I've been thinking about two extremely different areas: NYC and Florida. Starting off as an analyst, wouldn't you be living pretty large living in Florida (Tampa bay area, not southern)? What if you simply like that lifestyle more than the big city life? I haven't had good exposure to both, so it's hard for me to tell. Also, I know you're not in your apartment much as an analyst, but couldn't you get a pretty exclusive apartment for the price of a studio shoebox in Manhattan?
I feel like I want someone to talk me out of Florida. Considering options in both places. I know the lifestyles are extremely different, but would living in this area really be bad considering it's on the beach and you'd have so much more to spend/save?
RJ's HQ is in St. Pete. Stone's throw from Tampa, Orlando, and the Gulf beaches. I don't know about their IB side but their research analysts live a cushy lifestyle - get to take their kids to the beach/Disney World whenever they want, can afford the finer side of Tampa, and I can count on my hand how many people I've seen dressed in something above business casual on a non-Friday.
The only thing that's kept me away from there is that Florida is a lot different when you're not just vacationing.
How so? Everything else you said sounds nice. While you can argue you're "paying" for the lifestyle/place that is New York City (which some might love), I just can't stop thinking about how much money you'd actually have and how nice you could live working somewhere like RJ compared to being in NYC.
Also boating is probably my favorite thing to do and I feel like I could actually afford a smaller boat pretty quickly in Florida. NYC/Chi town have waterfronts too, but I feel like it would be more experience.
Make sure you're getting paid Street salary first. I know DB's Jax office pays first year front office analysts around 50-60k.
In Tampa Bay (Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota) you will get about a $500 discount on rent compared to NYC. You will get two different experiences living in Tampa and St. Pete. St. Pete has the stereo typical Florida vibe to it (think what you see on TV) while Tampa is a urban/southern hybrid. About boating...it is one of the best things about Tampa Bay, I just bought a boat for about 15,000 and only pay a little over $100 a month not including gas and insurance.
I feel like you're paying in that range for rent in the Tampa Bay you'll also get a lot of amenities that your NYC equivalent wouldn't have, like pool, gym, etc. and actually have room...
Tampa and urban southern hybrid? Is that a good thing? Is it similar to Atlanta? You might have just sold me with the boat..... that's insane. How often do you get to go out on it with your hours? I feel like I wouldn't be able to even use it often at all as an analyst.
When I say southern mentality I mean that the people live a very slow paced laid back type of life style. You will still get the urban feel because it has most of the big city amenities (theme parks, bars, beaches, festivals, ect.). Right now I am just an intern, but the full time analyst I work along with seem to be out of the office by 6 maybe 7 at times (just depends).
As far as the boat, weekends are ideal if your just using it for play, but if you want it for fishing I only go out a little after the tide gets high for a couple hours at a time. You can get a free tide calender and plan months ahead of time if needed. Usually i'm out late at night for fishing, and weekends with friends just hanging out. Analyst don't work insane hours like they do in NYC. From what I hear the pay is actually a little less than the street.
NYC's threshold for living a comfortable life is 100k, Tampa's threshold is 45k.
500 discount? Pretty sure its much more than that. Franklin Templeton is also there
No its about that. In NYC you don't have to account for having a car expense.
500-800 = the hood, sketchy area. 900-1600= middle class (suburbs long commute) 1600-2200= upper middle class (live close to bars, downtown, ect) 2200+= High Class (beach, nice condo in a nice area)
There are always deals out there to negate my claim. This is definitely the norm. I am also not considering size, just quality of the neighborhood.
Would someone be crazy to decline a BB offer for a MM offer in the Tampa Bay area?
The name and the fact that you worked in NYC would be really impressive... But I feel like lifestyle should almost be more important than your job (this isn't the fact for everyone for sure). I guess it just depends on your goals... But thinking about not working as many hours, having way more disposable income, living in a really nice apartment compared to NYC, having a smaller boat as an analyst... Difficult decision to make.
Is the Tampa area redneck or pretty progressive? I've read that it still has southern mentality on a lot of things, but it's still the city... Anyone have thoughts on this?
edit - Does anyone have any insight on living in St. Pete vs Tampa? As in which area has more going on for a 22 y/o wanting as much city vibe as possible from the area?
Even though I would rather be in FL (and it probably makes sense in the longer term), as an analyst, you are in Tampa/NYC for only two years and need to find next stop soon. Unless you are already planning to be a career banker, go to the BB. RJ people I know didn't have great exits (very small shops). Make the move later.
I live in Orlando, which is a close comp to Tampa in terms of cost of living. You can rent a nice 1/1 condo for ~$1,500/month.
Florida is a great place to live. As I'm typing this post, it is 80 degrees outside (in December).
The big drawback is the fact that the professional networking opportunities in Finance are extremely weak. Also, there are only a handful of legitimate firms down here, which creates very limited career options for someone who wants to stay in Finance in FL long term.
I'm actually going to move to DC or San Francisco within the next month because, after living in FL for 7 years, the career opportunity trade off is just too costly.
I would recommend working at a NYC BB firm, as that will open up many doors that a smaller firm in FL will not.
At some point, assuming you are a "type A" personality, you are going to get sick of FL. That might sound ridiculous, but anywhere in FL is a lower tier city for a Finance professional, and in my opinion does not make sense for a young person just starting his/her career in Finance.
^^ Orlando ftw!
