by meridith dennes | May 5, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting, Summer Internships
Investment banks are having a good run. Revenues are strong, bonuses are up, and deal flow is recovering. Junior bankers’ benefits have been stripped back anyway — and the conditions that might once have forced their return look structurally weaker than before.... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 24, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
A VP2 in FIG at a bulge bracket calls me. Forty billion in deal volume on his sheet. Stacked resume. Top school, top group, top bank. He wants to move to generalist M&A at a peer shop. He can’t get a callback. Not from the banks. Not from the headhunters who... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 21, 2026 | Compensation Trends, Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
Every year, M&A bankers at every level — analysts, associates, VPs, Directors, MDs — find out their number, see it is smaller than they expected, and spend the next forty-eight hours refreshing the anonymous banking forums, texting a peer at a competitor for... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 12, 2026 | Campus Recruiting, Interviewing, Summer Internships
It’s 7:50 AM on a Tuesday. Coffee hasn’t kicked in. Inbox open. And there it is — email number twelve this week from a student who wants to “cut their teeth” in markets and wants me to know, with full confidence, that I “probably... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 11, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
This guide covers the full landscape of investment banking offer negotiation — when to engage, what can actually move, how to read your leverage, and what the realistic risks look like. The Single Most Important Principle Negotiation is not automatic or universal.... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 9, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
Every banker, at some point in their career, will need to exit a process or decline an offer. It is one of the most routine yet most poorly handled moments in professional life. Done well, it preserves a relationship that may matter significantly later in your career....