u/FewEfficiency1823

Hi everyone,

I am a sophomore in college and I am considering my career options going forward. From what I have observed in the past 2 years, the sentiment shifted from the traditional IB->PE pipeline to trading and quant roles. From what I have read, the "Golden Era" of PE does not is slowly cooling down as the historically low interest rates and low costs of borrowing are reaching the end of the tunnel. As for physical trading and quant, unfortunately it's no longer under the radar and now everyone and their mother's applying.

My question to the people in the industry, who probably have better insights than me and the FT, what is the next sought-after high earning career with long term potential in finance ? (e.g., Private Credit, specialized Secondaries whatsoever). If you were in my position, what industry would you be targeting? What is a niche industry people dont know much about yet ?

All insights are greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I’m gearing up for the next recruitment cycle, but I’ve hit a wall and I’m struggling to pick a lane. I know different roles require different prep, and trying to master everything at once feels unlikely to work out.

I’m currently leaning toward Investment Banking primarily for the exit ops, since I’m not 100% sure where I want to be in 10 years, IB feels like the safest door. However, even in this regard, I’m still torn between product groups such as M&A/LevFin/ECM/DCM, coverage etc.

Then again, I have a genuine interest in the Buy-side (PE/REPE/VC) and Asset Management, though I’ll admit my knowledge of AM is the weakest of the bunch.
Ideally, I’d intern at all of them to find the fit, but since this isn't a buffet, I think i need to commit to a strategy soon.

Apart from guidance on the topic, a few extra questions for the sub would be:

1.For those who were starting out, how did you pick? Did you just go IB for the optionality, or did you find a way to test the waters elsewhere?
2.How do you balance prep? Is there a "core" curriculum (modeling, technicals) that covers 80% of the requirements for everything or groups (IB+PE or PE+VC+AM)
3.Beyond the technical prep what else is there to prep, ie Hirevues, gamified assessments etc., and how important would you say each is?

I greatly appreciate all insights! Thank you

Hi everyone,

Im at a point where I want to start getting actively ready for my next recruitment cycle.My problem is that I am not entirely sure exactly what sector I wanna target and that complicates a bit how i should be moving forward and material i should be studying (im assuming different roles require different prep).

My thoughts are as following. Investment banking is always on the table as it is the one providing the most exits and options which i value a lot considering im not entirely decided about my career long term. There are still many things im unsure about even within that field (M&A/ECM/DCM/RX/LevFin). Other than that Im quite interested in the PE/REPE and VC space, as well as in the Asset Management sector,- even though I feel like I dont have many insights about the latter.

There is just so much to choose from. Ideally i would like to intern for all of them, explore my interests and thus determine where I wanna be, but obviously it doesnt really work like a buffet type of thing.

Any insights / advice are greatly appreciated

Extra:
Apart from the core knowledge what else should a candidate be preparing for and how? For Hirevues and whatnot

Currently in college and Im realising that I enjoy reading papers and academic work on financial topics. Despite that an academic career is not attractive to me at all.

I was therefore wondering. Is reading academic research still a part of the job in FO high finance positions or does it become a strictly after-work interest after college? Do you still dig into academic research as oart of yiur work? If yes, in which sectors is that more prominent?

Thank you for the insights

Hello

Im meeting with a VP at an IB for a coffee chat this weekend. Situation being that it will be in London, while I dont live there permanently, I have two shoe choices.

Reading up on old posts the suggestion was to wear suit no tie or shirt and pants and no formal shoes.

The only shoes I have with me are some quite formal ones and some all black ON’s.

would the ON’s be too informal, would the formal ones be overkill?

Hello

This might sound like a naive question, but I was practicing some modelling, reading some advice on how to optimise the learning process and was wondering the following.

If Investment Bankers are so good at analysing fundamentals/technicals and figuring out the ins and outs of a company why dont they transition to equity trading (personal portfolio or for other people’s money).

I know stockpicking is risky for the average investor, but sure people on the job should be kind of “experts” in that and able to pick the right equities a good % of the time, right? What nuance am i missing here

Id appreciate the insights .

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask about post–Long Covid symptoms, specifically brain fog and cognitive impairment.

I’ve had pretty strong brain fog and symptom flare-ups with mental tasks for a long time now, although it has been steadily improving. Still, I often feel my train of thought breaking or my mind getting lost more often than not.

I was reading about long covids long term impact and it scared me A LOT. i wanted to know whether there is a chance my mind is permanently handicapped, whether there is a chance i will legitimately be slower than i used to be for the rest of my life.

Or is this more just part of the illness, and as symptoms fade, the cognitive issues will also go away?

If there is a risk of longer-term impact, is there any way to regain those abilities through things like brain retraining, neuroplasticity, or similar approaches? Or is there no saving ?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience or knowledge on this.

Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask about post–Long Covid symptoms, specifically brain fog and cognitive impairment.

I’ve had pretty strong brain fog and symptom flare-ups with mental tasks for a long time now, although it has been steadily improving. Still, I often feel my train of thought breaking or my mind getting lost more often than not.

I was reading about long covids long term impact and it scared me A LOT. i wanted to know whether there is a chance my mind is permanently handicapped, whether there is a chance i will legitimately be slower than i used to be for the rest of my life.

Or is this more just part of the illness, and as symptoms fade, the cognitive issues will also go away?

If there is a risk of longer-term impact, is there any way to regain those abilities through things like brain retraining, neuroplasticity, or similar approaches? Or is there no saving ?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience or knowledge on this.

Thanks.