I was Born and raised in Soflo, and I can tell you one thing is for sure. Its completely different than Tampa/Central Florida. Don't know much about the Tampa Bay area/St. Pete, but I know Tampa is a dump. Someone posted earlier about rent prices and thats pretty accurate. 500-800 will have you living in the hood for sure. I'd suggest a CWP if you go that route lol, assuming you aren't a raging lunatic. As one can guess, and as @Banker21 said, there really aren't many jobs down here for finance. NYC is your best bet. This coming from a BB IB MD I sat down with last week.
As for what I'm really knowledgable on: The people of Florida.
Central Florida and Soflo could be two separate states.. The further SE you go here, you more people you seem to meet from the Northeast. (My parents for example, along with basically all my friends parents ). As for the west coast, there's a lot of people from the NE but also a large gathering from west of the Mississippi. Someone else mentioned the laid back manner of Florida, and that's 100% true, but I think its more prevalent in the south. The further north you go from where I grew up (WPB area), the more hick/redneck it seems to get. It becomes less about catching some solid rays at the inlet and more about going mudding in your 4x4 (which don't get me wrong, is a blast). Also, and I'm not trying to insult anyone, but there's a shit ton of trashy people in Central FL, and it becomes pretty easy to spot once you've been there for a couple months. Assuming you're the typical NE banker white boy, you'll probably spot it immediately. (Soflo has the same sort of attitude as the NE, so most people I know spot it too). Furthermore, parts of Central Florida/Tampa can pretty dangerous. Orlando alone has the 2nd highest crime rate in the state (see CWP) and I know plenty of horror stories from friends who live in Tampa. Not to say there aren't nice parts, but you definitely need to watch your back in some places. But then again, that can be the case for parts of any city in any state.
Depending on if/where you vacationed down here, you'll probably have a little culture shock for the first few months. Unless you're living right near the coast (WPB, Tampa area, Naples, Miami etc etc) you DO NOT get the Florida vibe at all. The palm trees quickly start to disappear the more inland/north you go and the people start to change real quick. You're 70yr little old lady neighbor from Conn, Mass, NY quickly turns into a 30 something year old backwoodsman who wears camo EVERYWHERE.
Take this with a grain of salt, but I would personally stray away until you've made a name for yourself in finance and can come back down here and open up your own shop (What I'd like to do). I totally agree with what banker21 said about getting out of here to a bigger city. Every one of my friends doesn't really have much ambition to leave the state, but then again they aren't trying to enter professions where the job market is highly concentrated in a few main areas. Overall, Florida is a great place to vacation (preferably WPB sorry for the bias), and a great place to live once you hit a certain age. But until then NYC seems like the place to be.
I hope this helps and good luck with your job.
Gotta agree with everything you just said. Your description of Florida was spot-on. Except for the vacation part, for that you either gotta go to Miami or FTL.
I grew up in Miami and I wouldn't trade this place for the world. I loved it so much that I made the (poor) decision to stay here for college. Despite my decision of going to the king of all non-targets, I was able to get a good internship this summer. That internship is in Charlotte because Florida isn't a good place to launch a finance career unless you're doing PWM, like my sister is currently doing. That's why when the time came I made sure to land a position in somewhere in the South with a decent finance sector (ATL, CHA, HOU).
My ultimate plan is to come back to SOFLO later on but, like everyone else said, you gotta grind somewhere else first and then move here.
P.S: when I say finance, I mean finance in the investment banking/S$T sense that this website is dedicated too. If you were interested in Corp Fin I would tell you to move down ASAP lol
Being from central Florida area, I think you guys are being little harsh on the area. Yes, the random small towns that you don't stop at on I-75 or I-95 are probably very redneck (ok I saw some weird people in Walmart couple of days ago, but that's how south is). But no one is asking you to live in Micanopy or Waldo. Between Orlando and Tampa, Tampa is probably little more happening, little less touristy. Neither have the nightlife scene like Miami or something, but people are nicer, roads are less crowded. Tampa is probably more ghetto than St. Pete, and you are better off living in St. Pete downtown area (unless you work in Tampa, don't want that traffic crossing the bridge). St. Pete is more suburban with ridiculous amount of old people (just go to a golf range there), and all the good restaurants seem to be in Tampa, but downtown St. Pete is apparently a happening place. You are also closer to better beach and gulf access from St. Pete. I've not lived there since college and probably can't for a while, but a good place to raise family and slow down. As I said before, probably not where you want to be as an analyst.
Tampa Banking (Originally Posted: 01/24/2007)
Is anybody familiar with the banking industry in Tampa? It seems like most MM banks have satellite offices down there (except for Raymond James). Is the primary focus on Real Estate an Hospitialtiy? After 2 or 3 years as an analyst it might be nice to go down to a warmer climate and perhaps a more laid back banking environment. Thanks for any input.
but the focus is going to middle market to lower middle market. I think in terms of banking in tampa first thing you think about is Raymond James. Hah, yea would be cool to get off work and go drink on the beach.
I heard they got some banging broads down there in Florida.
List of Finance Jobs Available in the Tampa Bay Area (Originally Posted: 10/30/2015)
I'm a senior majoring in Finance looking to work in Tampa Bay. I found a lot of jobs pertaining to financial advisors. I'm interested in a more analytical, quantitiative career and having a hard time finding jobs/firms in the area. Besides Raymond James, are there any firms out there that are hiring?
Baird has a small office there.
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