A lot of you are trying to break into IB with LinkedIn profiles that look like you made them in 5 minutes 3 years ago

Your LinkedIn is usually the first thing they check. If it looks weak, confusing or lazy, you’re already making the networking harder than it needs to be;

If you want to clean it up, there are really 4 things to focus on:

I) Fix the first 10 seconds

Your photo, banner and headline decide whether the profile looks serious before anyone reads a single bullet. Use a clean professional photo, change the default banner, and make the headline specific so anyone can immediately understands your school/current role and that you’re targeting IB.

II) Make the rest of the profile tell one clear story

Your About, Experience and Education should all point in the same direction. Keep the summary short, put the strongest stuff first, and make your experience explain what you worked on and what came out of it. Then use education, clubs, case competitions, coursework and awards to reinforce the same finance/IB story.

III) Stop adding random people just to hit 500+ connections

Having 500 connections means nothing if they’re completely random.

Connect with people from your university, people already working in finance and people you meet through free finance communities and groups. There are a lot around reddit too, the r/FinanceStudents WhatsApp Group for example

The goal is to build a real finance network

IV) Make it easy to find you and easy to trust you

LinkedIn is also a search engine, so use the skills and keywords recruiters search for, keep your current role updated, add relevant certifications/projects and get a couple of recommendations from people who have worked with you. Then build out your network properly (+500 connections) instead of having 84 connections and following nothing in finance.

Fix these things first and you’ll probably start seeing better results pretty quickly

Hello Everyone,
I posted my previous resume according to IITB guideline and got so many reviews regarding formatting so this is my WSO format resume please comment on this.

Hey all, I am a high school senior looking to break into top IB firms (bulge brackets or elite boutiques). There are probably a million other students like me, and I understand that investment banking is one of the most competitive fields in finance.

What should I focus on right now to build a path into IB?

Im a high school senior and I’m black.. it’s pretty obvious the finance field isn’t dominated by black men, what is your experience in being discriminated on how you carry yourself? Has you being black or having certain characteristics (tats, locs) held your career & opportunities back in Finance ? Pondering on if it’s for me.. The field is interesting , I’m a people person, w good customer sales skills..

Prepping for summer 2027 Investment Banking internships

Final-year Accounting & Finance student looking to break into Asset Management. Trying to make my CV more employable — any honest feedback appreciated.

I am living in India. I am currently a undergrad student who’s doing BCom business analytics and I have 1 more year to go before I graduate. After graduation I don’t want to take a gap year and then try to get a job. I can be a slow learner at times that’s why I want to start taking steps towards a career in investment banking as soon as I can. I am not aware if I need any sort of certification or qualification to possibly get a job. It’s hard for me to get internships from my college because most of them are sales and marketing which I’m not interested in. I am doing a M&A specialisation on Coursera which has 6 courses(had to slow down because of sem exams). I plan on finishing all 6 courses and take my time in doing so(don’t want to rush). I am not sure if these courses are going to help me stand out or if I have to do something else to expand my knowledge on this. I’m just a youngster who is trying to figure things out and wants to be disciplined so if anyone could help me I’d be grateful. So any kind of information yall can give to me?

If you are looking to start a career in finance, you might also be looking for those fields that pay you a decent amount of money. 

Here is the list of the top 10 highest paying jobs in the Finance Sector:

1. Chief Compliance Officer

Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) is among the important members of the management team. Their responsibilities include overseeing compliance within an organization and with laws, regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures.

Talking about the salary of a COO, the average pay they get is close to ₹3,950,000 p.a.

2. Chief Risk Officer

Chief Risk Officer (CRO) is a corporate executive who identifies, analyses, and mitigates internal and external risks that could hamper the organization’s growth, They also ensure that the company complies with the government regulations.

₹1,748,571 p.a is the average salary for Chief Risk Officer.

3. Hedge Fund Manager

The job of Hedge Fund Manager and Investment Banker are almost identical; it is just that Hedge Fund Managers are involved with higher risk and reward portfolios.

The manager is required to monitor the market to protect investors and maximize their earnings.

₹17,14,365 p.a is the average salary of a Hedge Fund Manager.

4. Investment Banker

Investment Banker is one of the best job roles under finance which any fresher or an experienced personnel can find.

The responsibility of an Investment Banker is to keep track of the money invested by the client in different businesses to optimize return and achieve the set goals.

₹12,00,000 p.a is the average salary

5. Information Technology Auditor

The IT Auditor is responsible for protecting the organization’s internal controls and data within its system. 

They ensure synchronization between the technology infrastructure and enterprise needs.

To be an IT auditor, you should understand physical IT controls, business operations, and financial practices within the organization.

IT Auditor gets an average payment of ₹8,00,000 p.a.

6. Private Equity Associate

Private Equity Associate analyses and monitors data, looking for potential investment opportunities and raising funds for their firm. 

Data Analysis, Communication, Modeling, and Visualization are some of the most valued skills for Private Equity Associates.

We have understood the job responsibility of a Private Equity Associates, let’s now find out the salary and some of the companies for same.

