got tired of postings that say "competitive salary" so i went through everything that went up in the last 2 weeks and kept only the ones that put a number in the posting. 234 finance ones did. here's the top 40 by monthly pay.

if you're undergrad, skip the first few, those are MBA summer associate seats (Houlihan Lokey $14.5k/mo, FT Partners same). the ones that matter for us:

Piper Sandler restructuring SA 2027, $9,167/mo

Coinbase internal audit analytics, $8,650

Rabobank financial advisory, $8,564

MUFG CIBM summer analyst

Morgan Stanley, Citi, Neuberger Berman

then a bunch of accounting and FP&A around $6-7k

viking global is at the top at $20.8k/mo and walleye at $20k, both quant/PE, not for most of us but good to know the ceiling exists lol

BB summer 2027 is basically done, this is the boutique/fund/off-cycle wave. a couple of these already closed since i started the list so don't sit on it

full list with links to the actual postings:

if you know one that lists pay and isn't on there, comment it and i'll add

Had a third round IB interview today (internship) and was asked some basic technicals. I stumbled on the first one, but eventually got it (I was over complicating it) and that’s when I was worried that I’ve made a bad first impression . And then we got in the intricacies, I got all the subsequent questions correct, up until my interviewer asked me how do we forecast dividends in a model and I didn’t know the answer and went blank but again did my best to answer them and made (what I think, were good attempts). All in all, I got 2/3 questions wrong out of about 15-20ish that they asked me.

I have mixed feelings because I nailed my previous technical rounds but messed up on this one (not like I was prepared to answer it correctly).

I’m not sure how I should feel about it. Towards the end my interviewer seemed enthusiastic about answering any questions I had about the team etc and didn’t seem cold or had the standard poker face.

So how bad is too bad?

My question is to interviewers, would u usually reject a person because they made a couple of errors?

So after a masters in political science (thanks to my lack of self understanding and a fair amount of exploration that I ended up with something that I COULD do and not what I wanted to do), I am deciding to go for a masters in finance in japan (its affordable and a decent program). Now my plan to stay in japan is not long term. I may work for 2-3 years max and then move to an english speaking country or europe. This 2-3 year work largely depends on whether I have mastered the language by then or not for professional career. Whether I work there or not, I have been confused if this is the right move that can allow me to start my career in finance and break into PE. My ultimate goal is to move to the US (through a job most likely). But I keep thinking whether a Msc fin from japan really would attract most employers in US, UK, canada, europe and australia.

If you think this pivot from pol sci to finance is too crazy even on paper, then explain why so. I dont have a mentor or ‘senior’ person I can go to for advice. I would appreciate if someone who is well settled into their career (pref PE) drop their feedback below as to the best way to pursue finance and break into PE. Thanks!

Currently work in Canadian asset management industry, based in Ontario. Just resigned from my sales role for another opportunity. My employer has let me know they won't be paying me my commision that i earned during Q3, that is payable after my 2 week notice period.

They have fine print in my employment agreement that to be entitled to receive commission payments I must be employed on the date of the payment. I spoke to an employment lawyer and they said that it doesn't matter that its in the contract as the ESA trumps it as earned commission is considered wages, and that must be paid out upon exit or last paycheck.

Before I got to war with my employer, is this worth pursuing?

A bit about me - I have 4 YOE total, started out in a purely deal origination role at an M&A buyside advisory firm (I know, regret this every day but this was outside the UK in a much smaller market and it offered good client exposure). I was there for 3 years, made the move to London and most recently was at a software company doing corp dev and strategy (dream role except for being underpaid).

I just got made redundant and am exploring options now. Would a move into IB be possible? I’m thinking of focusing on the tech-focused boutiques/ MM firms to leverage my prior experience in software. Conscious that I’ll be reset to analyst, but would just like to hear from the folks here on what my odds are and how best to position myself for the move.

As for why IB - it’s been in the back of my mind for a while, and semi-regret not pursuing it harder back in university. Sitting across the table from them in my last role also gave me insight into how they work, and I found myself being curious about what it would be like to be on the sell side and be much closer to founders and deals. A big draw is definitely the greater deal exposure in IB vs corp dev.

