...Just made the move. I know there were lots of posts here in the past regarding the subject. If anyone has some questions I am happy to share my experience and offer humble advice!J

How do the hours compare?

I start on average between 930 and 10:00 am. Mornings are usually quite 'slow' - picks up at lunch. Never leave before 11pm - sometimes leave at 6am the following day to return after 3 hours sleep. Work one weekend a month at least. Travel 3 days a month max. Pay is 300% higher - I left as a just promoted 'manager' earnig 60k and now its closer to 200k.

Was your experience directly relevant to IB?I have skills that could be useful for IB (analysis, etc) but I only have a tiny amount of FS exposure. I would need to learn the lingo, etc but expect a lot of this probably will be straightforward. How much of a problem is lack of directly relevant experience likely to be?

My experience was in Private Equity. Yes, experience is key. Learning m&a , or other dealings of corporate finance, is not 'straightfrward' - rest assured. It is highly complicated finance that relies on complicated valuation models - not the general skills of mc's.This also depends on what level you are. If you are a consultant / analyst level, you could try to get in at a junior level in IBD. dont be put off by falling a few grades, you will still earn more than you do now. If you work in a big 4 - try to get in touch with the corp finance teams, learn modelling, and have outstanding finance knowledge if you want to present yourself as an experienced candidate. alternatively do a top 5 mba, then apply for an associate position.

When you say there is reliance on highly complicated valuation models, what are we talking here? Big spreadsheets with lots of parameters, inter-related workbooks, lengthy but understandable calculations and the odd macro or a-level maths here and there... or are we talking calculus, complex database queries, massive visual basic scripts, killer statistical equations, hardcore algebra, etc?I know in MC it's common to use transaction multiples and things like that etc which to be honest a 15 year old could do, but is IB really much harder? Is it just that the spreadsheets are bigger and more complex, or is it that the maths is not really all that tough but would be hard for someone who graduated in a fluffy subject like english lit, or is it actually that the modelling really is tough even for somebody who graduated in an analytical science or pure maths?

Listen to anon. It's pathetic. It's not a post - it's an inner monologue which has been transferred on to the web. It's slightly hormonal in its rambling-lost-cause-hopelessness.Just accept. MC is inferior. IB is a proper job. Proper finking required.

Yes of course anon... it definitely is. Because life is all about the 120% bonuses... I mean who gives a damn if you buy that fancy house and never get to see it in daylight for most of the year. Naaaah that's not important... IB rocks! More power to you anon... more power to you.

Jon I'd be keen to hear if you know of many who have transferred from consulting to trading? Also, for someone starting out in consulting what would be the most relevant thing to focus on in order to transfer to banking? FS seems the obvious one but if going t do an mba does it matter?

Jon,Thanks for offering the experience and advice. Just wondering what area of in particular you are in, whether this was related to what you did (you said your experience was in PE, why didn't you move to PE?) and whether in the time you have spent there you have noticed any differences in compensation and/or working hours depends on what area of the bank you are in.Many thanks, Dan

Im happy to share experiences. In view of anons comments about spreadsheets, I would advise respect; m&a is one of the peaks of the financial world - you sound to me like a frustrated graduate that didnt get into banking, nor a top strat house - and now whines from the back office of the shoddy employer you ended up at. Deal with your failures, kid. TO the more serious questions: I have never heard of someone going from consulting to trading. Perhaps - if they were a trader before, did a stint at a strat house, then an mba, then went back. Perhaps. Trading requires serious technical skills - usually the top banks will train you for 3 years ( 1 on the trading floor ) before they intrust you with money. Whilst in consulting I would try to be as close to a transaction team as possible: commercial due diligence, fdd, and valuation teams are all good places to be. Also I would make the transition sooner rather than later - you are more marketable as a junior consultant than as a snr. manager. Dan - I worked in corporate strategy and now in m&a, front office. Getting in to private equity is extremely difficult and i have never seen it happen from consulting ( bar a few very mathematical people from McK and Bain). I can pretty strongly say that no one from any other firm stands a chance to get in - its just too different of a job. ( at least as far as the top 20 funds go)Compensation and hours vary enormously inside the bank given different departments. I would rank the hours as follows, with the most on top:IBDSales and TradingEquitiesBrokerage / origination / DCMCorporate BankingOf course this list is far from exhaustive - and the salaries range in all the areas. IBD pays the most on average, trading the highest peaks etc. Vault can give you some better insight. Hope this helps guys! Just get a good recruiter and go do it!

