Will the prestige of an Ibanker last, just saw the article about Credit Suisse and other companies continue to cut pay. If the cuts continue will Ibanking lose prestige among headhunters and MBA programs that it has had in the past. It seems like if the top talent leaves then the headhunters and MBA's will look elsewhere, but if not this could be the perfect opportunity for non-targets to get there foot in the door and pay their 2 year sweatshop dues.
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I haven't been able to ejaculate by imagining a Goldman Sachs ID with my picture on it lately so... yes. the prestige is taking a hit.
lol
The only people who still think banking is prestigious are other bankers and those who want to be bankers. It's all just one big circle-jerk.
Prestige aside, what other entry-level jobs out of undergrad give you the skills and work ethic to succeed in the future? I see a lot of people complaining about pay, but the more sensible ones seem to think that it is an investment in yourself and your future earning potential.
Management Consulting, Traders at Prop Shops or just going straight to any buy-side opportunity, Engineering or Finance Rotational Programs, any position at a start-up or just being entrepreneurial by yourself (no one is hungrier than a person living day-to-day and trying to grow their own business), law school, med school, pretty much anything you actually enjoy doing can lead to more success than 2 years of banking and out...
Wow someone is bitter he didn't get into IB...
The Marines.
well, only my 2 cents here, but i agree generally its people who are interested in banking tend to see banking as prestigious only. yes, being in banking myself, i consider it VERY prestigious but my friends just think that i am being a money-grabbing whore. lol having said that, if "making money" is considered a proxy for prestige, then banking is definitely a top notch candidate. they can cap the bonuses, trim it down 1 year, but shit like this is not sustainable. the economy is bound to improve, euro WILL resolve. even if euro fails, europe will still exist in the future and M&A WILL PICK UP!!! its just a matter of letting the tiger lose, and things are back on normal. of course every industry has its good and bad days. banking is just having its one of its bad days right now, and its wrong to generalize like that! that is just my opinion.
If it does continue though, would banks become less recruited as a result of target kids going to the other industries previously mentioned? Or would the idea of the experience and knowledge outweigh the targets leaving. I want to get into corp dev through banking and know that is the most direct route so wondering if companies looking for corp dev would still look at banks or go more to consulting branches and F500 rotationals?
I think most people will do Ibanking as its a gateway to other careers. P.E V.C, Corp dev. If these positions were recruited more from the Undergrad level maybe banking would be less sought out and become less prestigious.
hahaha I've sorta been kinda halfway thinking about filming/"producing" porn for some extra bucks... won't have my face or name associated with it, maybe make some extra money, hang out with sluts... sounds good to me
I don't know how I would explain what I did with my time when it came time to get a normal job though haha
Like Yale/Exeter or a fancy country club, banking represents the financial society's ultimate fraternity. The majority of the US' financial elite have banking backgrounds or are currently in banking - so to them, banking represents a rite of passage like that of a H/Y/P target degree. As people have pointed out, banking (more than any other industry) serves as the primary feeder into top buyout firms and business schools.
As long as undergrads gravitate towards sites like WallStreetOasis and M&I, the media constantly focuses on Wall Street and banking continues to be the most popular choice for today's MBAs, you will always see banking at the top of the prestige rankings. Although I was not in banking before business school and had no interest in banking throughout undergrad, I internalized the extremely prestige of banking simply because of the overwhelming competition for the relatively few positions. In terms of my mental calculus, the prestige was not determined by the pay but by the fact that there were literally dozens of friends that competed literally for every spot... If you look across undergrad and MBA campuses (and I have), this has not changed drastically. As long as our world has competitive people and type-A personalities, the prestige of banking will always be maintained.
Prestige means nothing if you can't monetize it.
PRESTIGE!!!!!
Prestige Worldwide!
(NSFW)
Prestige is for the insecure. Do what you enjoy.
Most prestigous careers
http://www.billshrink.com/blog/4556/best-worst-jobs-america/
Prestige has taken a hit, but it's all cyclical. Give it a few years and all the M&A activity and IPOs sitting on the sideline will start popping. Bonus #s will be up and so will your prestige be. Right now the new "hot" thing is entrepreneurship/social media, but this reminds me a lot of 1998-2000 and I see that bubble popping again soon.
