So as you know alot of people working in finance transition to other jobs after making a decent sum of money ,like opening a tech company, a restaurant, and real estate...
I know it is too early for most of the sub because most of us are still students,but i would like to see if anyone ever thought of it .
Personally i'm a big football (soccer) fan and would love becoming a scout/manager

TL;DR: I’m a Director at a small alternative asset placement agent with 7 years of experience, getting laid off at year-end. I’ve spent my career wearing multiple hats across IT, Salesforce/CRM, operations, financial research, analytics, marketing, automation, and process improvement. I’m good at figuring things out and making systems and processes work better, but I’m struggling to identify what jobs I’m actually qualified for because my experience is so broad. What career paths or job titles should someone with my background be looking into?

I’m facing a bit of a career crossroads and could use some advice from people who have been in a similar position.

I’m currently a Director at a small alternative asset placement agent, with approximately 7 years of professional experience. Earlier this month, I found out that my position is being eliminated at the end of the year, so I’ve got a couple of months to figure out my next move.

The challenge I’m running into is that I’ve spent years becoming the person who handles a little bit of everything, and I’m struggling to figure out how that translates into the broader job market.

My role has evolved considerably over time, and my responsibilities now cover several areas:

• Technology & Systems: Managing the firm’s technology infrastructure, troubleshooting issues, administering software platforms, and evaluating and implementing new tools.
• CRM & Automation: Administering Salesforce, building workflows, developing automations, improving data management, and integrating systems.
• Operations: Developing internal processes, managing day-to-day operational needs, and finding ways to make the business run more efficiently.
• Research & Analytics: Financial and investment research, performance analysis, building Excel models, reporting, and creating tools to streamline repetitive analytical work.
• Marketing & Business Development: Managing marketing initiatives, preparing communications, maintaining prospect databases, and supporting business development efforts.
• Process Improvement: Building and maintaining internal tools, documenting procedures, and generally figuring out how to solve problems that don’t fall neatly under anyone else’s responsibilities.

I’ve also become increasingly involved in using AI, Python, VBA, and other tools to automate processes and improve efficiency.

The common thread throughout my career has been identifying something that needs to be done, learning what I need to learn, and figuring out how to make it work.

In a small firm, that’s been incredibly valuable. But now that I’m looking at job postings, I’m realizing how difficult it can be to explain that experience.

I don’t necessarily consider myself a traditional financial analyst, sales dude, marketing professional, or operations guy. I have experience across all of those areas, but I haven’t spent my entire career specializing in any one of them.

And frankly, that’s where I’m feeling a little lost.

I know I’ve developed a valuable skill set and can learn new things quickly. But I have no idea what I should be targeting.

There’s also the concern that despite having a Director title, my experience at a small firm might not translate neatly into a similarly titled position at a larger organization.

One important consideration is comp. I am my family's only source of income; I realistically need to find something paying at least $120K annually.

I’m trying to be thoughtful about my next move rather than just applying to anything that vaguely resembles what I’ve done.

For anyone who’s made a career out of wearing multiple hats, particularly at a smaller company:

• What types of roles did you eventually transition into?
• How did you position yourself on your resume when your experience covered so many different functions?
• Did you find that employers valued your versatility, or did they prefer candidates with more specialized backgrounds?
• Given my background and a minimum salary requirement of $120K, what job titles or career paths would you recommend exploring?

I’m open to changing industries and even taking a different direction professionally if it makes sense.

I just want to make sure I’m not overlooking opportunities because I don’t know what job titles to search for.

Would really appreciate any advice or perspectives from people who’ve navigated something similar.

I know someone who can never say congratulations to an accomplishment, and they constantly try to “one-up” someone else’s achievement. These accomplishments can branch from internship offers, to going to the gym that morning, or raising X amount of money for a philanthropy. It’s constantly a response of “Oh, well I did this” or “Oh, well I interviewed with them”. They are attempting to pursue a career in high finance after graduation. I’m curious if this personality trait will set them back, or if they will be fine regardless. Especially if that’s what the atmosphere might be like at those firms, I have no idea. Also, this is a non-target school and we’re upperclassmen (already recruiting for internships).

So I’m currently preparing with CFA L2, and out of all 10 subjects I’m in love with FI everything is so logical and interesting,specially first 3 modules. (Although started cfa coz of equity valuation/fsa)

Any career path which you believe I’ll love to be in.

Hi,

I’m working in research based in London for a large non-US bank as an analyst.