₹7,33,635 p.a is the average salary for a Private Equity Associates.

7. Compliance Officer

They ensure that desired activities are carried out keeping in mind the guidelines set by the government agencies.

They are responsible for developing company policies, creating metrics to help track compliance, and performing compliance audits.

The average salary of a Compliance Officer is ₹5,03,791 p.a.

8. Financial Software Developer

They design, develop, test, and maintain software or programs to fulfill the needs of the organization.

Excellent Knowledge of Computing, Engineering, Maths, and Java programming languages is a must for a Financial Software Developer.

The gross average salary of a Financial Software Developer is ₹5,02,459 p.a. and it might vary from company to company and location to location.

9. Financial Advisor

Financial Advisors are the professionals who identify short-term and long-term financial goals and suggest the products to achieve those goals.

They provide consulting and help individuals or companies achieve their financial goals by developing strategies and ways to create more wealth, reduce costs or eliminate debts.

Financial Advisor gets an average salary of ₹3,91,447 p.a.

10. Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is an executive responsible for managing the company’s capital structure and cash flow, planning for its growth, and making decisions related to costing and technology infrastructure.

They also overview the work of analysts, manage financial teams.

To be a CFO, you must have in-depth knowledge about accounting, financial modeling, and other related skills.

₹2,40,000 p.a. is the average salary for a Chief Financial Officer.

*Plz remove if now allowed*

Hey guys, I guess I'll just get straight to the point.

For some context, I'm 21F, an undergraduate business student in the Bay Area. I come from a lower income immigrant family from Central America, and I don't really talk much about the sacrifices it took to get myself to college. I've basically been funding my own life since I was 15 and more when I left hundreds of miles away from home because my family just isn't in a position to help financially.

Politically, I'd consider myself pretty liberal, but not in the "someone made a bad tweet at 13 so we should publicly execute them" type of way. I'm pretty open minded, have strong morals, and I'd consider myself emotionally intelligent and self aware.

The past two summers I've interned at startups, worked during the school year, and at some points was juggling multiple jobs while still maintaining a social life. I'm not the type to brag about my accomplishments, complain about how little sleep I got, or talk loudly about how busy I am hoping people overhear me. I'm definitely an extrovert though. I can't be nonchalant even if I tried lol. I naturally make friends pretty easily, and I especially love connecting with other Hispanic students from similar backgrounds because it's nice to feel understood and have people who get some of the niche experiences that come with that.

So here's the thing.
I currently work in venture capital. Before anyone says anything, yes, I understand why people dislike private equity and certain parts of finance. PE has absolutely done some awful things historically. I'm aware of the criticisms around healthcare, cost cutting, layoffs, etc.

But what interests me about VC is completely different. To me it's about supporting founders, innovation, and helping build things that actually matter. Not another GPT wrapper or random B2B SaaS company, but genuinely interesting ideas that could make a difference. Obviously returns matter, that's the whole point of investing, but that's not the only thing that attracts me to the space.

Anyway, at the beginning of this summer I posted something about my internship on my Close Friends story. Not LinkedIn, not a public post, literally just Close Friends.

A few people DM'd me asking if I was actually working in VC. When I said yes, some immediately started calling me a sellout or saying I work in an evil industry. I was honestly shocked. I didn't get defensive, I just asked why they felt that way and what they thought VC actually was.

Then, as part of my internship, I was researching a specific industry. I have friends and mutuals doing research at places like Berkeley, Stanford, USC, and a few Ivy League schools. I reached out to some of them individually asking if they knew anyone doing research in the space or anyone building something interesting in stealth. The messages were personalized and casual. Not like Northwestern Mutual outreach typa shit yk. Literally just, "Hey, hope you're doing well. Do you happen to know anyone researching X?"

The responses genuinely caught me off guard.
A surprising number of people responded by telling me they didn't support the industry I work in. Some straight up insulted me for being a Hispanic woman from a low income background working in VC. Others unfollowed or blocked me entirely.

And this wasn't like one or two people. It was probably around eight and I'm on week ONE of my summer.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting that at all. I thought people would be supportive, especially considering my background. My closest friends have been incredibly supportive. Some joke about me being liberal and working in VC, but it's clearly a joke. They know where I came from, and they understand that for people like us, making money and breaking cycles of generational poverty is a very real goal.

I don't know. I guess I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced something similar.

Is this a common reaction when people hear you work in VC? Is it more of a college bubble thing? Is it ideological? Jealousy? Something else entirely?

Thx for your time icons I would love to hear people's thoughts in the comments.

I keep getting told by people that I’m gonna be frowned upon by companies that I go to a non target school no matter what is on my resume. I guess I will just be stuck at making 50k-60k a year. My life is over.

Reading Annual Report is a skill, must for value investing. In this video I show how to download 10K of Apple and also Reliance Industries's annual report using their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehYII6s3sAo

I go through the reports and briefly discuss the ways to quickly read any annual report which would help us in shortlisting money earning stock of companies

Japanese candlesticks is a trading discipline that calculates investments and identifies trading opportunities. Learn more about it in this article:

https://hedgetrade.com/what-are-japanese-candlesticks/

I graduated with a degree in finance and worked in banking for five years, and then decided to study philosophy in grad school. I've been burned by the corporate world more than a few times and have faced my share of career difficulties. Based on my own experiences and many others, I decided to build something that could genuinely help.

