Field notes
How the international system actually hires — written for the candidate who is willing to do the work but has nobody inside to ask. No paywalls, no fluff.
How banks actually recruit: the target-school on-cycle route, the lateral move and the MBA associate path, the timeline, networking that works, technicals, superdays and where the analyst job leads afterwards.
Investment banking · 15 min
The comp ladder from analyst to managing director — how base and bonus stack up by level, directional ranges for New York, London and Frankfurt, how bonuses and deferral actually work, and how banking pay compares to the buyside. All figures directional.
Investment banking · 13 min
An honest look at the CFA charter — the three levels, pass rates and difficulty, the real cost in money and years, and which roles genuinely value it (equity research, asset and portfolio management) versus which barely care (banking, PE, quant, trading).
Credentials · 13 min
Who needs which FINRA license and why — the SIE plus top-off model, how firm sponsorship works, study timelines, which roles need the 7 vs the 79 vs the 24, buyside exemptions, and the UK/EU equivalents (FCA, CISI, MiFID II).
Credentials · 12 min
The three quant roles decoded — researcher, developer and trader — the firm landscape (systematic hedge funds, prop firms, multi-strat pods, bank strats), the backgrounds that actually get in, the interview gauntlet, and directional compensation.
Quant · 14 min
How private equity actually recruits — the on-cycle megafund sprint vs the off-cycle route, the specialist headhunters who control the process, what the interviews test, and the paper LBO drill you must be able to run cold.
Private equity · 14 min
The strategies (long/short, macro, multi-strat pods, quant), the critical single-manager vs platform distinction, the entry paths from banking, research and S&T, the stock-pitch interview, and how performance-linked compensation actually works.
Hedge funds · 14 min
The Big 4 as a platform — the three service lines, the funded ACA/CPA qualification, the up-or-out progression ladder, and the exits that make it worth it: industry finance, investment banking laterals and PE operations roles.
Accounting · 13 min
How a finance CV survives a six-second screen — the one-page rule, formatting deal and transaction experience, GPA norms US vs UK/EU, the ATS reality (smaller than you think), and where a linked portfolio and video take over.
Applications · 12 min
Why finance reviewers respond to seeing a person, what to say in 90 seconds, how to record it well with the equipment you already own, what to avoid, and where to share the link alongside a one-page CV.
Stand out · 8 min
The vacancies are on the board, and your page takes minutes to start.