Why everyone wants to get into Investment Banking?

I have no idea why would anyone want to sacrifice their health and social circle putting up with ultra long hours just to get a few more bucks, believing it gives them prestige and having girls surrounding them.

I have this one friend who worked in IBD calling me at 3am crying and telling me he brought the girl whom he has a crush on to his VIP exclusive clubs. but the girl eventually got picked up by some dxuchebags there instead.

So why investment banking besides the paycheck? And no... getting into ibank won't get you the girl.

 

I left investment banking for real estate and then for commercial banking, but I can tell you why people want to do it--they want to work in high finance. Working on Wall Street (or at investment banks in other big markets that do essentially the same thing as their Wall Street counterparts) is like playing baseball in the major leagues vs. the minor leagues. You work with the smartest and most driven people in the financial services industry, you work on interesting deals, and you get an insider's look into how real, man-on-the-street capital markets works.

And after you've put in 2-4 years of pain, you've learned a lot, earned a lot, made some wonderful contacts, and built a powerful resume so that you can enter into something else that may interest you that also pays well. A select few actually like investment banking and make it a career.

 
ieatbank:

I have no idea why would anyone want to sacrifice their health and social circle putting up with ultra long hours just to get a few more bucks, believing it gives them prestige and having girls surrounding them.

I have this one friend who worked in IBD calling me at 3am crying and telling me he brought the girl whom he has a crush on to his VIP exclusive clubs. but the girl eventually got picked up by some dxuchebags there instead.

So why investment banking besides the paycheck? And no... getting into ibank won't get you the girl.

damn that's a sad story. these hoesss. i think ibd can help, but you have to have SOMETHING going for you other than "mods and bodsss come to my VIP club r. kelly"

 
nycIBD:
i, for the most part, agree with the sentiment expressed in this post. i would never stay on past analyst.

You mean past the least paid and most over-worked and under-sexed position of investment banking?

This sounds strange to me, considering that many people directly avoid the analyst route b/c it's a pretty painful experience, and for those reasons go to IBD as post-MBA assocs. Not that their lives are much better, but they're better and in a good year, well-comped too.

 

Some people likes sales and IB is the pinnacle of Sales. Sales is a drug. Making a deal happen is a fix. Your questions have been answered.

"The higher up the mountain, the more treacherous the path" -Frank Underwood
 

Some people likes sales and IB is the pinnacle of Sales. Sales is a drug. Making a deal happen is a fix. Your questions have been answered.

"The higher up the mountain, the more treacherous the path" -Frank Underwood
 
rjroberts1:
You're vastly underestimating the amount of people whose sole goal in life is the big paycheck, at any cost. Thats what banking provides.
barboon:
Some people likes sales and IB is the pinnacle of Sales. Sales is a drug. Making a deal happen is a fix. Your questions have been answered.

I think it is a combination of these two posts above. Additionally, you may be underestimating many people's obsession with prestige. It seems many believe IBD it is the most prestigious division of finance and therefore they Must be a banker.

 
  • Prestige (Just imagine if you're an MD who worked on a multi-billion dollar deal that makes the front page of the WSJ.)

  • Relatively low-risk (as long as you're bringing in some revenue, you're ok. after developing many relationships over the years it shouldn't be that hard to do)

  • Money $$$

 
Best Response

My reason was relatively prosaic: I liked it better than I thought I would like venture capital or private equity.

Don't make the mistake of getting caught up in generic terms like investment banking or private equity. I think people tend to overlook the fact that my job is very different than my job was fifteen years ago, despite the fact that both are technically investment banking.

While private equity sounds great as a job description, the choice was one that opened itself up to me as a mid-level associate. When I thought about the relative job description, it seemed to me that the role I would be leaving for involved more of what I found relatively less interesting - the grind of conducting ground level diligence on a potential investment. In return, I would be trading off what I found to be the relatively more interesting part of my job - the deal advisory and interplay with opposing bankers.

That calculus may have been different if I was a PE partner vs a banker, but the truth was that I wasn't going to be making any investment decisions, any more than I'd be leading an advisory team in banking. But between spending my time learning by getting familiar with deal structuring, deal execution on the banking side, and even the deal marketing versus being neck deep in the nitty gritty of a particular company's contracts, or pipeline, employee benefit plans, or the millions of other questions you want to understand if you are actually going to own it - well, the answer for me was that I'd rather be a banker. At the associate and VP level, it just seemed like a far better place for me to be spending my days and nights.

