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Editor's Picks
100 Most Outstanding Fintech Employers for 2025
Today, we’re excited to release our inaugural Vault Fintech 100, a list of the most outstanding fintech employers to work for. We created this list to recognize those fintech firms that offer...
Editor's Picks
25 Best Investment Banking Firms to Work For in 2025
What We Talk About When We Talk About Work/Life Balance on Wall Street
Master These 5 Challenging Wall Street Interview Questions
5 Tips for Success in Investment Banking
Investment Banking
What We Talk About When We Talk About Work/Life Balance on Wall Street
Here’s something you might not know if you’ve never worked on Wall Street: No recent college or b-school grad accepts a job on Wall Street thinking they’re going to work 40 to 50 hours a week, only surprised to find out that what they in fact signed up for was 80 to 90 hours a week. However, many new grads who accept jobs on Wall Street, knowing full well they’ll be working more than 80 hours a week, are often surprised to find out that, in exchange for those hours, they’re under-trained, underappreciated, and underpaid.
25 Best Investment Banking Firms to Work For in 2025
Today, we're excited to release our 2025 Banking 25, a ranking of the best investment banking firms to work for in North America. The ranking is based on a survey of approximately 2,800 banking professionals who were asked to rate their firms in several workplace categories, including benefits, compensation, culture, diversity, hours, training, work/life balance, and more.
Master These 5 Challenging Wall Street Interview Questions
Landing a job on Wall Street requires more than financial expertise. During a job interview, candidates face a gauntlet of brain teasers, hypothetical scenarios, and ethics-based dilemmas designed to test their creativity, critical thinking, and integrity.
5 Tips for Success in Investment Banking
Saajan Sappal joined the Harris Williams Richmond office as an analyst upon graduation. After a couple of years as an analyst, he gained experience working in private equity before returning to the firm as an associate in London.
Accounting
25 Best Accounting Firms to Work For in 2026
Today, on Tax Day, we’re extremely excited to release the 2026 Vault Accounting 25, a ranking of the best accounting firms to work for. The ranking is based on our survey of approximately 10,000 accounting professionals who were asked rate their firms in several workplace categories, including benefits, compensation, culture, hours, training, work/life balance, wellness, and more.
Takeaways from Our Survey of 10,000 Accountants: The Good, the Bad, and the Private Equity
This past winter, Vault surveyed more than 10,000 accounting professionals. We asked these professionals to rate their firms in various workplace categories, such as culture, compensation, benefits, training, and work/life balance.
Interview Tips for Highlighting Your Greatest Moments
Interviewing, like the Olympics, is a competition. Typically, many people interview (compete) for only one open position (the gold medal).
How to Answer ‘What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?’ [VIDEO]
During an interview, it's common to be asked about your strengths and weaknesses. This Vault video provides some tips for how you should, and shouldn't, answer these questions.
Fintech
100 Most Outstanding Fintech Employers for 2025
Today, we’re excited to release our inaugural Vault Fintech 100, a list of the most outstanding fintech employers to work for. We created this list to recognize those fintech firms that offer outstanding careers for students and young professionals.
5 Great Remote-First Fintech Firms
Over the past few years, sentiments and policies around remote work have been ever changing. Some companies have enforced return-to-office mandates, while others have embraced remote work environments.
Fintech Interview Questions: What to Expect and How to Answer Like a Pro
Landing a job at a fintech company requires more than just technical skills. Fintech firms seek candidates who can blend financial expertise with tech-savvy problem-solving and a deep understanding of industry trends.
Decoding Cryptocurrency: A Beginner's Guide for Job Seekers
If you’re a student or young professional exploring a career in fintech, you’ve probably come across terms like Bitcoin, blockchain, stablecoins, and DeFi. Cryptocurrency isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a fundamental shift in how financial systems operate, and fintech companies are at the center of this revolution.
Breaking into Fintech: How to Craft a Resume and Cover Letter That Stands Out
The fintech industry is one of the fastest-growing job markets, combining the best of finance and technology. Breaking into fintech or advancing within it requires more than just experience—you need a strong resume and cover letter that proves you’re a perfect fit for the industry’s fast-paced, innovation-driven environment.
Engineering Cover Letter Guide: Step-by-Step Strategies for Success
In the past we’ve talked about how to put together an effective engineering resume, but no job application is complete without a solid cover letter. For engineers, it’s important to include your technical skills and experience early on in your cover letter, while also demonstrating confidence and your understanding of the company’s needs.