I thougt anons question about the difficulty of the work was a wholly relevent one and I would be interested in knowing the answer. For someone with advanced Excel and mathematical modelling skills and experience but not FS experience, how hard would the work turn out to be?Also what recruiters would you recommend? (if that is allowed on this board?) I'm in touch with Orgtel and Huxley.

So, since i currently work in systems integration at Acn Jon with the intention of doing an mba if I can't make a move over to banking without it, what parts of a bank should i realistically be looking at that i would stand a chance of getting into since my experience is non-mbbb? trading interested me most but I'm up for looking into different areas of course.

If youre from an IT back ground you would go to back office IT work. How is this not clear? And yes, the modelling is crazy - what do you think this is? a game?

What kind of salaries can you expect from back office work, i.e. consultant 4 years experience moving over to IB? Also how do the hours for back office work compare with my current 60 per week? What in theory can you be wearning after 5 years in back office with 4 years consulting before that!!?Thanks

A back or middle office consultant that in an IB bank, with 5 years of experience can catch anywhere between 45 and 60 k a year with a 5 - 30% bonus. Contracting pays a lot more - a friend, did 7 years in Acn - and is now contracting for major Bulge Bracket at 1k per day.

Live and let live folks.I have no doubt that many consultants, myself included, often consider how lucky our IB colleagues are to be hitting high six figure packages year on year from an early age.I also doubt that when our IB colleagues are hitting their eleventh straight fouteen hour day they dream of the work/life balance and variety of work that we consultants are lucky to have.Have an opinion by all means, but don't whore it about like you're right just because your chosen path suits you. You generally appear to be nothing but jealous, as such your argument becomes null and void.

Yo Golmans man, u tw$t."If youre from an IT back ground you would go to back office IT work. How is this not clear?"I'll tell you how, becuase it could be a front office IT role. How is *that* not clear?

Anon, I couldn't have put it better myself. I used to be a consultant many moons ago with Accenture and ended up joining GS myself. There are a few ex-consultants here and there in the FO IT space here, across quite a few of the product groups.

Be cool Jonny, your tone makes one think who's the one who can't cope with his career? So M&A is the peak of the financial world? Maybe that's more what you want it to be or why are you getting so aggresive if someone asks questions that put that into doubt? It's certainly an industry where a lot of people losse their minds... From my point of view, it's a respectable job as many others, what makes it interesting is the combination of strategy and finance. And to skip the bullshit, as an Analyst most of the time you do research everyone could do, it's more the hype that the infinite money in the market brings along right now. And it's also the division where graduates are exploited most. You work crazy hours and even with your bonus your earnings per hour ain't more than your cleaning lady's. Plus the lifestyle let's you loose your private life (if you had one before) and you end up working 24-7 and having a 'american psycho'-style party in a west end club after every deal with your work colleagues and some prostitutes - alright, that's what little kids dream of but if you're grown up, you may think it lacks something. There are a lot of good people working in M&A and a lot of them have a decent character but the business itself chnages you, cuz it is too demanding and pushes you to think you have to be a predator. Some people do it for a year and then move on to PE or CF or whatever, and then it certainly pays off. And, it's still not a risk-taking job, it's an advisory job, like a consultant, you're someone's bitch. If you want a risk taking job, then do trading, or go to a fund. And for the maths, if you have A-levels in maths, ready for da gang-bang, no panties required ;)

"Contracting pays a lot more - a friend, did 7 years in Acn - and is now contracting for major Bulge Bracket at 1k per day."Igor, may I ask in what field of IT is your friend contracting in? I ask as I have recently joined ACN with the view of possibly moving to the financial sector later?KITT

by single-minded-kids-friend 17/5/2007....Dodgy name geezer but points well made. I used to be a trader in the mkt and we considered M&A folk a tad on the gay side. They sit upstairs AWAY from the trading desk(proper front office) Chinese walls and all that. Indeed they do occasionally work v long hours ahead of a deal but pure maths and financial model makers they are not. Sure they can make a bundle if they are putting deals through non stop ie. Goldman/UBS but the army of analysts aren't the guys with their fingers on the trigger.My guess is Jonboy that you are well chuffed to have made the switch but are in reality a liitle bit on the boring side. Good luck to you son!