Don't get me wrong - many student talk about getting into "IB" but actually have no clue what they want. "IB" is everything and nothing. First of all, there is M&A, Corporate Finance, Equities, FX, Credit.. And then you could do trading, structuring, advisory, sales etc. Even as a student you need to have a clear idea of want area you are interested in and what not. So what exactly do are you looking for and why?

A stint in audit is a great way to gain a foothold in the professional world - especially if your end game is a position in IB. It is one of the best places to meet a hugely diverse group of people (many of whom are top-ranking senior executives) whilst learning the fundamentals of financial management. Many people leverage off their time in audit and move in to the corporate finance division (before then moving on to bigger and better things).

In fact, our past two Presidents of FINSOC at UNSW started off in Audit - one moved on to funds management and another in to a corporate finance role. So whilst it's easy to discount audit, it has its place and is great way to kick off your career.

Audit won't get you a telephone-number style bonus, but it's a good step in the right direction towards one.

As stated above, I think it is best to have a clear idea of what division in IB that you are planning to enter.

If it is M&A - most mid-tier to Big4 accounting firms will have a Corporate Advisory division where you will be exposed to mostly mid-market M&A's and due diligence work so dont restrict yourself to IB's when applying for Grad position. There may be some issues with conflicts of interests such as if the big clients from the companies' are looking to make a deal but are clients of the Audit division etc. they will be unable to advise on it which may possibly limit your exposure to some bigger deals. In addition accounting firms will not provide underwriting or financing for acquisitions as they are purely a professional services firm, however, they are able to source clients for debt raising or placements. The hours are probably more reasonable within these firms than in an IB.

Alternatively, there are also many smaller boutique corporate advisory companies which work within the mid-market sector where you can gain some experience and eventually if you're really good make the jump to IB.

For things such as trading, I believe most people (someone correct me if I am wrong) tend to go into proprietary trading ( aka prop shops) and try make the jump to IB. I think these include companies such as: Tibra, Optiver, Propex etc.

RC