The Best Jobs in Fintech: Part I
[UPDATED March 5, 2025] Fintech is one of the fastest-growing and competitive industries at the moment, which of course means there’s a whole lot of work to be done. Those who are interested in a career in fintech will have a variety of options to choose from, and will enjoy the excitement of a rapidly growing industry.
The Best Jobs in Fintech: Part II
[UPDATED March 7, 2025] Welcome back to our series on some of the best jobs in fintech. Last time we spoke about just some of the career paths in the rapidly growing fintech industry, so if you haven’t read part one yet, you can do so here.
5 Best Fintech Career Paths
[UPDATED March 20, 2025] Fintech, short for financial technology, is a blanket term used to describe new technologies that aim to improve and automate the delivery of financial services. These technologies include payment processing and money transfers to investment and lending platforms, among other services.
How AI Is Transforming Jobs in Fintech, Healthcare, and Other Industries
In today's fast-paced world where efficiency is key, automation has become the new reality. From robots to artificial intelligence, workplace automation is shaking up industries worldwide, leaving no job untouched and causing significant disruption on a global scale.
Ace the Interview
How to Read an Interviewer: Body Language, Tone, and Clues That Matter
Knowing how to “read” an interviewer can give you critical insights into a company. Along with this, you can get an understanding of the overall tone and energy of a company by conducting a little research.
How to Answer Big 4 Interview Questions Like a Pro: Part I
In the past we’ve gone over tricky, unusual, and downright tough interview questions, but navigating an interview at a Big 4 firm is another challenge altogether. Today, we’re going to kick off our giant-sized coverage of real questions Big 4 firms ask during job interviews, complete with how you should answer.
How to Answer Big 4 Interview Questions Like a Pro: Part II
Welcome back to our continuing coverage of Big 4 interview questions. If you haven’t read part one yet you can do so here.
How to Ace a Phone Interview [VIDEO]
Mastering phone interviews is a great way to kick off the hiring process on a positive note. Here are some tips that will help you ace your next phone interview and get you one step closer to your next role.
Master These 5 Challenging Wall Street Interview Questions
Landing a job on Wall Street requires more than financial expertise. During a job interview, candidates face a gauntlet of brain teasers, hypothetical scenarios, and ethics-based dilemmas designed to test their creativity, critical thinking, and integrity.
Mastering Interview Questions from Top Accounting Firms: Part I
If you’re looking to get into a career in the world of accounting, you’ll need to be prepared for a rather challenging interview process. Top accounting firms want to know that you’re organized, resilient, and able to negotiate fast-paced environments.
Mastering Interview Questions from Top Accounting Firms: Part II
Welcome back to our coverage of real interview questions asked by top accounting firms. If you haven’t checked out part one yet, you can do so here.
How to Decode Banking Firm Culture During the Interview Process
With the banking industry often requiring employees to work long hours, you may be wondering how to manage work/life balance. The interview process can give you the opportunity to decode a firm's culture and better understand how to navigate work/life balance at the firm.
Interview Tips for Highlighting Your Greatest Moments
Interviewing, like the Olympics, is a competition. Typically, many people interview (compete) for only one open position (the gold medal).
Fintech Interview Questions: What to Expect and How to Answer Like a Pro
Landing a job at a fintech company requires more than just technical skills. Fintech firms seek candidates who can blend financial expertise with tech-savvy problem-solving and a deep understanding of industry trends.
Answering Tough Interview Questions: A Guide with Do’s and Don’ts
Job interviews are full of challenging questions designed to test your critical thinking, self-awareness, and ability to handle difficult situations. Certain interview questions can be trickier than others—they’ll put you on the spot and test how well you can think on your feet.
Mastering Tough Interview Questions: Part I
Job interviews can be stressful regardless of your level of experience, or whether you’re interviewing for a full-time job or an internship. In the past, we’ve gone over many tricky and unusual interview questions, but there’s always more ground to cover.
Day in the Life
A Day in the Life of a Summer Analyst at Houlihan Lokey
Below is an account of an 18-hour period in the life of an investment banking summer analyst; she works as a corporate finance generalist for Houlihan Lokey in New York. 7:30 AM: Wake up to the repetitive beeping of my alarm; immediately check my phone.
A Day in the Life of a Financial Services Actuary
You've probably noticed that software engineer consistently tops all those annual lists of best jobs in the world. Which may come as no surprise; we hear all the time that tech jobs are hot.
A Day in the Life of A Venture Capitalist
7:00 AM: Arrive at the office. 7:01 AM: Surf TechCrunch, NYTimes, WSJ, paying careful attention to the Marketplace coverage for your industry focus.
