Thank you! I should have clarified, I’m in the unique position of currently working as a credit analyst while completing my degree. I started out as a consumer loan officer with the bank to put away money during school, but networked my way into the credit analyst position just under a year ago. I should have around 1.5 years of experience in credit analysis by the time I graduate, with no internships. I’m also hoping that the full-time school+job combo will showcase the type of workload that I can handle. At that point, do you think I may have a chance at full-time recruiting after graduation since it’s similar to a lateral move?

I can’t say because I don’t know what your internship experience looks like. You normally need at least 1-2 finance internships to be competitive for full-time IB recruiting without a previous IB internship, but even then, it’s very random because banks do not hire that many people outside of internships. It’s probably a better idea to accept the full-time credit analyst offer, work there for a year, and then lateral to a more relevant group (may not be able to go into IB directly, but something like corporate banking or a combined CB / IB group might work). Not sure I would recommend an MSF just to get another shot at internship recruiting (again, depends on your internships).

That is a close one, but I would still probably recommend taking the property credit analyst offer because credit work anywhere is closer to credit work in commercial banking. The main benefit of Big 4 audit is the brand name, but you already have that benefit if you’ve worked there for a year.

Thanks for the great read. I’m currently pursuing my BBA with a major in finance from a non-target (4.0 GPA), and I was fortunate enough to be hired as a full-time commercial credit analyst despite being a student. I’m highly interested in IBD, ideally M&A or industrials, but I got a late start to internship recruiting and it looks like I won’t have anything lined up during 2025 (my final year of school). In your opinion, would I realistically stand any chance at full-time recruiting with my prior experience? I’m alternatively considering a MS in Finance for another shot at SA recruiting. Thanks again.

You can usually move around within credit fairly easily, so I would assume it’s possible to go from credit at a normal company to a credit role in commercial banking. I assume they would probably make you start from a lower level or may not give you full credit for your experience, though, depending on how commercial banking at the large bank is set up. But I do not have firsthand/verified accounts to prove or disprove this, so these are my guesstimates based on previous knowledge.

The boutique IB role is better because it’s directly relevant to IB at larger firms. Wholesale banking is much less so. Yes, HSBC is a much bigger and better-known bank, but you’re still generally better off working at a boutique bank and then using it to move to a larger bank.

Yes, doing something in a distressed / restructuring role would be better if you want to move to LevFin or something else at the bank that could set you up for buy-side roles. It is very, very rare for anyone to move from commercial banking directly into any type of buy-side role. You normally need IB or something capital markets-related first.

Being a relationship banker can be a good career move if you understand the trade-offs, but it’s not the best place to be if your eventual goal is buy-side credit.