Hi, I'm a recent Master's graduate from a target university and now I'm torn between two offers: Morgan Stanley: • Title: Finance Analyst (back-office role, e.g., controlling). • Salary: Base: €50k, Signing bonus: €6k. • Location: The city where I currently live, which is famous for banking. • WLB (Work-Life Balance): Don't know exactly, but presumably decent. HSBC: • Title: Global Corporate Banking Analyst. • Salary: Base: €75k, Bonus: +a. • Location: Not a bad city, but I need to move to it. • WLB: If there are no projects, 9-6; if there are, 9-8 ~ 11 pm. Now, I'm in an urgent situation to make a choice. I received the Morgan Stanley offer first and got the contract, too. For HSBC, it's still a verbal offer. To be honest, I was shocked by the low salary at Morgan Stanley. However, the company's name carries weight. The downside of HSBC is that I'll need to work more and move to a city where I hardly know anyone. But the salary is 1.5 times that of Morgan Stanley. Considering the above information and the prospect and exit options for each job, what would you choose if you were in my position? For your information, I live in one of the biggest European countries, and the salary range for Master's graduates varies, but usually, it's between €64k and €80k. For the Big 4, it's quite low, ranging from €50k to €58k. Thank you very much for your insight in advance!
oh wait, one is back office and one is front office? Def go for the front office role at HSBC. It's very difficult to move from back office to front office
Thank you for your insight:) I'm interested in going for consulting instead of staying in finance field. Do you think the criteria applies to this situation, too?
No brainer. Pick the higher TC one
Is the cost of living similar for both cities? You might be worse off with the higher salary if you are moving to a more expensive city
It's similar. Just, I'm currently living with my gf so it's a bit cheaper to stay here but the difference will be around 400 euro per months.