WSO Weekly Wrap-up

February 14, 2026

Hey WSO Monkey,

Hope your week’s been a little less chaotic than your inbox. The WSO community is very much in recruiting-and-markets mode right now… people comparing notes on what’s changing, swapping practical “what would you do?” situations, and debating where the opportunities are (and where the pain is). Some good discussions if you’ve got a few minutes for a scroll.

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. The Brutal SA 2027 Cycle & Trends for Future - "Recruiting season is back in full swing, and for the North American SA 2027 cycle, I’m seeing three very clear trends: Everyone is grinding harder, yet first-round interviews are becoming increasingly rare. The rise of nepo babies. The gap between target and non-target schools is narrowing significantly..."

  2. $1.6M Saved: Should I Use an Annuity or Stay 100% in ETFs? (Ask An Advisor) - "‘I’m 61, should I stay 100% in ETFs or use $250K to lock in guaranteed income?’ Questions like this deserve more than passing consideration. That's why affluent investors are reviewing their plans with retirement income-focused advisors. Connect with up to 3 vetted fiduciaries today."

  3. We overhauled our Forward Curve to be the most powerful, interactive tool in the industry - “Fully interactive, instantly downloadable, and packed with the live data you need. It’s the coolest forward curve in the biz—toggle indices, overlay historicals, and export data in seconds. Check it out for free.”

Choose the VDR with No Unwelcome Surprises

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It’s the same VDR game. SRS Acquiom is just changing the rules in your favor.

Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. Analyst Emailed Me (College Student) a Deck by Mistake, What Should I Do? - "I’m a sophomore recruiting and someone at a bank that I sent a coffee chat email to mistakenly CCed me in a deck. Obviously wouldn’t share the deck or use the information as I know it’s illegal, but how should I respond to be the safest?"

  2. I Got So Unbelievably Lucky in Recruiting - "I'm a student at a semi-target with zero finance club involvement, yet I just landed what I’d consider a pretty solid BB offer. I only did about 20 networking calls throughout the entire semester because I (delusionally) thought I was going to land something else in public equities. I have no idea how I even got past the HireVue to get the Superday, but I’m just so happy and feel incredibly blessed."

  3. Software PE - Public Markets Bloodbath - "Think entire software investing market is seeing bifurcation where the generalist guys who don't have any real expertise in the space are getting killed. Even some firms with SW expertise like STG and Clearlake are getting killed; generally really hard time to be a value software investor right now and over the past few years. A lot of the businesses the value guys buy are only avaliable at those multiples because they don't have much of an moat against competition and those are the verticals where the market today beleives / is most likely that an AI-first product will fundamentally disrupt it. Less likely for an AI-first company to disrupt the unstructured data or security software market vs. something like a marketing tool or customer support software..."

  4. What Is the Next Hot Space? - "In terms of products anything liquidity-related tbh. Securitizations/Private ABLs, Secondaries, sponsor-based private credit towards portcos, GP stakes. I think lower-LMM PC is also incredibly hot atm (from previous experience) due to a lot of banks having incredibly standardized conservative underwriting policies in the space and the bigger players chasing bigger deals due to all their overhead (so naturally this favors incredibly lean teams). It also leans heavily towards strategics with hard assets which personally I find as more sound..."

  5. What Differentiates People Who Get Offers - "It's a good question and it's something I think about when I do coffee chats with candidates. You're correct in saying that candidates largely look the same at this point: great schools, strong internships, great grades, knows all the technicals, etc. So you've got to understand that those are basically table stakes at this point. So to your question, what differentiates candidates? Generally, it's just a matter of whether I have enjoyed the conversation. And this is going to vary for every single person you talk to but some things that I look for: candidate brings enthusiasm and energy, candidate knows something about the industry (companies in the space, interesting transactions, etc), candidate has done some research on me and asks questions tailored to me. Most of all, I don't want to feel like I'm talking to a robot or someone that's just there checking boxes (doing all the right things but not making for an interesting conversation). Some big don'ts for candidates: don't read from a script, don't keep looking off-screen referencing something (notes, AI, etc), don't make it purely transactional..."

New Podcasts Coming in Hot 🔥

  • Breaking Into Investment Banking From a Non-Target | Mentor Podcast

  • Mentorship, Banking & Big Deals | A Real Career Story

Hot Jobs 💼

Remote Project for Investment Banking / Private Equity Pprofessionals (up to $140/hr) - "Handshake is recruiting Investment Banking/ Private Equity Experts to contribute to an AI research project. In this program, you’ll apply your expertise to help improve how AI understands real-world professional tasks and language."

Investment Banking, Private Equity, and Hedge Fund Professionals - “AfterQuery Experts is hiring IB/PE/HF professionals with 1-5 years of experience for remote, part-time roles ($100-$150/hr; 20-40hr/week). You’ll apply your foundation in accounting, valuation, and financial modeling to create high-quality content used to train AI models.”

Investment Banking Vice President - "This involves reviewing AI outputs for correctness, methodological rigour, and commercial relevance—then building evaluation criteria and model answers that reflect how things are actually done at top-tier banks…"

Private Equity Expert - "Mercor is recruiting U.S./UK/Canada/Europe/Australia-based Private Equity Experts for a research project with a leading foundational model AI lab."

Insights Senior Manager/Principal, Private Equity - "The Insights Private Equity group at Dialectica plays a key role in driving growth and scaling an emerging business unit within the company..."

Financial Modeling Expert - "In this highly visible role, you will deploy your deep expertise in financial modeling, valuation, and deal structuring to support major investment decisions across diverse sectors..."

WSO Mentor - "Are you an experienced professional with a background in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, S&T, venture capital, asset management, equity research, quant finance, corporate dev, real estate finance, or top-tier consulting? Passionate about mentoring the next generation of leaders? Wall Street Oasis (WSO) is expanding its Mentorship Program, and we're looking for outstanding professionals to join our mentor roster—an elite network supporting students and young professionals as they prepare for high-stakes careers. Whether you’re looking to give back, stay connected to rising talent, or sharpen your coaching skills, this role offers you the chance to make a meaningful impact, remotely and on your schedule..."

On Deck - Training 🎓

All in Eastern Standard Time

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

WSO Mobile App: iOS | Android

PS - We're also always looking to add resume reviewers and WSO Mentors to our team. Set your own pay (from $40/hr to up to $400/hr) to increase or decrease mentee flow. To submit an application, go here.

PPS - Think you have an interesting story? Want to share it with our podcast listeners? Hit reply and let me know!




* PE Interview Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the PE Interview Course
** FMV Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the Elite Modeling Package
*** IB Interview Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the IB Interview Course