Hey man I’m not one to ever denigrate someone for asking a question, even if it’s not the perfect question. I didn’t like IB, but many people do. I really loved PE, and you need to do IB to get to PE in 80-95% of cases, so IB served me well. But PE at a big firm always felt like listening to an awesome concert but you’re outside the venue listening from the parking lot.

Thanks for the tag, Luke. I *tolerated* IB. I didn't work at a name brand firm but was happy with my experience and was able to pivot to a PE firm with a fund. A lot less BS than my friends at larger firms - slightly better hours - but we had a lot more deal flow so made up for some the insane formatting/busywork with deal flow. It was a great means to an end and you get a crazy amount of exposure at a young age. I enjoyed being a generalist and highly recommend it to early career/early 20s people. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.