Thanks. Yes, I think you can probably go from fixed income S&T to DCM. I don’t really think it’s worth doing corporate banking first because DCM doesn’t require that much technical knowledge / that many hard skills vs. other groups, and it has a lot more overlap with S&T than other groups already.

Unfortunately, the current hiring market is terrible due to macro factors, banks over-hiring during covid, etc., and you can’t do much about that. All you can really do is keep networking, consider other firms, and hope that an opening pops up eventually. Even in a terrible job market, people still quite unexpectedly, and when they do, you want to be top of mind for anyone in the group who’s tasked with finding a replacement.

I would say corporate banking because it’s much more closely related than a sales role at the junior levels, and you’d presumably be moving over from an internship or entry-level full-time role. I don’t know if you can switch right after the internship, though. Normally it’s easier to do that when you’re already in a FT role.

Thanks. Traditionally, DCM requires very little math or financial modeling skills. This is why people often say it’s a lot of mindless market updates, slide creation, etc. There may be groups where more math is required, but that is mostly on the S&T side of fixed income with some of the more complex products they trade. So… I think algebra is more than enough for most DCM roles.

Thanks so much for posting this article — I found it very insightful.

I was curious to know, as DCM is closer to the markets side of things, is the math required harder than other IB teams?

I’ve recently committed to a DCM team at a reputable IB firm, and after reading some articles it seems that in some situations calculus level math is essential. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable with much beyond algebra. Is this something I should improve before starting?

Thanks in advance.

Good question. I’m not 100% certain because those groups have not been the focus of boutique banks traditionally, but I would assume that they perform a similar function to LevFin/DCM at the large banks, but focus more on the external process raising funds from investors in syndicated deals, as these firms do not have real Balance Sheets in the same way the BB banks do.

Thanks. DCM interviews are about the same difficulty as any other entry-level IB interview. You should know the accounting very well, but need to be prepared for valuation and M&A/LBO questions as well.

Thank you for such a great and insightful article. I am planning to make a move from Auditing to DCM. I wanted to check how tough it would be to crack the interview.

Thanks,
Ravina