A Day in the Life of a Hedge Fund Investor Relations Executive
Wall Street used to be known as a "boys club," and media depictions of women in business didn't help. A decade ago New York Magazine was publishing stories like "Foxes of Wall Street," which rated women in finance by their looks.
A Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Associate at Harris Williams
Based in Richmond, Va. , Maury Nolen is a first-year associate in the Business Services Group at investment banking firm Harris Williams.
A Day in the Life of a Wall Street Analyst
Although not every investment banking analyst who works in corporate finance or M&A for a bank puts in 80 hours a week constantly throughout the year, many do just that. According to our most recent surveys 35 percent of corporate finance bankers say they work more than 80 hours per week, while 60 percent of M&A bankers say they work more than 80 hours each week.
A Day in the Life of an M&A Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
As part of our ongoing series "A Day in the Life," here's a typical 13-hour period in the day of a merger and acquisition analyst at RBC Capital Markets (which has been called "The Goldman of Canada" in our Banking Surveys), proving that it's possible to work in M&A and leave before midnight. This analyst works in RBCCM's Toronto office.
A Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Director at Baird
After slogging away as an analyst and associate, working 93-hour workweeks, making under a measly $247,000 per year, you finally make it to VP. And that's when the big bucks start rolling in.
A Day in the Life: Private Wealth Management Associate at a Major Banking Corporation
6:00 AM: Wake up. My day starts like a lot of other people's on Wall Street.
Inclusion
How to Protect LGBTQIA+ Colleagues from Workplace Harassment
Workplace harassment and violence disproportionately affect the LGBTQIA+ community. In the U.S.
4 Ways to Support Your Transgender Colleagues, During and After Pride
This year’s Pride Month is a bittersweet one, perfectly captured by the chosen theme: Peace, Love, Revolution. At the time of writing this, the ACLU is tracking more than 490 anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the dockets of nearly all state legislatures, the overwhelming majority of which target transgender people.
Influential Women in Tech and What We Can Learn From Them
In 1889, Anna Bissel became the first female CEO in the United States, breaking traditional gender roles and setting an example for generations of women to come. Fast forward to today, 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
What Companies Can Do to Support LGBTQ Employees
Larger companies, such as multinational corporations, exist not only to provide a product or a service, or to drive profits for their investors, but they also have a role to play on the world stage. Large corporations can influence public opinion across the globe with their stance on any number of social issues, along with their advertising and charitable endeavors; however, it is far too easy for a company to simply say they take a stance on either side of an issue, without ever really doing anything.
3 Ways to Encourage Your Company to Hire More People of Color
The most successful companies know that having a diverse workforce, especially in their leadership teams, strengthens their organizations. They know that a diverse staff strengthens company culture, improves decision making and problem solving, and gives them access to a wider, more diverse customer base—who increasingly want to work with diverse and inclusive organizations.
How to Be an Ally and Fight Racism at Work
In the wake of George Floyd's death, many people across the country (and the world) took to the streets to protest police brutality and systemic racism. Many people also took to social media and asked, "What can I do to help fight racism where I work?
The Difference Between How Black and White Professionals Rate Their Firms in Diversity
Each year, Vault surveys thousands of banking and accounting professionals, asking them to rate their firms in several workplace categories. These categories include compensation, benefits, hours, work/life balance, training, relationships with managers, promotion policies, and business outlook.
3 Ways Your Company’s Policies Are Hurting Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
If your company isn’t thinking about how to increase its diversity and inclusion right now, it might be asking for trouble down the road. Less engaged employees, lower productivity, losing talent to competitors, and even litigation are all serious risks.
Which Wall Street Firms Are Best for Racial and Ethnic Diversity?
This past fall, Vault surveyed more than 3,000 investment banking professionals. We asked them to rate and comment on their firms’ benefits, compensation, culture, hours, and training, among other workplace factors.
The State of Gender Equality on Wall Street in 4 Charts
Each year, Vault surveys thousands of investment banking professionals, asking them to rate their firms in several workplace categories. Today, on Women's Equality Day—which commemorates the passing of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote—we took a close look at the differences between how male and female professionals rated their firms in our annual Banking Survey over the past decade.
The Most LGBTQ-Friendly Firm on Wall Street
It's hard to believe that, last week, in 27 U.S. states, it was legal to fire employees solely based on their sexual orientation—if they they were gay, bisexual, or transgender.
How to Tell If a Company Truly Values Diversity and Inclusion (or Is Just All Talk)
Employers talk a lot about diversity and inclusion. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a company that doesn’t say they’re diverse and inclusive.
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