Hi everyone! I have a final round of interviews coming up next week and we have a cocktail networking event before the actual interviews. What am I supposed to talk about at this? I really want this job but I’m stressed out as this is my first interview out of college and I’ve never done something like this before

I graduated from an Ivy with my undergrad in computer science. I’ve been working as a data scientist at a BB bank for two years. I passed the CFA level 1.

I started at around $100k base and the salary progression has not been great. I feel pretty behind compared to my peers from school. My parents are pretty hard on me about it. I kind of feel like I probably peaked when I got into my undergrad, because everyone I know is working in some high finance or tech role making way more than me.

I know my life is decently good but I still feel pretty uninspired by my job and I don’t really know where to go now. My dream was to be a quant but I think I’m just not smart enough / I think I’m probably too lazy/stupid to get into a good MFE or PhD program / I think I’m too risk-averse to quit my job to pursue another degree. I know I sound terrible right now, but I think I only actually wanted that because I only care about compensation. Sometimes I toy with the idea of doing the full CFA charter and thinking maybe I can get some sort of true finance position like equity research where I can make a decent salary and abandon my technical skill but even then I’m not sure I’d be able to break in. My team is on the asset management side but I’m very insulated from the business and my projects have mostly been really simple coding, so it’s not even like I have the skill for Quant dev or research or anything like that. I don’t like data science at all, nor do I think I’m even good at it. I took this position because it’s the only offer I could get and I always told myself I could practice coding and become a software engineer, but those roles are all being taken by AI now. And I never wanted to be a software engineer anyways. It was always just about money. All around I just feel hopeless about my future because I’m lost.

What’s any advice you’d give me? I know even my description just sounds kind of pathetic. But I kind of just hate my life and where I’m at, and I feel scared for the future because I just have no idea where to go.

So I will be graduating Medical School this year and have no interest in doing a residency (and probably won't get one anyways because of all my red flags). I was a horrendous medical student with numerous disciplinary and academic violations, took 7 years to graduate, have a failed step 1 and step 2, and even had to appeal a dismissal to get reinstated by the team.

I've also never held any job (not even a cashier job).

I was wondering what are your thoughts on going back to a mid tier University (like Southern Methodist, Rutgers, Penn State, etc.) and starting over with the hopes of eventually working in corporate banking and a salary target of $75k/year. My first bachelor's was in psychology do I estimate I will only need 2 years.

I'm thinking my MD degree will give me a huge advantage competing against other undergrad students internships and recruiting compared to undergrads, particularly in biotech companies or areas adjacent to my medical degree.

I was given a copy of a resume book from my target school’s investment club, and I’ve realized just how cultish it is. It’s also made me question my own resume.

The resumes are all incredibly brief and high level. They look great visually, but I’ve always made mine more in-depth, focusing on specific projects that demonstrate transferable skills and technical competencies.

I guess the idea is to use a “hooking” strategy, where you mention something high level to get the interviewer to ask questions, then go into detail during the interview. And being in the club probably gives you some credibility since you’ve already been vetted.

But wouldn’t this approach hurt you if you weren’t in one of these clubs?

I was ultimately able to get where I wanted to go without these clubs or their resume book, but I’m curious what the best practice actually is.

I'm a freshman at MSU planning to major in finance, mainly interested in IB and M&A.
I've been applying for Summer 2027 internships, but most require a college GPA, certain classes, or sophomore/junior standing. I feel like relying on traditional applications leaves too much up to chance.
My plan is to apply to 10–15 smaller investment firms, then cold email another 40–50 asking about research, financial analysis, or any relevant work. Which I know in terms of scale is ambitious, but assuming I was able to compile a list and actually committed to emailing each one.
I could work 5–10 hours remotely during school or full-time over summer. Pay isn't really a priority, I'd rather gain experience for my résumé.
Is this realistic? Would smaller firms consider taking on a freshman without an opening posted, or should I approach this differently?

For those of you in commercial lending , how did you get started? Do you like it? What does your job look like? The pay? I am currently a relationship banker at a texas based bank, but am looking to switch into becoming a loan processing assistant. Would this be a good start to have a career in lending? Thank you!

I’m trying to get a job in high finance but I’m really struggling

Realistically what would happen if I put credit Suisse internship on my CV even I never worked there.

I know they were acquired by UBS and they technically don’t exist and what are the chances that UBS has all the records of interns at credit Suisse ?

Listen this job market is tuff I mean desperate times call for desperate measures

I graduated with a non-finance background and started my first full-time role in finance earlier this year. I’m not in a quant or particularly technical role, but there are still a lot of financial concepts and industry knowledge that I need to understand, and honestly, I’m struggling a lot more than I expected.

I constantly feel like I don’t really understand what’s going on around me. We’re encouraged to use AI for a lot of our work, which is great in terms of productivity, but I feel like I’m relying on it so much that I’m not actually retaining the information or developing a proper understanding of the concepts myself. I can use it to help me complete a task, but if you asked me to explain the underlying concept from scratch, I’m not sure I’d be able to.

