Before you choose a finance career path, try choosing your Monday morning assignment.
It is 9:15 a.m. A retailer wants to buy a competitor. Its shares have climbed. Inside the business, sales have beaten budget, but margins have slipped. Three finance teams open their laptops. Each sees a different problem.
Which problem would make you curious enough to keep going? Let's try all three. This retailer is hypothetical, so you need no company knowledge to join in.
A simplified view of three kinds of finance work. These are illustrative assignments; responsibilities vary by team and seniority.
The 60-Second Version
IB: help a client evaluate and execute a transaction.
Equity research: investigate a business and build an investment view.
FP&A: explain performance and help managers plan what happens next.
Try the Monday Test: task, output, trade-off. Notice which work you want to continue.
Desk 1: Would you enjoy building the deal?
Your investment banking assignment: the retailer is considering buying a competitor. Your team needs a first view of the target's value and how the purchase could be financed.
A junior analyst might compare similar businesses, update a valuation model, test financing assumptions, and prepare slides for senior bankers. Investment banking also includes raising capital; this exercise focuses on an acquisition.
Try it: the buyer expects savings from combining the businesses. Write down three things you would check before including those savings in the valuation.
My starting points: when the savings begin, what it costs to achieve them, and whether customers or staff might leave. Your output is a short assumptions checklist for the deal team.
Notice your reaction. Do you want to test the numbers and turn them into a recommendation for a transaction? That is a useful clue. So is your willingness to revise the analysis when the terms change.
Desk 2: Would you enjoy questioning the price?
Your equity research assignment: the same retailer's share price has risen 20%. Expected earnings per share for the same forward period have risen 10%. Has the investment become more attractive?
Try it: start with a hypothetical price of $100 and forecast EPS of $5. The forward price-to-earnings ratio is 20 times. At $120 and forecast EPS of $5.50, it is about 21.8 times.
The shares now cost more per dollar of expected earnings. That alone does not make them overpriced. Your next question is whether better growth prospects, lower risk, or something else justifies the higher multiple.
Your output: two sentences stating what you would need to believe to buy, followed by one piece of evidence that would change your mind.
Research involves reading disclosures, updating forecasts, questioning assumptions, and explaining a view to investors. If you want to keep investigating after finding the ratio, pay attention to that curiosity.
Desk 3: Would you enjoy improving the business?
Your financial planning and analysis assignment: management wants to know why stronger sales have not delivered the expected gross profit.
The retailer budgeted $100 million of revenue at a 40% gross margin. Actual revenue reached $108 million, but gross margin fell to 35%. These are hypothetical figures for the same period.
Try it: multiply revenue by gross margin. Budgeted gross profit was $40 million. Actual gross profit was $37.8 million. Sales beat budget by 8%, while gross profit missed it by $2.2 million.
Hypothetical, same-period budget versus actual. Gross profit equals revenue multiplied by gross margin. Gross profit is before operating expenses, interest, and tax.
Your output: a short explanation and a next step. Were discounts deeper, costs higher, or sales concentrated in lower-margin products? Ask the commercial team for the evidence, then update the forecast.
If tracing a number back to a business decision interests you, explore how FP&A works.
If more than one desk interests you, our Elite Membership brings together investment banking, valuation, FP&A, Excel, and AI courses. You can explore the skills behind all three paths and spend more time on the work that draws you in.
Include the ordinary Tuesday
Enjoyment has to survive repetition. Ask someone in each role what they actually did last Tuesday.
IB: model checks, presentation revisions, and deadlines that move with the transaction.
Research: reading filings, maintaining forecasts, and revisiting your view after earnings.
FP&A: reconciling data, following up with departments, and repeating reporting and planning cycles.
Each role mixes analysis and communication. The balance, hours, and autonomy vary by employer, team, and seniority. Ask about those specifics before committing.
KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN
Explore all three career paths
Build skills for IB, equity research, and FP&A, alongside Excel and AI training. Start with the work that interests you most.
Use the Monday Test
Task. Output. Trade-off. Give each desk three answers:
Task: which question did I most want to keep exploring?
Output: would I enjoy producing this kind of work repeatedly?
Trade-off: which routine or pressure am I willing to accept?
Choose one assignment and spend another 30 minutes on it this weekend. Then show your work to someone in that role and ask what the real version involves.
You do not need to settle your whole career today. You need enough evidence to choose your next experiment. Check the entry requirements and hiring opportunities in your market alongside what you enjoy.
Reply with IB, research, or FP&A, and the assignment you most wanted to finish. I would love to know which part pulled you in.
Sources: Goldman Sachs: investment banking roles · Goldman Sachs: investment research roles · WSM: FP&A responsibilities
Best regards,
Dheeraj Vaidya, CFA, FRM
Ex-JPMorgan & CLSA
Co-founder, WallStreetMojo
P.S. Still drawn to more than one path? Elite Membership lets you explore investment banking, valuation, FP&A, and supporting Excel and AI skills in one place. Start with what sparks your curiosity. The newsletter stays free either way.
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