Consulting vs. investment banking is one of the first big decisions early-career finance professionals face, and one of the hardest to get a straight answer on. Both paths are demanding, and each comes with strong opinions about which one makes a better foundation.
Philipp Krohn, CEO of Alantra Investment Banking, has worked on both sides of the divide. His take is simple: “The skill set is complementary but different.” Each path builds something the other doesn’t, and knowing what those things are makes the choice easier.
Strategy consultants advise companies on business problems, such as where to grow or whether to enter a new market. Projects move fast and are often in industries a young professional has never worked in before.
You can’t lean on sector knowledge you don’t have yet, so you learn a method instead: how to take a problem you’ve never seen and work out an answer. According to Krohn, “strategy consulting is great in helping you learn how to solve problems, which is a skill that you’ll need in any type of situation.”
The work also sharpens how you communicate. Client presentations come quickly and often, and they frequently mean turning an incomplete analysis into something actionable.
You have to decide which information actually matters and anticipate questions before anyone asks them. When new information comes out, you adjust the argument on the spot. Few jobs give you as many chances to practice being clear and persuasive under pressure.
Employers value both skills. In the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2025 survey, nearly 90% of employers said they look for evidence of problem-solving on a candidate’s resume, and at least 70% said the same for written communication.
A few years in consulting gives you steady practice in both, whichever direction your career takes next.
Investment banks help companies raise and move capital. They advise on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), manage stock offerings and arrange debt financing. Some advise companies through restructurings.
The deal types differ, but the job underneath them is the same: getting a transaction from first conversation to close. That’s where banking and consulting split.
A consulting project ends with a recommendation. A banking project ends with a signed transaction, and it only succeeds when everyone involved agrees to the deal, from the client and the investors or buyer on the other side to the lawyers, lenders and sometimes regulators.
As Krohn explains, “Investment banking helps you develop a holistic view of a situation. To get a transaction over the finish line, you have to think about it from all sides.” That means tracking legal, financial, regulatory and human factors at once. Missing any one piece can stall a deal or stop it entirely.
Technical training is also critical. Junior bankers spend much of their time building financial models and valuations, the numbers that decide what a company is worth and what a deal should cost.
Krohn’s own career shows how the two paths fit together. He started as a strategy consultant with AT Kearney, working on assignments across Europe.
He joined Alantra’s private equity team in 2010, analyzing and executing management buyouts in the Iberian Peninsula. In 2012, he moved to corporate development, where he was responsible for originating and executing all of the firm’s corporate transactions. Today, he leads the firm’s investment banking division.
Each of his roles drew on the one before it. Consulting is where he learned to break down problems in industries he didn’t know yet. Private equity added a new test, whether a deal was worth doing at all, and corporate development meant seeing every transaction through to its close.
That gives you a practical way to approach the consulting vs. investment banking decision. If you want range across industries and regular practice presenting to clients, consulting gets you both faster. If you want depth in valuation, financial modeling and deal execution, banking gets you there sooner.
Either way, the other skill set is still within reach later.
For all their differences, consulting and banking both place young professionals at the forefront of important business decisions and hold them accountable for the outcomes. Whichever you choose, you’ll get the chance to build something that lasts longer than technical skills.
Jake Foley, a vice president at Tungsten Advisors, calls it an investor mindset, and for anyone who wants to work in finance, he argues it’s the thing most worth developing. “Think about being and thinking like an investor. The rest of it will follow,” he said.
An investor judges every decision by one standard: does it create value? That standard is easy to lose sight of when you’re deep in the work.
A consultant can build a recommendation that’s airtight on paper and still not worth acting on. A banker can get a deal over the finish line that the client would have been better off without.
Thinking like an investor means holding your own work to that standard. Before you present the recommendation or push the deal forward, ask whether it leaves the client better off. It’s also a habit that carries over intact if you switch paths later.
Early in your career, the consulting vs. investment banking choice can feel permanent. It rarely is, and Krohn’s move from consulting into banking is one example.
On the banking side, Carlos Beltrán González, Investment Banking Vice President at Lazard, sees how much movement happens: “M&A and investment banking are very liquid sectors. There are always opportunities to change firms and change sectors. Don’t feel like you’re tied to one firm.”
In New York, where Lazard is headquartered, those opportunities are plentiful. The city’s securities industry, which includes investment banks, brokerages and investment firms, employed a record 201,500 people in 2024. That’s more securities jobs than any other US city or state, and the figure doesn’t include the consulting firms, commercial banks and corporate finance teams based in the city.
Most of those moves happen through people. Beltrán González’s advice for anyone heading into a first role in finance is to start engaging with professionals early, because the more people know your work, the more firms can recommend or refer you.
The earlier you start building a network in finance, the more options you’ll have when you want to change course. The path you pick decides what you learn first. Where your career goes after that is still your move.
If you’re weighing consulting vs. investment banking, the Master of Science in Finance at IENYC builds the valuation and investment skills that both value, with direct access to New York-based financial institutions.
The difference between private equity and investment banking is that investment banks advise on deals, while private equity firms make the investments themselves. Private equity firms raise money from investors, buy companies or take large stakes in them and aim to sell at a profit several years later. Many private equity professionals start their careers in investment banking.
Investment banking vice presidents are experienced bankers who run transactions day-to-day. Most reach the title after several years as an analyst and then an associate. Vice presidents lead the deal team, review models and valuations, and keep clients, lawyers and other advisors aligned from the first pitch through to closing.
Yes, consultants travel frequently. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, management consultants usually divide their time between their own offices and client sites, since much of the work occurs alongside clients. Time on-site gives consultants a close look at how each client’s business operates, helping them learn new industries quickly.
Common exit opportunities from investment banking include private equity, hedge funds and corporate development roles. Consultants more often move into corporate strategy, operations or general management roles inside companies, and some also move into private equity. Both consulting and investment banking are often treated as training grounds for these roles after a few years.
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Emma is a writer, translator, linguist and editor from Washington, DC, USA. Her career has taken her from social media management to copywriting, inventory buying for a major retail chain, events management and even teaching.
Emma received a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing and a minor in French from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. During that time, she studied abroad in York, England and Rennes, France, where she developed an interest in cross-cultural communication and linguistics. After relocating to Madrid, Spain, she began specializing in writing, focusing on topics like travel, marketing and culture.
Currently, Emma works full-time for IE University’s narrative team. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking and exploring the city.