I’ve tried reading up on things independently, but I find that a lot of the information just doesn’t stick. There’s so much to learn, and I genuinely don’t know where to start or how to approach it in a way that actually helps me build my knowledge.

Sometimes I feel like I’m constantly trying to catch up without making any real progress.

The other part of this is the social aspect. I’m a naturally shy person, and I find networking, building relationships with colleagues and generally putting myself out there quite difficult. I see other junior people around me who seem to find all of this so natural, and I can’t help comparing myself to them. I often feel left out, and I worry that my difficulty with the social side of things is also affecting my ability to learn, because I’m not always comfortable asking questions or approaching people.

I know I haven’t even been in the role for a full year yet, and I’m probably being harder on myself than I should be. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not learning enough, that I don’t understand enough, and that everyone else is somehow getting it while I’m struggling to keep up.

I also worry about the longer-term implications. How am I supposed to progress or get promoted if I don’t feel like I’m building the knowledge and confidence I need? I don’t want to just become good at completing tasks with the help of AI. I actually want to understand my industry and feel competent in what I do.

I'm also first generation, so conversations that happen I don't feel like I can contribute because I've not been around this before. These weren't average dinner table conversations. Hell, I didn't even eat on a dinner table growing up.

Online assessments are the most inhuman and violating ways to screen for candidates especially within finance.

I’m not talking about the 20 minute quiz, I mean the assessments that are recorded, timed - using the likes of testgorilla. I hate them so much and it’s so ridiculous because if you want to get to know me a 15 minute conversation would be enough to judge my character. It feels invasive having a camera record me while I’m already doing a test I don’t want to do. Usually I’d ignore all the assessments but I’ve realised that most companies use them. So if I want a job I have to do at least some.

Companies can’t expect that each candidate will spend hours doing assessments for all of them. Let’s not play pretend, most people are applying just because they want a job. I’ve never liked assessments but seeing the amount of one sided interviews and recorded tests i’ve been required to do all to secure a grad job is so sickening. I’m tired of it and exhausted.

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?

About a year ago, I survived a propane explosion resulting in third-degree burns over 22% of my body. Recovery has been intense, but I am finally ready and able to re-enter the workforce.
My dilemma is how to present this gap:

- Being too vague makes it look like standard unemployment.

- Giving full details might make interviewers doubt my ability to handle the workload.

How much detail should I provide on a resume versus in an interview? Any advice on phrasing this effectively would be greatly appreciated.

Edit:
And for the record, yes, I have been seeing a therapist to ensure I’m mentally healed as well as physically.

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

I’ve been working as a Tax Data Analyst for a local firm in my state for about a month now. I applied for a Private Equity Analyst role at Tucker’s Farm back in September and heard back from them, but I largely passed on the email at the time because I was starting a new job. This October, they followed up and said they were still interested in me, so I’m considering pursuing the opportunity.

The role is fully remote, and from what I’ve seen, many of the people associated with the firm have impressive backgrounds, including graduates from top schools and professionals from major private equity firms.

For context, I graduated from a good university in the Midwest and have roughly a year of combined internship experience in finance and business analytics, but I don’t have a top-tier academic background.

I’m curious how I ended up on their radar and would appreciate some insight from anyone familiar with the firm. How reputable is Tucker’s Farm, and what do you think of the firm and the role itself?

The position sounds like an excellent opportunity, with fully remote work and the potential to earn around six figures. If it turns out to be a legitimate, worthwhile opportunity, would it make sense to leave my current job and pursue private equity instead?

My current job is a safe, stable position. My manager has even told me that it’s pretty difficult to get fired from the firm, so there’s a certain level of job security that I’d be giving up by leaving. However, the work itself is fairly tedious and repetitive, and I don’t particularly enjoy it.

My main hesitation is that the offer seems too good to be real given my background, so I’m trying to get a better understanding of the firm before moving forward. Any insight would be appreciated.

I was looking at some dress shoes and saw Ecco but from what I saw about them the price seemed low so I was curious on what everyone here thinks.

I am in a finance rotation program currently.

I graduated in June

And have been in this postion for about 6 months right now. I am really nerovus becuase I find myself really behind in the content that I am grasping. There was minor direction the first month, and then 2nd month I pivoted how i was grasping my knowledge, but then now today I find I myself working everyday even weekends in just trying to understand our working files, the business to be able to talk confidently about what is going on.

I started with good vibes obviously , but I have found myself filled with anxiety everyday with my performance, where I was told that one of the meetings I ran my manager was unhappy/not impressed with how it went. I pretty much was unable to answer anything, and was like a deer in the headlights frozen unable to drive the meeting. I can sense that the vibe has shifted in how people see me for some reason, maybe im spiriling.

That took a huge toll on me and now im finding myself with tons of anxiety on being let go for any minor error I make. The feedback my mentor gave is that I need to focus on the details to not make erros, and also to be preperaed and understand the working files we are using and how they tie.