 

Different question, not sure if I've seen it addressed before- isn't the associate position pretty repetitive for an analyst who has been working for 2-3 years? Analyst-to-associates must be light-years ahead of the post-MBA associates who haven't done an analyst stint. Anybody experience this frustration or am I off target here?

 
myblackberryblinks:
Furthermore even by breaking into banking post-mba you're just "that associate" who actually has real experience, knowledge of things beyond excel, and the people skills required to move beyond cube life, which is why it makes perfect sense to pass menial garbage that my niece could do down to dorks who were in things like math club and haven't seen a tit since their mother nursed them.

fixed that for you.

 
Cartwright:
myblackberryblinks:
Furthermore even by breaking into banking post-mba you're just "that associate" who actually has real experience, knowledge of things beyond excel, and the people skills required to move beyond cube life, which is why it makes perfect sense to pass menial garbage that my niece could do down to dorks who were in things like math club and haven't seen a tit since their mother nursed them.

fixed that for you.

Win.
 

I definitely noticed there's a certain degree of resentment of newly-minted MBAs from those who progress internally. It takes MBAs a couple of months to catch up, but in order to be successful, they can't just "pass the work" to smart analysts. They need to be able to understand the work to check it, as it's their asses on the line. In the beginning it's tough, but most are driven enough to succeed.

 

Not sure but the founder, Kevin Rose, had an offer for $80 million or something for an asset sale. Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the wrong industry. You got flip-flop wearing techies in Silicon Valley doing some great stuff. If you put in the same effort you do as a banker you can turn a hot dog stand into a social media company! ;)

 

Keep wondering why some people do banking, hate it but carry on, then finally quit and bitch in retarded social media sources.

Don't do what you don't like, it's always been like that.

 
damngringo:
Keep wondering why some people do banking, hate it but carry on, then finally quit and bitch in retarded social media sources.

Don't do what you don't like, it's always been like that.

@damngringo,

you're right but it's sometimes not clear cut. I was attracted to the business for the wrong reasons. Having said that, i've learned a lot and think i've gained transferable skills to help me do whatever it is I want to do. Personally, I don't think it would as bad if there weren't so many pricks in the system. Some people say it's a useless service (ibanking) and it does not add value but in fact it does. I've seen from the side of the corporate world. The problem is you've got a bunch of sharks heading the show and they're pockets get fatter and fatter so the environment ends up lacking humanity.

Then again it can be fun to work on a multi-billion dollar capital raise :)

 

gsam22, you are right as well, but there is definitely a chunk of people who misinterpret the signals, continue be tools and then bitch around. It's good to re-shape your thoughts and expectations, means that you think and understand things. Where are SBs to give out?

 
IBslave22:
You are an idiot. No reason to explain why. Good luck working with all the smart people at a management role with Walmart while us dumb bankers learn nothing while living paycheck to paycheck.

Don't jinx yourself, a lot of bankers do live paycheck to paycheck.

@ the OP you are absolutely right. I'm dumb as hell, I'm only good at adding and subtracting, and Im also good at reading things 10 times and underlining my mistakes with red pen. On the other hand everyone I meet likes me and I can sell sex to a whore. thats about it.

All the smart kids should stick with inventing shit and should stay out of wall street. they are only fucking things up. (HFT, quants and their formulas etc.)

"The higher up the mountain, the more treacherous the path" -Frank Underwood
 

I've had a lot of bankers tell me that the job really sucks and it's not worth getting into, but for all the groveling and bitching I've heard, there hasn't been a whole lot of quitting, at least from the people I know. Banking is brutal, for sure, but the doors that open after a 2-year analyst stint are worth it for a lot of people and the pay isn't too shabby, either, especially for kids straight out of undergrad.

 

Read comments from the original article: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/08/25465/comments/

They are really something. Here is my favorite:

By Harvard'07: "you haters shouldn't be ragging on the kids in this article, who at least made it into a tough school and did decently well enough to get internships. The bank I worked at did have an analyst class mainly drawn from the Ivie, and the Princeton kids all had great GPAs/SATs. The real retards were the single kids from seemingly random state schools and privates, who I suspect made it in either through minority programs like SEO, or had a family connection. That's the real rub - the privileged idiot who is too stupid for an Ivy, ends up at a school like Colgate, but has her well-connected father get her an interview with his buddy outside of a formal recruiting program."

