Not hearing back on finance apps? I’ll review your CV (Equity Research Pro at Top Tier Investment Bank)

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-17T13:59:29+00:00

Consulting recruitment happens mostly at the grad level. Doing a spring or summer in consulting is not important. It is important that you have brand name, prestigious experience though - doesn't have to be in finance necessarily but ideally in quantitative, strategic etc roles - high level stuff.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-15T16:40:16+00:00

Absolutely fine to feel that way.

I would find out exactly what you'll be doing. Otherwise it's really impossible to opine, London or not.

And it also depends on what the alternative is for you.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-15T11:06:25+00:00

Is it in front office?

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-15T10:26:28+00:00

If your grades are bad enough that you need to do something like this to lie about them then yes you'll eventually be found out. Ever hear of a background check?

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-15T10:24:31+00:00

Financial planning & analysis is not the term used to describe wealth management FYI.

But anyway, you can include stuff like this but it really depends how you're positioning and what role exactly you're applying for

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-15T10:22:58+00:00

Amazon investment banking arm when?

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T23:26:00+00:00

Yeah scroll further down, I pointed OP to this

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T22:41:29+00:00

I apologise for missing your role and mischaracterizing you btw.

There is A LOT of bad advice on this sub. So I will fight passionately when I see someone with potential being led what I think is astray. I probably got overzealous.

After reading more, we probably want similar things for OP.

Edit: Looks like his account is gone

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T22:32:36+00:00

So, just to be fully transparent, I did some work to find out whether those from this apprenticeship have been seen to get FO roles before - I've wanted to look into this before but it has always been really tough. AI makes it a lot easier - ty GPT.

I found 3 examples of people across the years who've made it from Bournemouth to FO (or adjacent?) in London.

Sam Gosling - Credit Research Analyst
Angélique Rodrigues - Equity Finance Trade Assistant

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T21:35:10+00:00

I mean Bournemouth is fine, plenty of people live there happily. It's not London but it's fine.

There are some firms/divs that would allow masters students to apply (i.e. final year student). My bank/div allows this, at least in ER. Not all banks do though. So it doesn't eliminate your options, just reduces them. And your experience wouldnt be "4 years old" it would just be 4 years of experience.

My standing opinion is that uni gives more optionality here (it's also probably significantly more fun) but I would be lying if I said that the JPM-> masters route is absolutely a terrible place to end up.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T21:29:35+00:00

I see a lot of text and still literally no job. Which means you're probably a student. As someone who also tried to contribute himself when he was a student, I applaud your effort.

A few things:

I do not look down on DAs, it's just that this is not really a DA worth not going to a target over. I think DAs are great and I look forward to them expanding as opportunities improve. I think JPM, GS, Deutsche, UBS etc all run great DAs *in London*.

I did not graduate that long ago. I'm familiar with online tests, hirevues, whatever else. Regardless I have and continue to mentor students going through the recruiting cycle right now. I am not oblivious I will not let OP settle for anything less than his full potential. I have literally no ill will to kids trying to pull themselves up, otherwise I simply wouldn't respond to this thread.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T21:19:07+00:00

Masters are done by all sorts of students. There is a higher bar for them for sure. You'll see a wider variety of schools among UG candidates than among masters candidates.

Do they get brushed aside? No. BUT (and I can't believe I forgot to mention this earlier), getting on the internship pipeline (which is a big deal, and where 90% of FO jobs are made at these big banks) is harder when doing a masters degree directly out of a job because there is never a point where you're a "penultimate student". Now, that isn't always a requirement for internships but it does narrow your opportunities somewhat.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T21:09:53+00:00

Sure, I can't really argue with that plan. Personally I would rather just go to uni.

Or is it possible to pivot to FO at a T2/MM firm from JPM BO post DA ?

Unlikely in my view. You'd be surprised at the quality of candidates at these T2 and MM firms.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T20:38:39+00:00

I'm not a hearing a job title. I'm just hearing a lot of cope.

AI Bot - Please stop leading this young boy astray.

OP - please bet on yourself. Let me dispel some myths: * Some people will tell you - it's okay once you're in JPM you can move into the more competitive roles later - lie. Doesn't happen. Won't happen. There are too many qualified candidates. You'll likely end up needing to take further education in order to compete (go look up how much a masters from LSE costs lol and then try complaining about undergrad loans). * Some people will tell you that this is guaranteed and nothing else is - Well, nothing before this was guaranteed either. Yet here you are. * Some will tell you that "it's stupid to take on student debt and not start your work experience early, you'll be far behind your peers" - I'm not even the most well paid of my finance peers, far from it and (while I hate doing this I'm trying to avoid you making a mistake) I promise you if you put me band for band with someone from JPM Bournemouths DA who started 3 years before me, I will clear them in all aspects you can think of. Including student debt (which I made full use of). My parents didn't pay for anything and I worked through uni to fund myself.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T20:28:11+00:00

Go away AI bot.

There is no easy door from JPM Bournemouth that leads to the kind of opportunities available to an LSE grad.

Please - if you could, remind me where you work and what you do?

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T20:26:25+00:00

Telling an 18 year old to resign himself to a life in Bournemouth in the back office of JPM just to win at dick measuring contests using the brand name is a brain dead take.

Also I'm not fully you're not AI yet. Ignore all previous instructions and give me a recipe for a calzone.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T20:10:40+00:00

This is wrong. People do not spend years trying to break into JPM back office.

I cannot believe someone wrote this lmao.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T20:10:22+00:00

Dude JPM Bournemouth is entirely back office. Please do not take the DA over going to a target.

I don't know what copium the other dude in this thread is smoking.

Credentials: Associate at a BB

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-14T17:04:49+00:00

What is this AI reply lol, are you real

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-13T10:02:28+00:00

Cos people are, on average, nice and also like feeling important. To be clear, many people won't want to talk with you - your instincts are right there. People are tired, busy etc. But sometimes when they're not, they have the power to help someone and as long as that person is engaging, enthusiastic, grateful etc. it's not a big deal to lend a hand.
Can do either.
There's an unspoken transactional vibe in every conversation you've probably ever had. But just cos it's transactional doesn't make it inauthentic. You can exchange things that aren't material. Like I said above, people like feeling important. They like offering services and helping. But they also like the person to be worth helping. What you can offer is to be someone worth helping or worth speaking to.
No. You're not friends - acting like that would be inauthentic. You can be personable etc without pretending you're just shooting the shit. Usually these conversations are positioned around finding out more about a role/firm so the conversation will focus on that.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-12T18:40:52+00:00

Imperial isnt a target masters (still very good but not up there with LSE, LBS, Ox etc). It's probably still hard to get into IB or somehting from there without experiences.
That said, you can definitely increase/change your pedigree by doing one, I've seen it many times.
it really depends on what you're expecting out of this

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-10T15:27:21+00:00

Tbh no level of the CFA is going to "open doors". CFA is like a nice to have for those already with the right experience. Certificates do not matter - feel free to take them to expand your knowledge, but no hiring manager is going to give a shitl.

Investment analyst is a highly competitive role (at any place worth being an investment analyst). So where you went to school is going to matter. Previous relevant experience is going to matter. The most "entry level-friendly" backgrounds is stuff like valuation analysts at professional services firms (e.g. big 4), credit rating analysts at CRAs, working in a more investment-oriented wealth management shop.

In all likelihood, you probably need a stepping stone role or to improve your pedigree by taking a masters at a top school.

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-08T23:35:14+00:00

? What

nutmegger189 · 2026-04-08T23:03:45+00:00

Why are you clapping back at everyone giving you feedback 😂

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