career coaching services
Career counselingLet our experienced Wall Street counselors help you secure more interviews and convert offers from top Investment Banks, Private Equity, Growth Equity firms, and Hedge Funds.
Why Banks Are Still Gun-Shy on Clawbacks: Deferred Comp vs. Clawbacks in Lateral Hiring
Lateral candidates often talk about "my clawback" when they think about what it would cost to leave. Usually, what is holding them in place isn't a clawback at all. It is deferred comp. The difference matters, because hiring banks treat the two very differently. Only...
Q3 Bank Earnings: Deal Fees Rose, Pay Outran Headcount, and the Pipeline Took a Breath
Wall Street's biggest banks reported third-quarter results on October 13 and 14. Investment banking fees rose at most of them, led by Goldman Sachs at 21%, while Bank of America's fell 11%. Compensation grew faster than headcount, and pay per employee rose at every...
Y’all Street or Wall Street: How to Weigh a Banking Seat Outside New York
More banks are building real capacity outside Manhattan. Here is how to tell whether a regional offer is a true deal seat, what the pay looks like once you adjust for where you live, and how the move shapes your next one. For most of the last fifty years, the career...
Judging Judgment: How Junior Bankers Learn, and Get Evaluated, When AI Drafts the Work
The Financing Side of Advisory: Why Banks Are Building Capital and Debt Advisory Teams, and Who They Hire
Two hires in the last two weeks tell the story. On September 28, Centerview Partners brought in Bennett Schachter from Elliott Management as a partner to lead and expand its Capital Advisory business. Four days later, Piper Sandler lifted a three-person infrastructure...
Chairs, Vice Chairs and Rainmakers: How Banks Use Senior Titles, and What It Means for the MDs Below Them
On October 6, JPMorgan named Rob Sweeney global chair of investment banking. Sweeney once ran Goldman Sachs's global consumer and retail investment banking business and later became president of private equity firm Sycamore Partners. At JPMorgan he will advise major...
Before You Sign: How to Judge a Bank’s Real Workload, and the Hours Policies Behind It
Wall Street is having a big year, and busy desks need people. New York City securities employment reached 207,400 in 2025, the highest level since 2000, and preliminary data show about 5,300 more jobs added so far in 2026. JPMorgan alone has hired more than 1,000...
Bonus Season Preview: Record Profits, Rising Pay and the Strongest Hiring Since 2000
New York's securities industry earned $45.9 billion in the first half of 2026, up 51.3% from a year earlier, and is on pace to top $90 billion for the year. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli expects Wall Street bonuses to rise from last year's record. Here is what the...
Citi Moves to a Two-Year Analyst Program: What It May Really Mean for Junior Bankers
Citi is shortening its investment banking analyst program from three years to two. The stated goal is retention, and that is likely the main driver. But the change arrives as Citi streamlines its workforce, invests heavily in its investment bank and rolls out AI...
How to Read a Bank Earnings Report Like a Recruiter: The Lines That Tell You Who’s Hiring
The Short Answer Headline EPS tells you how the bank did. It does not tell you whether your group is hiring. Five lines do: IB fees by product, the compensation line, headcount, pipeline commentary and AI or efficiency remarks. Read every number against the bar the...
Citadel’s Two-Year Non-Competes: What Bankers Should Know Before Taking a Seat at a Multi-Strategy Fund
The contract you sign on the way in decides how fast you can leave, and at the most aggressive funds that clock now runs as long as two years. For a lot of investment bankers, the dream exit is not private equity anymore. It is a seat on an investing team at a large...
Why Applying Directly Can Hurt Your Lateral Banking Search
For investment banking professionals exploring a lateral move, one of the biggest mistakes we see in the market is applying directly to every interesting opening that appears online. It may seem like the obvious approach: it’s 3 a.m., you’re miserable, and you’re...