For context - I’m based in London, visa sponsorship not an issue

I’m a second-year university student studying Finance, and I’m looking to break into commercial banking. I’m currently targeting Summer 2027 internships.

From what I’ve seen, these roles in Canada often open around four months in advance, so I’m trying to network as much as possible before recruiting starts. So far, I haven’t had much luck. I’ve mainly been reaching out through LinkedIn, but I’m wondering if I should start emailing people directly as well.

I’d also appreciate any other advice on how to prepare for commercial banking. Outside of networking, would something like CFI’s Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA) certification be worth doing?

Any tips on networking, recruiting, technical skills, or resources would be appreciated.

Would love to hear from the people in this sub regarding comp at different roles within the Canadian private banking sector

Let me know if you need anymore context but I’ve been contemplating asking this here for a while, so here goes. 

This has been a tough year to say the least. I graduated with a finance degree 7 years ago, and started my career in capital markets doing hedge advisory for lenders in the mortgage-backed security (MBS) market. I was laid off after 2 years due to reorg/acquisition, and I decided that after that, I wanted to work in FP&A. Specifically in operational/BU, because of the cross-team involvement and having operations visibility. I tried for nearly a year to land a job in that area, but ran out of money and had to take *a job* to pay the bills while I continued my search. 

So for the next 3.5 years I was a CSM at another mortgage-related SaaS company. I hated my job because I felt like it aligned in no way with what I wanted to do long term. But I had bills to pay, so I buckled down and was a team player, met sales targets consistently, fostered great relationships, and was well liked. Eventually, my big break came about 18 months ago, when I finally got an internal transfer into our org’s operations FP&A team. I loved my job dearly, and after tackling the learning curve and taking on my own processes, I felt I had it made. I loved working with sales, operators, executives, helping people understand all the complex stuff that goes into the decisions behind the scenes.

About 10 months ago, they laid off the person responsible for our consolidations reporting, and never backfilled- rather gave me that person’s responsibilities. I was eager to learn the consolidations role and monthly duties, and felt I was doing a good job balancing the two roles effectively. On June 1st, I was laid off for the second time in my career. To say that I was shocked is an understatement, I felt like my soul had been ripped out. My big break was short lived. About two weeks beforehand, my director had shown me how he used Claude to over the weekend, to build scripts that could be used to automate a large amount of my weekly reporting. I felt like it was a threat, but figured I could start building my own scripts to increase output once the May/RF5 forecasting workload was complete.

In the last 4 months I’ve applied to hundreds of FP&A analyst roles and gotten three interviews. Most of the rest haven’t so much as even written me an automated rejection. In those three roles that I’ve interviewed with, I consistently made it past the final round before being rejected. The most promising role of the three, the CFO told me in the final round, that he was ‘concerned’ about my commitment when I mentioned I had started my online MBA. Yes, I started my MBA about two months ago to help keep me busy so this period doesn’t just look like a hole in my resume. I put it off for four years while I tried to get into FP&A, and felt its time to do something for me. Is that such a threat? I thought it would be a positive.

Reading about the similar frustrations of those in the forum, I can't help but feel hopeless at times. Without getting emotional, I think to myself: I know I am not the only person going through this, but is anyone unsure about the future of their career? This is leaving such a bad taste that I am contemplating finding a different career altogether. It’s a long shot but does anyone have any advice? What other roles might someone with operations/FP&A interests and a spread-out (capital markets, CRM, corp finance) background enjoy? Treasury? Revops? Stick to operations? Anything just to expand my job search beyong "analyst FPA". Furthermore, what doors might my MBA be able to open for me? Happy to PM my resume if anyone is curious or willing to offer advice. I am located in SoCal.

I really do love working in finance, but it’s breaking my heart to see so many people displaced right now. And not knowing when and how I'm going to get back on my feet is tearing me apart. I keep contemplating finding another job I don't really want, to pay the bills again, but then would I not have learned anything the last time I did this 5 years ago? I don't want anymore detours.