Entrepreneurship is fine and all, but I just don't think I have IT to come up with some random, obscure niche product The guy that made this Dodo iPad/Kindle case is a great example. (http://www.dodocase.com/).
I could see myself operating a line of bars, restaurants, something of that nature, but it takes money to get there and IB, PE, HF, whatever seems like the best way to build a solid skill-set, expand your network, accumulate SOME wealth, and hopefully have befriended some deep pocketed investors for when the time is right.
We need more threads like this one, and more rankings
I think banking is still prestigious, but owning the company that bankers are pitching to is infinitely more prestigious.
The problem is, once you get started in banking, it's hard to make the transition to the other side of the table (and no, being a PE investor is not the same as running a business)
Having a big dick is even more prestigious than banking.
Is banking easier to break into nowadays? Not as "prestigious" anymore? (Originally Posted: 11/30/2014)
I know this is a controversial topic on these boards, but hear me out...
I went to a non-target school with a program built to get students into investment banking. That school is now placing 15+ kids into banking every year. Compared to 2+ years ago, these kids are not at the quality of former students that went into IB...
Is more of the talent being sucked up by consulting firms and tech? Does anyone have any insights?
Not going to lie, I agree
It is easier to break in to, but it's still not easy. You pointed it out, more people are starting to realize that they don't need to work 100+ hours a week in a pressure cooker. Also, look at these boards about first round interviews in November. Investment banks realize that they're other industries targeting their applicants and need to act fast. Lastly, some people from my high school are in a dual enrollment of a BSC/MSF program. A lot of them got offers from a MM firm and some of them even got into Jefferies, Citi, and Evercore. By the way, it's a no target in the 40-50 rang on US News. Couldn't say the same thing 3-5 years ago because the program's website posts everyone's resume and job placement.
Significant decline after 9/15/2008.
Go to a place like Wharton and the competition among some very smart/talented people to get a position in banking is still very intense. As intense as 8 years ago, who knows, but intense enough. That said if you are talking about BBs, the perception of them among students has definitely declined in favor of smaller firms, and it may be they are recruiting more diversely in order to compensate.
Online resources like WSO/M&I slightly decrease the "target school" advantage, because it's easier for people to learn about the industry and the recruiting process even if they don't have access to upperclassmen / alumni.
But in the end, if you are interested in finance as a career because you like finance [and aren't just looking for something "safe" and "prestigious" to do], then who cares. The smartest graduate that I know from the past year, despite having buyside opportunities, still decided to do banking for two years because of the opportunity set he will gain.
I agree to some extent although it is still a prestigious profession and can be very competitive for a top bank and top group. But banks are hiring more Analysts nowadays to improve the quality of life (giving more weekends/Saturdays off) for their junior people and have raised Analyst pay to 85k (Wall Street at least). This may be to attract and retain talent. If you think about it, there's the emergence of the tech industry, but Analysts are also bolting to the buy-side -- tons of MM and especially lower MM PE funds popping up
I blame all the content that makes you aware of the finance industry. I mean nowadays we have guides for everything. Not to mention all these Top 10 major "lists" and whatnot.Everything is served on a silver platter nowadays.
I go to a target and all the kids with top grades or BB/EB internships under belt are doing totally different stuff (consulting/industry/startups). Roughly only 10-15% are interested in IB which makes things a bit easier.
It's gotten easier for sure I think, but still very competitive nonetheless. There are articles out there about the competition rates (in ib vs. consulting vs. start up etc). That said, I don't know what kind of non-target you went to, but I also do know that some of those non-targets have ramped up "special recruiting" on their end as well. For example, a non-target like IU (which also has a program dedicated to place IB) have used scholarships (wells/kelley) to recruit talent, and of course, these guys stand out from the crowd and are probably comparable to top university candidates.
I think it's still as hard.
One trend that I do notice at targets is that I often see the most random students with JPM/GS SA offers, but in general the quality is the same (except for those random ppl)
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