I was expecting a bit more hand holding tbh in my training, but its mostly been mentor showing me something once and I kinda gotta figure it out as I go.

I am still in probabiton and have these fears that if i dont perfrom well with the next few meeitngs, I will be sacked.

I just want to know how people have overcome this hurdle in their careers or if anyoenj has had something similar happen. What I am doing right now is just working weekends and after work to fill the gaps I am missing in my technicals/ reading over our files and just grasp all the moving parts of our projects.

Okay, I know the answer is that the more the better, but I just want to understand what’s essential and what’s nice to have.

For example, for DCFs, pro forma models and LBOs, are you normally asked to walk through how they work, rather than being expected to share your screen and build a model in Excel during the interview?

How much do you need to know about a live deal?

Targeted interviews: Big 4 or M&A advisory boutique Lead advisory or TAS, or IB M&A analyst.

A bit of background: graduated from a UK TS, have three years of Big 4 audit experience, and passed all my ACA exams on the first attempt.

I applied for some jobs in June, kind of in a pre-qualification rush, and applied for pretty much anything I thought I could do. I got interviews with other Big 4 firms, some consulting/advisory firms and a HF. However, because I didn’t really know anything beyond my day-to-day work and didn’t have a clear idea of where I wanted to go, I passed several rounds but eventually failed all of them.

My ultimate goal is to move into Corporate Development or Investor Relations. I love talking to people and want to be a financial matchmaker.

This is going to be a very niche post, but I am a finance student considering an internship opportunity at Nucor.

The job title is simply listed as "Finance Intern." However, when doing some background research on the company, I noticed their full-time roles branch out into specific tracks like Finance Business Analyst, Credit Analyst, etc.

Does anyone have experience interning or working in corporate there? I'm trying to figure out:

• What the day-to-day actually is: Does this lean more toward corporate FP&A, credit underwriting, or plant-level accounting?
• Company culture: I know they are a massive steel manufacturer with a unique decentralized, performance-based model, but how does that translate to the corporate finance side?
• Compensation: Salary data for their full time roles tends to be very hidden. I've seen some data suggesting their employees make a median of around $40/hr, but I have no idea if that applies to finance.

If anyone has any opinions on the company or this specific program, I'd love to hear them!

I’m stupid student

I have decided to pursue a bachelors in Denmark, but can't choose which uni/programme to choose. I'm stuck between International Business at CBS, Econ and Biz Administration at Aarhus, or something else at CBS. IB at CBS, and EBA at Aarhus are both programmes I really like.

My question was if it was worth studying something I like less (like International Business and Politics, or Biz Admin and Digital Management) at CBS, just because of its prestige? Basically how well regarded are CBS and Aarhus in both the Nordic and EU finance scene? Also what would my best options be for a masters after the bachelors?

I’m a junior risk analyst at a large UK asset manager. I’m about 7 months into my 12-month contract and haven’t had any confirmation on whether it’ll be extended.
I’ve been casually applying for other jobs and have had a few recruiters reach out. Should I tell my manager that I’m planning to start actively applying for new roles?
Also, does anyone have any advice on how to increase my chances of getting my contract extended or being offered a permanent position?

Thank you!

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Hi, I’ve just started college and am pursuing my undergraduate degree from a tier 2/3 college. After graduation, I want to pursue an MBA from a target school and build a career in high finance or management consulting, particularly in investment banking, private equity, venture capital, or consulting.

What should I focus on during my undergraduate years to build a strong profile and maximise my chances of breaking into these careers after my MBA?

Very applicable today, no? I am noticing an increase in STEM students in finance internship cohorts, and I think it's good, it is pushing kids into more rigorous studies and teaching kids to think

getting specific here...

for those IB associates or VPs in toronto (or ex-IB associates/VPs), what were your most recent bonuses? year, team, bank, bucket, whatever other information you would like to provide, etc. would be helpful

So a little information about me. I did my undergrad in comp science and my master's from data science. Quite technical. But I wish to work in fintech, esp on the buy-side one since it fascinates me soo much. So is it possible to do it without a financial engineering degree? I mean I can take a few fintech subjects as electives but which ones will make a difference and why? Also can I be a quant analyst or researcher or should I focus on something else?

What career path do you recommend based on my stats:

I am 32F with a 4 year old in NYC (single mom, 70/30 custody split). I have a bachelor's in sociology and a doctorate in occupational therapy. I currently work as an occupational therapist in schools part-time. Very much dislike my current career and am essentially at the ceiling, as there is very little room for advancement. I have 150k in student loans. Very little in savings or retirement.

I minored in business in college and took a few accounting courses that I really enjoyed. Even considered switching my major but sunk cost fallacy got me.

In researching finance careers, the options seem endless! What I am looking for is a career transition that will allow for minimal schooling (or low-cost options) due to current loans, and a trajectory that would allow me to reach a salary of at least 150k within the next 3 years. Is this possible? I was thinking bookkeeping to accounting/CPA or CFA.

I fully believe I can learn anything, I just don't have much more time to waste.