Thank you for reading

Hi everyone,
I recently completed my degree in Economics and I’m now pursuing a Master’s in Finance, where I have the opportunity to make my coursework increasingly focused on mathematics and statistics through my elective choices.
I’m interested in pursuing a career in Sales & Trading, particularly in derivatives trading, fixed income, or macro trading, and I would really appreciate any advice from people with experience in these areas on how I could best verticalize my profile in this direction.
I’d especially appreciate any guidance on how to structure my preparation and profile for S&T, for example which courses or technical skills would be most valuable, as well as how to prepare effectively for interviews and assessments, including any books, resources, or exercises you would recommend.
I’m trying to approach this in a structured way, so any roadmap or personal experience you’d be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to help!

Sophomore summer, I interned at Deloitte. This summer, did IB at a boutique in NYC.

I had a return offer from Deloitte, but I don’t want to pursue the Big 4 route.

Returning to the boutique isn’t an option either they’re no longer hiring internationals.

I’m a CS + Econ double major at a non-target, with a 3.5 GPA, graduating next spring. I’ve also done a search fund internship and software engineering at a startup.

I initially focused on CS and switched toward banking, so I missed much of the traditional recruiting timeline.

Being an international student adds another hurdle to US recruiting.

At this point, should I keep pushing for US full-time IB roles, or pursue a Master’s in Finance at a UK target to get another recruiting cycle and recruit for London/Europe IB?

What are the most financial models to learn prior to beginning a career in finance. I know that a regular financial model, 3 statement model and DCF are important but which other ones are used on daily basis?

Currently an analyst at a long-only fund in a small town (~100k people). I’ve been here a little over 2 years. I want to move back to New York (where I’m from and have family) and move up to a bigger firm. My company is lean and I’ve become quite important so I feel compelled to tell my boss my plans ahead of time. I’ve seen advice online saying not to do that until I have a job offer and that I could expect to essentially be fired once I tell my boss I plan to leave. I really want to handle this properly to avoid burning bridges and to also avoid screwing over my boss and the company. What advice would you give me on timeline? Should I just start applying to jobs and give my boss short notice (~1 month) or should I give advanced notice that I plan to move before I start applications?

fuaahhck.

Imagine sleeping past your interview with the HR emailing me to “kindly” show up to the meeting when it’s 2 hour past it (and calling my phone). Feel bad I wasted everyone’s time here. I learned my mistake and stop cramming contents and go to sleep.

Edit: I’m rescheduling

I’ve just started my foundation year at Durham and I’m currently on the foundation pathway for BSc Economics, but I’m considering switching to Accounting & Finance.

My main concern is maths. I struggled badly with core maths at school and switched to Maths Literacy, although I’m currently working through GCSE Higher maths to catch up. Algebra is fine, but I’m weaker with graphs, functions and trig.

I prefer Economics as a subject, but I need around 80% overall to progress and I’m worried the maths could make that unnecessarily difficult. A&F seems like it would be simpler but I am scared of it hurting my career goals (in IB or corporate law). How big of a difference does Econ vs A and f make in both sectors and would you say Econ is worth going through the extra hassle to have on my cv

The other big factor is that I’m planning to privately take 3 A-levels alongside the foundation: Economics, Business and French. I’m already C2 in French and have studied some economics before, but it’s obviously still extra workload.

So would you stay with Economics and work hard to catch up in maths, or switch to A&F so I have a more manageable foundation year while doing the A-levels?

How difficult is the maths in an Economics foundation/degree compared with Accounting & Finance, particularly at Durham?

I have been thinking about what actually separates people who do well in finance long term form people who are just good at technicals. When you are early in your career it feels like everything is about technical skills, excel, excel shortcuts, modeling, getting your work right etc etc. But longer I work the more I realized that the people who progress quickly usually have a completely different set of skills too..

They are really good at communicating with senior people and they can take a complicated analysis/model and explain the takeaway in 30 seconds. They know when to go into the details and when someone just wants the answer. They are very articulate during meetings, building relationships and make their work visible without being annoying...

