WSO Weekly Wrap-up

March 01, 2025



Hey WSO Monkey,

Big career questions floating around the forum this week: how comp stacks up over a decade, whether PE is really worth the switch, and why RX is getting hotter. Also a little love for the legal side and some existential thoughts on the VP track.

Lots to unpack, so dive in when you’ve got a minute.

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. Associate to VP Promotes: What Game in Life Are You Playing? - "I recognized that the promotion path in PE was going to be far more challenging. For the most part, if you're decently competent and in a group that's not too saturated you can grind it out to Director level in IB (the Director -> MD promote is another story). Each step along the PE hierarchy is much harder to achieve. I also lateraled to a group with supportive seniors, strong deal flow, and still lots of white space in the coverage, which helps with long-term career outlooks..."

  2. RX Is Getting More Popular: What’s the Appeal? - "Worth noting that another reason why people break into RX is bc it arguably provides the most optionality in terms of exits. Obv, firm dependent. If you are at a T1 shop, you will get all the same looks as an M&A banker + preference for credit / distressed credit / special sits roles. I have peers who decided that distress wasn't for them and exited to MF PE. I also have peers at top distress funds. Also know a couple people now at Pod shops. Point is RX gives a ton of optionality..."

  3. 10 Years’ Comp Progression Across IB, PE, Corporate Roles - "Do these #s stack up to where somebody who stayed ten years in IB or PE would be? Definitely not and I'm sure there are some posters here who scoff at this comp level when you could realistically be clearing 1M+ now. Honestly even for myself, if somebody had asked me five years post-college what I'd be making now my guess would be more like minimum 750. The break point in my career for when I stopped prioritizing comp and prestige is pretty obvious though and I do have to admit there certainly were times that I was frustrated it took four years to make more in cash comp than I did before my corporate jump (which in retrospect was a bit of a mistake). But now love my current seat and am hoping to stay for a while. At the end of the day there are more important things in life than money..."

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Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. Too Old for IB at 34? Exploring the Big 4 TAS Pivot- "The challenge is that, fairly or unfairly, your experience and resume doesn’t clearly fit into any of these categories, which makes you an easy pass when firms have plenty of strong candidates in each bucket knocking on their doors. With that being said I would sort of accept my fate at this point and go down the FP&A route, nothing wrong with that. If you have a 'killer' mentality and grind you can easily climb the corporates ladder and it may end up being better for you in the longer term (5-7 years) rather than tunnel visioning into banking / adjacent fields."

  2. Why Even Switch From IB to PE? - "By far the biggest factor in PE over IB. All of my peers and friends who jumped over to PE enjoy their work significantly more. They find investing to be much more stimulating than being on the sell-side, and also more conducive to their career development in helping them build the skills they want out of their career. A number of them want to become operators down the line, and a buy-side role is much better towards career development than that. At the end of the day, for the most part IB is much more surface-level knowledge than PE is. In IB, you are a salesman who must know your clients and industry well enough to position your clients in the market, but you are just an advisor. In PE, you are an investor and operator and your performance is directly tied to your portcos, naturally leading to more rigorous and in-depth work..."

  3. Law Needs More Attention - "Law can big a great path but keep in mind you’re focusing on big law at top corporate firms. I’m fairly certain most of the associates there also recruit from top schools. Similarly it’s a grind - the law firms on our deals are working the same hours as we are..."

Hot Jobs 💼

Project Finance Associate - "This is a career-level role, and we expect the Project Finance Associate to grow and find new ways to impact our organization, contributing to Zanskar’s broader financial and capital allocation strategy..."

Investment Banking Analyst - “A boutique IB practice focused on MM M&A. Lean, mean, entrepreneurial team of highly motivated deal makers who all ‘punch above our weight’. While other investment banks have large teams working around the clock, we work smart in small teams, and achieve outstanding results for our clients and still get home in time to see our families. Industry generalists…“

Research Associate (Equity Small Mid Cap) - New York, NY - "This position will support the Small/Mid-Cap Equity research team and initially be responsible for covering multiple sectors in support of current team members."

On Deck - Training 🎓

All in Eastern Standard Time

Stay Strong,
Patrick Curtis
CEO and Founder, WallStreetOasis.com

WSO Mobile App: iOS | Android

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