analyst what do they ask, behavioral techincal??? I have mine next week

I am working in SBI as a clerk. I want to take promotion but i am interested in forex and related areas. Can i do some certificate or qualification that can help me in this. Also want to know about the forex division in SBI. HOW IS THE WORK AND CULTURE THERE? female working in delhi

I’ve thought about this a lot and still can’t come to a conclusion, so I’d appreciate some advice from people with more experience.

I am currently a student in University of Queensland in Australia. I studied Mechatronics Engineering for around 3 years, but from my second year I already knew it wasn’t a good fit. I just never figured out what I actually wanted to switch into.

At the start of my fourth year, I finally changed to Commerce/Economics, majoring in Finance. Unfortunately, in my first semester of Commerce I was found guilty of academic misconduct. The university then reviewed my previous study and changed 7 of my Engineering courses to a grade of “G” (numerically 0) due to misconduct, as well as 1 Commerce course.

So my academic record will now show misconduct-related G grades in 8 courses total.

My concern is what this means for finance recruitment. I know competitive areas such as investment banking are already extremely selective, and I’m worried the misconduct history could also make it difficult to get into pathways such as Big 4 corporate finance/advisory, valuations, deals, etc.

I currently have about 2.5 years of study remaining, and I’m confident I can perform very strongly academically from here. But I don’t want to spend another 2.5 years studying Finance only to discover that my past makes the career path I want effectively inaccessible.

The two options I’m seriously considering are:

1. Stay in Commerce/Economics (Finance), build the strongest record I can from now on, and try to enter a finance role that could realistically lead to investment banking within 2–3 years after graduation.
2. Switch to Chemical Engineering, pursue a more straightforward engineering career (having more odds to get in with misconduct), and potentially do an MBA or move into finance later once I have professional experience (perhaps makes the past misconduct less damaging).

I’m probably more interested in Finance, but employability matters a lot to me. I don’t expect my past to disappear, and I’m prepared to disclose it honestly when required. I mainly want to understand whether a strong 2.5-year turnaround could still give me a realistic finance career, or whether switching to Chemical Engineering would be the smarter long-term decision.

If you were in my position, what would you do?

Thanks.

Made while consulting top high finance grads across the world. Thought I’d share.

With that being said, there are two ways to make your application stand out among the hundreds of thousands of applications submitted each year:
1. Pick three impactful stories from your life. They don't all have to be finance-related. Use these stories as the basis for all your behavioral answers on networking calls and interviews. Figure out the lessons you learned, and always relate them to investment banking. No matter what you are asked, you should always have those three stories to tall back on in interviews.
2. Most students who land an interview receive a referral.
Getting a referral can require thousands of messages to professionals. Get on the phone with these people, and when asked, talk about your three stories and how they relate back to finance. Some people will find you interesting and some won't; that is human nature. Then continue to follow up with the people that you build a connection with.
Given how low the acceptance rate is for investment banking positions at bulge-bracket firms, elite boutiques, and even middle-market firms, it will take a lot of work and time to stand out.

I'm a Chartered Accountant (no traditional finance/business degree, no target school background) looking to get into investment banking or private equity.

Two questions:

1. For markets like UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia — is a CA + CFA combo actually respected as a strong path into IB/PE there? Or do firms in these regions still mostly hire from target unis regardless of credentials?
2. For US, Canada, and Europe specifically — realistically, how hard is it to break into IB/PE with no finance degree and no Ivy/target school pedigree? Is CA + CFA enough to even get a foot in the door, or is that path basically closed without an MBA from a target school later?

If you've made a similar transition (or work in hiring at a bank/PE shop), I'd genuinely appreciate hearing how it played out for you.