I have been very lucky with how departures have landed the last 2 years and have managed to pick up quite significant coverage as an analyst. The S&T desk have noted in writing on several occasions how some of my reports have directly driven flow for them. I have also significantly outperformed my team and seniors in terms of our goals for client interactions etc.

I was just wondering what’s an actual realistic ask for variable pay. What is the highest bonus as % of salary you have seen given to those at analyst or associate level. Baring in mind the context of London and non-US bank.

Whether that be from your own experience, or from those of you that are more senior in terms of what you have been able to give/seen people give.

I thoroughly enjoy my job and team so don’t want to rock the boat, but equally I feel I deserve to be paid for the output I’ve provided.

Any help of guidance would be appreciated!! Thank you in advance.

2 offers on hand (Fresh grad, CS, top 25 unis):
1. Product Owner at Revolut
2. Strategy Consulting at Altman Solon

Considerations:
- Compensation is 20% higher in Revolut (after bonus)
- Risk of not passing 1 year grad program at Revolut before becoming a fulltime PO
- Work culture at Altman Solon seems a lot better. Read too many horror stories about Revolut.
- Interned in both MBB Consulting and Tech Product roles before. Don't really have a preference for one over the other, enjoyed myself in both roles thoroughly.
- My long term career goals are not set in stone right now. I do want to grind till I’m 30 and pave a good career for myself. I’m open to long working hours for sure.

Which offer I should take? Please ask anymore clarifying questions or things I should consider.

If you're a first- or second-year analyst, you're probably taking headhunter intro meetings now. Apollo said last week it won't run 2028 on-cycle recruiting this calendar year, but as far as I've seen, no other firm has said the same publicly. One practical point gets less attention than meeting prep: many funds use one or two search firms for associate hiring. Which headhunters know you can affect which interviews you get.

Here's what the public reporting says. Caveat up front: this comes from Transacted (Aug 2022, based on circulated lists and outreach emails) and Business Insider (Mar 2025, mostly what the firms say about themselves). Funds switch search firms often, so check this against your network before you rely on it.

BI also lists Glocap, SearchOne and Odyssey as major buy-side recruiters, but I couldn't find reliable public client lists for them.

Overlaps: some funds show up under more than one firm. In the table that's KKR, Blackstone, Bain Capital and Sixth Street, and in the full source lists Advent, EQT and GTCR too. That could mean coverage changed between 2022 and 2025, the fund uses different firms for different groups or offices, or the sources just disagree. I can't tell which from public info.

How I'd use this (opinion):

• Work backward from your targets. Write down the 10–15 funds you actually want, then make sure you've met the firms reported to cover them. Meeting every headhunter is less useful than meeting the right four or five.
• Sequence your meetings. If you can, don't make your first meeting the one with the firm that covers your top targets. Use earlier meetings to tighten your story.
• Ask directly. At the end of a meeting, it's normal to ask which funds they expect to run searches for this cycle. That's the most current version of this list you'll get.
• Don't ignore middle market. Several of these firms cover a lot more middle-market and lower-middle-market funds than the well-known names above.

If you've worked with any of these firms in the last cycle or two and something here is out of date, please correct it in the comments. That would make this more useful for the 2028 class. No need to name individual recruiters.

I'm not sure how I ended up in this position, but I'm facing a pretty difficult career decision and would appreciate some outside perspectives. For reference I'm a senior in college.

I currently have a full-time offer from McKinsey (return offer from my junior summer internship), but I also recently received an offer for a Corporate Development Analyst position at BlackRock. I'm genuinely conflicted about which one to take.

My original goal was to build a long-term career at MBB and eventually reach the partner level. However, classmates and mentors have encouraged me to broaden my perspective, especially with AI potentially changing the consulting industry.

One of my biggest concerns is that I've already accepted McKinsey's offer and really like the work and travel lifestyle. I really enjoyed my internship, liked everyone in the office, and built strong relationships with the team. I'm hesitant to renege and potentially burn those bridges.

Compensation is comparable. In terms of long-term goals, I don't necessarily have a specific position or industry in mind, but I do want to reach upper management relatively early in my career. Promotion timelines and upward mobility are REALLY important to me. I'm particularly curious about how the exit opportunities compare. Im not really interested in pivoting into anything related to investment- but i feel blackrock is just such a big name and seems (relatively) more secure. early on in my career is it bad looks to only learn from one company rather than a variety of industries at mckinsey? Dont want to get siloed.

Which path offers better long-term career growth, promotion opportunities, and higher pay long-term? Is there a reason to accept BlackRock over McKinsey?

