Can you move from a valuation role into investment banking? Yes, but a better question might be: Would you want to? Bankers tend to approach recruiting with tunnel vision: Even if you have the right skills, you may not have any luck in the recruiting process if your experience doesn’t look correct. If that happens, […]

Can you break into investment banking as an accountant? We’ve published so many success stories from accountants that the answer seems to be “yes.” Just one problem, though… They were all at Big 4 firms and therefore had the benefit of a strong brand name; in some cases, they even had firsthand experience working on […]

So let’s say you got interested in consulting in undergrad… And then you were “sold” on joining a boutique consulting firm right after graduation… But then you realized you wanted to move into finance and move to another country. What would you do? Network a lot? Move to a more finance-related role first? Apply to […]

If there’s one profession that bankers don’t respect, it’s the poor accountant. Sure, consultants also get a lot of hate … but hey, at least top management consulting firms recruit at the same universities and MBA programs that bankers flock to. For some reason, though, accountants always seem to attract skepticism and scorn from financiers. […]

Ask around about lateral hiring at investment banks, and you’ll hear a few comments come up repeatedly: “It’s impossible if you haven’t worked in IB before because they only want people with previous experience.” “Seriously, who would ever leave their job suddenly in the middle of the year when it’s so hard to get the […]

All the hype over emerging markets sounds great… …until you sit back and realize something: you don’t have a shot at breaking in, at least if you’re a foreigner with no connection to the region. And it’s especially bad in China, where, according to a previous interviewee and plenty of commenters, it’s nearly impossible to […]

“Help! I hate my accounting job and want to move into banking, what do I do?” “What group should I transfer to if I want to get into finance?” “My Big 4 salary doesn’t give me enough cash for bottles!” If you’re at a Big 4 firm right now, you’ve had one of the thoughts […]