The Investment Banking hierarchy is very well defined and has not changed at all over time. New recruits typically start as analysts or associates and gradually move up the corporate ladder to the position of Vice President (VP) or Director, as they are called in some firms. They are then promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP) while some banks may refer to them as Executive Director and finally a select few are promoted to Managing Director (MD). It is important to understand though that a promotion is not a given, as is the case with any other company it is dependent firstly on performance and secondly on requirement.
While understanding the first point is quite straightforward, the second needs a little elaboration. The Bank’s hierarchy is built like a pyramid. As an employee steps up the ladder, opportunities shrink and it becomes harder to get promoted since there are fewer numbers required at the next level, to put it in perspective a Bank needs more associates than Vice Presidents so it is comparatively easier to get promoted from an analyst to an associate but not so from an associate to VP. At the level of VP, some may be confronted with career stagnation since only a select few are promoted to SVP who are in fact MDs in waiting.