Would really appreciate any thoughts!

I'm a sophomore at a target and this semester has been so rough academically and I'm really behind on networking. Is it too late for me to start and how should I go about getting chats lined up?

Hi all,

I am a senior at a non-target flagship state school, 3.5 GPA, VP of SMIF, CFA L1 in August '27. Previously I interned at a midcap tech company in an FP&A role, then previously at a commercial lender as a sales intern. I did not land any investment roles (want to work in ER, AM, or similar) last cycle or this cycle, and I am feeling like I am out of the race.

I know the realistic advice is to network my ass off until someone gives me a chance, and I am trying to do so as we speak. Is there anyone who was in my position? If so, what steps did you take? With recruiting so early nowadays I feel like I missed my chance before I even knew what I wanted to do.

Thanks for taking the time to help everyone.

Long story short I just had an HR screen for a healthcare banking analyst role. They asked me if I had a B- or higher on two accounting courses, I said yes I believe so.

I’m 24 2 years out of college and genuinely thought I did, I had a C+ in one and a B in another. I had to pull a screen shot of my transcript to find that out.

How fucked as I? And what should I do here?

Hi everyone - I've gotten a lot of questions on how to stick out during networking and interviews (both for clubs and internships). One way is to come across like you follow the Wall Street banks - info on their rankings, new senior hires (means they will build out there teams in a given industry), market share shifts, recent management comments (they have earnings calls)

This can do a several things for you:

Help with networking - when speaking with someone if you reference some current news, comment or data point that was released by a bank, then it can only help you come across like a more of a peer. The art is weaving it into conversation naturally

During interviews - when giving you answer "Why investment bank XYZ?" you'll come across as one who actively follows the bank and it again you will stick out again in a good way. Most undergrads don't do this. Again you need to smoothly weave into your answer. Another good place to show that you have done your research is to ask thoughtful questions referencing firm specific info in the Q&A portion of an interview

One real example from this morning

Jefferies hosted an analyst day with a big IR deck - a few slides focused on the investment banking side of the business so bingo, that's gold when cramming to get smart on them. All in one place and to stick out from your peers you just need to put in the work to review the material

Here is the link so interested undergrads can see a real example (IB section starts on slide 22 on the pdf).

https://s204.q4cdn.com/176394273/files/doc_downloads/2026/10/JEF-Investor-Mtg-Pres_2026_Final_10-16-2026.pdf

A quick flip of these slides and you will come across as a having done your homework. You'll get info its rankings, changes in mkt share across products (M&A and ECM), the areas of growth etc, (e.g. diversifying away from only serving mostly PE firms)

Link my profile for additional detail how to use AI to prep as well -look forward to this helping people

Hi everyone! I’m a 4th semester economics student, just secured an interview tomorrow for an internship in credit sales (the FICC team). I’ve done one interview with Goldman before last semester and it didn’t go so well (Fixed Income), and was hoping to get some advice this time around!

I feel much more prepared than last time, and have done some other interviews with other banks and got great feedbacks (no offers tho!)

I am open to any advice, things I should know, ask, questions I should prepare for etc.

edit. turns out it’s Credit Risk not sales, regardless I’m still open to any advice!!!

I’m a college senior working a back office role in banking. I’m contemplating making the switch as I have a possible opportunity next spring.

I was wondering how sales heavy the role is? Is it tons of cold calling and hounding family and friends to sign up? I don’t want a job like the firm who shall not be named.

Is it fully in office? Any flexibility to work from home?

I am a 4th year finance student, still have to do a 5th year tho due to circumstances which happened a few years back.

I have yet to get a finance related internship, but I am a senior teller in retail banking. Currently mass applying to anything finance related.

I never really had hopes of high finance and I know my chances are probably cooked by now, but I was wondering what I could do to escalate my career and hopefully break the 6 figures salary eventually within the finance field.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I see many people saying that you should send out coffee chats to people who are in a position to you want to be when you grow up. How do you even find their contact information besides LinkedIn?

Hey everyone, using a burner account for obvious reasons.

I have 4 years of solid, front-line Corporate Finance execution experience across two firms in Central Scotland (glasgow and edinburgh), but I am trapped in a nightmare regional salary structure earning between £26k and £28k.

To make it worse, I just got my ACCA results back and failed Financial Management (FM) with a brutal 22% (4 exams left total).