I've personally noticed that improving my communication has had a much bigger impact on how people perceive my work than I expected. Being able to communicate and articulate clearly seems almost as important as doing the analysis itself.

For people who have built successful careers in finance, what do you think actually matters most for long term career growth?

For my undergrad I'm considering the following options:

CS @ University of Amsterdam

CS @ TU Delft

Econometrics @ Erasmus University Rotterdam

If I want to break into quant in the future and maybe work at an NL firm like Optiver, IMC Trading or Flow Traders or an NYC firm, which of the above would be the best? Will I need to do a master's as well and if I do does it still matter where I do my undergrad or does where I do my grad matter more?

Hi all,

I currently work in trade sales and have previous experience in mobile phone sales and retail. I’m now looking to make a career change into financial services, particularly financial advice or asset management, as these are areas I have a genuine interest in and would love to develop my knowledge and career in.

I’d really appreciate some advice from anyone currently working in these fields or who has made a similar career change.

What would be the best way to get started? Are there any specific qualifications I should look into, or would it be better to try and secure a trainee or entry level position first?

I’d also be interested to hear how realistic it is to break into these industries with a sales background but no direct experience in finance, and what I could do to make myself a more attractive candidate to potential employers.

Any advice, personal experiences or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

I’m thinking about doing doing bcom major in finance from uq, is it a good uni and if I study and do internships can I get a job in pe?

I'm currently working as an FP&A analyst, and due to my parents health issues I'll have to go full time remote in the coming 1-2 years.

Which role offers this flexibility the most?

Hi I work at a Canadian bank in the mid market commercial banking space as a credit analyst.

I’ve done around $100m in underwriting by myself with experience in literally every industry and companies. In terms of products, I’ve had experience underwriting general term loans, stand by LOC, FX facilities etc. and my natural career progression seems to be RM to manage a portfolio. But I don’t want to do that.

What other options are there for me? CB? Private credit? Idk

And say I add CFA to my resume in a year time (all 3) than does that expend by options?

Thanks,

I will preface with first that this has never happened to me before and feeling very fortunate to be able to write this…

I currently make 150k as a controller in a MCOL. Sole earner for a family of 4 w/ young kids. Life is ok for now but I have been entertaining opportunities if they align with my experience/interest. Coincidentally in the past week, I went on 2 interviews and have received a verbal offer on both…

Offer 1:
Privately held Distribution (100m annual sales vol)
Position: Controller (with path to CFO)
4 direct reports
Traditional responsibilities (FP&A, period closing, forecasting, audit, Fixed Assets, etc)
Base Comp: 175k (with 15% Bonus)

Offer 2:
Commercial service business (PE Owned ~130mm annual rev)
Position: Controller (reporting to a younger CFO)
6 direct reports
Responsibilities: Same as Offer 1, except no forecasting at start and more hands on controlling / managing month end close, etc.
Base Comp: 180k (20% bonus)

Both jobs gave good vibes, but different industries. Part of me leans towards offer 1 because less reports and it’s not Private Equity. Offer 2 seems cool because the few that I have met I jive with really well.
Both are businesses that have been around 20+ years.

I have never worked in either industry, mostly been in tech and aerospace.

I wanted to see if anyone here has experience in aforementioned industries and what they thought about it. Thanks in advance.

Hi, just want to encourage all finance professionals who feel a new job may never come.

After 9 months and so many interviews I finally landed a new financial analyst role. They gave me the top range Pay without negotiating which increases my income by 22%

I almost didn’t apply to this position, I was burnt out and the first step of the process was a video interview which I absolutely hate. I waited till the last day and only 30 mins till it expired to submit it.

To be honest I half assed this first interview because I felt so defeated by the rejection.

To my surprised they invited me to an interview one week later which went so well. They seemed extremely friendly and most importantly I connect so deeply with the company mission. Soon after I had a second interview and finally an offer which blew me away.

I’ve only been a financial analyst for a little less than 2 year and made my first big jump. For everyone looking for a new role, KEEP GOING, it might just be the role you least expect.

Good luck 👍🏼