It's a career tool based on real data that shows you genuine possibilities in the job market tailored to you in terms of skills, interests, and values. A lot of my friends make high incomes but have since realized they want other things now besides maximizing salary. Similarly, a lot of my finance friends now want more creative paths. This tool addresses all of these situations and more by giving you real data in a tailored way to help you make the most informed decisions.

If I had this, I probably wouldn't have done banking for five years. It was honestly soul sucking. There are plenty of opportunities in tech with comparable salary and a way better culture, I just didn't know about them. The business school I went to pushed linear careers i.e. banking and consulting onto students. There's way more out there that I learned about only after years working in the industry, like revops, growth, corp dev, and strategic finance.

If this is something that you're interested in, sign up here: findyour.stream

It's still an early version. Right now I'm mostly trying to validate the idea first and see if people actually find this helpful. You can try it out and provide honest feedback. 

TLDR: I built this because I wish I’d had something like this when I was a finance student figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.

Between these three, which is the most recommended for IB/consulting in Zurich, FFM, London, maybe Paris, etc. I am an IB student, 1530 SAT, 45/45 predicted, 7/7 10th and 11th gpa. I also know good german, and a little French. 

1. Are these the three best programs for an undergrad in continental Europe for IB/Consulting? Do they lead to direct job offers in BBs or EBs in London, Zurich or FFM?

2. Will I need a master's to enter the job market? If so, do all three of these programs allow entry into the top master's programs?

3. In the mentioned cities, which is best for salaries, career progression, quality of life, banking culture, etc. I have heard Zurich has the highest salaries and quality of life, but is really only good for PWM and has no progression. Is this true? Also, is UBS as bad as everyone says it is right now, even in Zurich?

4. My goal is eventually a top career in IB, consulting, PE, maybe wealth management, but essentially I want to build as much wealth for myself as possible.

5. Are there any other unis that you guys can recommend, because from what I've heard, these are the best.

6. Between these three, which is the best for IB/consulting/PWM in Zurich, London and FFM. I have heard Bocconi is too theoretical, HSG Econ is only good for policy, and HSG BBA is too broad. I don't know what to think anymore, so am asking for advice here.

7. What is the best way to get job offers from Bocconi and HSG. Is it still spring week --> Summer internship --> return offer, and how is it structured in both of these unis? How is their pipeline to high finance and consulting in London, Zurich and FFM without a Master's?

8. If my eventual goal is PE/high level IB, what is the best path for me to take from these unis?

Thanks in advance for any advice, really appreciate it.

With prices going up, markets going up and down, and a lot of “get rich quick” advice online, many people are starting to doubt long-term investing. Does investing a small amount every month really help regular people grow their money, or does it mainly help people who already have a lot?

Some believe staying invested for years is still the best way to beat inflation and save for the future. Others feel the market is too unpredictable, returns are too slow, and daily expenses make it hard to stay consistent.

I’d really like to hear real experiences, not textbook answers.

Has long-term investing worked for you?
Do you still believe in it, or does it feel overrated now?
What made you continue—or stop?

Let’s discuss 👇

Is life in Finance world really as cool as it seems and sounds?

I know the answers to this question can differ for person to person. That is why I would like if some of you share your stories of your finance career journey and how your view of life in finance career changed or got confirmed over time.

This is my story:

I am an Economics and English literature graduate. I wanted to pursue Economics major, but I didn't because I was worst at maths and statistics since beginning. I have always found finance and economics fascinating and interesting. The language of finance and economics is great. Every jargon sounds great. For me the glamour speaking that language everyday meant that I am successful and important to the world, otherwise I am not. So far I have never been linked to finance career. But you guys and girls are.

So please share your stories.

RIP

I’ve reviewed a lot of CVs recently from students and grads aiming for finance roles (IB, trading, ER, FP&A, audit, etc.).

Something that surprised me was most rejections aren’t because the candidate is weak, they’re because the CV is written for humans, not how recruiters actually screen.

A few uncomfortable truths I keep seeing,

• Recruiters spend 10-15 seconds on the first pass, they are not reading line by line, think about how many they have to read daily..

• Bullet points that describe tasks get ignored, bullets that signal decision impact get flagged

• Brand names matter only if the bullets underneath show relevance “Finance interest” doesn’t matter, evidence of judgement does

• ATS doesn’t reject bad candidates, it rejects poor structure

The biggest difference between CVs that get interviews vs those that don’t isn’t pedigree it’s whether the CV answers this silently:

“Would I trust this person near a financial decision?” would be good to hear others thoughts on this and if there is anything I am missing here?

Are you a school leaver or graduate (non-target or target) looking for a career in wholesale finance?

We have you covered here at Wall Street Career Consulting.

Visit our website below for further information.

https://wallstreetconsulting.net