Despite this there a few things that have caught my attention over the span of 1/2 years:

• The New Guy joined the midwest office down south (£45k): Hired 4 months from Big 4 Audit with zero CF experience. I was told I might have to train him on cash flow projections and how working capital as a concept works.
• Colleague D (£35k): Swore off exams completely 2 years ago and just got promoted to Assistant Manager anyway at the start of this year. Much lower pay grade than the executive but still promoted nonetheless

My Technical Skillset:
Despite the 22% exam score, I drive a lot of the deal execution. I autonomously handle:

• Fully integrated 3-statement financial models (IS, BS, and Cashflows) for investment (debt and equity) funding as well as acquisitions.
• DCF models, financial forecasting, and EBITDA/Revenue multiple valuations.
• Sell-side mandates (structuring companies for sale, buyer lists, writing IMs, and marketing them) as well as MBOs (Management Buyouts). In a nutshell I can run major aspects of sell-side mandates autonomously (structuring companies for sale, buyer/target lists, writing Information Memorandums (IMs), and marketing them), buy side is a little different given the lack of trade buyers now and as it's predominately focused on FDD reports (financial due dilligence) where I have only been exposed to a handful around 2 or so with a helping hand but either way it's not been the core focus of my role.
• Brief exposure to HoFTs, SPA mechanics, and completion accounts.

I haven't driven a deal end-to-end solo yet which i'm assuming comes at a natural stage as I progress and have slight hiccups on more complex legal aspects, but I do the heavy execution lifting.

The Goal / The Pivot:
I want to relocate to London. While I can do the deal execution, I love the communication, deal origination, meeting founders, and investor relations side of CF.

I am targeting Growth Capital / Venture Capital firms in London (think companies like Maven, Puma Growth Partners or similar VCT/Growth Equity houses). I want a manageable salary (standard Analyst or entry Associate band) and a decent work-life balance where relationship-building is valued over an exam certificate.

Questions for the community:

1. Is it stupid to demand an immediate pay rise to £35k at my upcoming quarterly review based purely on my billable deliverables, despite the 22% fail?
2. Will London Growth Equity/VCs or independent M&A boutiques hire an unqualified analyst with 4 YOE?
3. Which mid-market firms/tiers should I look at, and how do I bypass rigid HR filters?

Appreciate any blunt advice or relocation tips. Cheers.

Basically the title. Need to something to make me feel better, or worse.

What do I do? I’m genuinely fucked. I go to a decent school and was very active in clubs,leadership positions. I’m applying to internships for next summer, but I don’t have any internships so far. I’ve also only recently found out that I’ve already missed the recruiting cycles for most IB and high finance jobs by over a year. So what now? Should I just try networking to get a job? Is that my only hope? Are there any other jobs in finance I can still try applying to?

Basically, I connected for an coffee chat with a PM at a wealth management firm, so I was creating a google calendar invite to attach to my reply confirming the timing/location. However, google calendar decided to send the invite to him each time I adjusted the timing, even before I attached it to the email, and as a result, I had sent him 4 calendar invites (including one with the incorrect date) before even replying to his email, confirming the time and location of the coffee chat.

Hi,

I'm a Y2 Imperial medical student and hoping to swap from medicine to a finance career. I'm joining finance and investing societies and applying for committee roles at the moment.

I've been trying to apply for spring weeks, but they all seem to only accept 1st years (3 year courses), 2nd years (4 year courses), or penultimate graduation year students. Because medicine is 6 years at my university, I've been getting instantly rejected in my applications.

Any advice on what I can do?

Hello! I know "good" is very relative. When I mean by good will this school allow me to break into high finance? Or at least corporate finance? Thanks!

I'm sophomore (grad 2029) aiming for ib with corp dev as a back-up, and genuinely feel so behind. I go to a T1 target in canada qcomm/mcgill/ivey and worked as an investment analyst at an investment advisory firm overseas this summer, got really good valuation experiences, and have been trying my best to run coffee chats with alumni since the start of summer. Some connects have stayed warm, but majority have ghosted me or agreed to refer me but later ghosted lol. Not to mention how low my response rates are across linkedin messages and cold emails. I've been rejected from every firm i've applied to so far (not even an interview), including ones with a referral. It feels like everyone in my class has interviews lined up but me. I genuinely feel extremely discouraged and slowly accepting it might be too late for me to break in directly to IB and might have to detour. I almost never went to any of the main finance clubs at my school, so that might be the reason I'm not in the main IB "pipeline" but it feels too late joining as a general member in second year. I've attached my resume, and so if you all have any suggestions for how to fix, and how i can higher my chance of a first round interview, I'd greatly appreciate it.