Princeton is so fucking cut-throat kids are blowing up over someone spending $300 for a cab.

 

Investment banking is only exciting when you're on the buy side. On the sell side you're a document processor as an analyst/associate and a sychopant as a VP/MD. Few firms offer their Md's and Vps the dignity to be advisors rather than salesman half the time.

Now, if you were in private equity, analyzing business and valuing them for takeover bases etc, that's exciting.IB is not totally about the money, it's about the glorious exit opportunities. However, if it paid anything less than a 100k all in first year I would abstain, my sanity and soul cost a little more than that.

 

Banking isn't about the money...

It's about making the world a better place.

Sure the 100 hour weeks of mind numbingly boring work can be tough, and make you feel a little less human.

But I don't do it for the 18kt white gold and diamond Rolex I'm wearing, nor for the Saville Row bespoke suit that stands against my Prada loafers. It's not about my central London studio apartment, or the 4 golddiggers I've manged to fuck this year through overt demonstrations of my superior status.

It's about the kids.

Some kids don't have a father, or even worse, some kids father's work at places like Accenture and KPMG. Experiences like that can really scar a child; they don't have anyone to look up to and admire as a male role model.

I just want to show them that they don't have to settle for mediocracy, working in outsourcing or audit.

I just want to inspire the kids.

 
rodneymullen:
Banking isn't about the money...

It's about making the world a better place.

Sure the 100 hour weeks of mind numbingly boring work can be tough, and make you feel a little less human.

But I don't do it for the 18kt white gold and diamond Rolex I'm wearing, nor for the Saville Row bespoke suit that stands against my Prada loafers. It's not about my central London studio apartment, or the 4 golddiggers I've manged to fuck this year through overt demonstrations of my superior status.

It's about the kids.

Some kids don't have a father, or even worse, some kids father's work at places like Accenture and KPMG. Experiences like that can really scar a child; they don't have anyone to look up to and admire as a male role model.

I just want to show them that they don't have to settle for mediocracy, working in outsourcing or audit.

I just want to inspire the kids.

Awesome

 
How the fuck did a sophomore get 18 ibd interviews?

Pi did a banking internship as a freshman.

“Last summer, I spent 70 percent of my internship making spreadsheets,” Pi said. He said that it was the other 30 percent of his work — what he called the “thrill of the hunt” — that kept him going through the time he spent doing grunt work.

“No one likes working 100-hour weeks,” Pi said. “Last summer, I pulled multiple all-nights, and I worked for 12 weeks. So I basically had no summer.”

 
AstonMartin:
How the fuck did a sophomore get 18 ibd interviews?

Pi did a banking internship as a freshman.

“Last summer, I spent 70 percent of my internship making spreadsheets,” Pi said. He said that it was the other 30 percent of his work — what he called the “thrill of the hunt” — that kept him going through the time he spent doing grunt work.

“No one likes working 100-hour weeks,” Pi said. “Last summer, I pulled multiple all-nights, and I worked for 12 weeks. So I basically had no summer.”

If you read one of the comments on the Daily Princetonian site, it says something about taking a year off to do more internships or something. No idea if that's actually the case though.

 

one of those jobs you only go into for the money, exit ops, and for some people a perception of prestige. Although allot of people may try to piss on you if you tell them you're a banker these days.

I have to return some video tapes.
 

No. I'd rather go to medical school. And I'd never introduce myself as a "banker". I'm an analyst at an investment bank. To me, banker is someone further up the ladder where you start to managing clients and etc. At that point the hours are much better and I'd work as a banker then for 100k salary.

 

Frankly, I'd like it be like that..at least it would save me from working with stupid kids who are only in it for $$$ and have no interest in finance whatsoever. What is more, it would also kill the crazy lifestyle culture of 80hr++ weeks because nobody would be willing to do it..so all in all, banking could be a good, reasonable career choice. Pretty sure most of you don't even get my point.

 

Et aut et mollitia cum. Ut suscipit soluta ut alias. Ut id veniam fugit modi hic. Quidem impedit dignissimos doloribus ut eos debitis adipisci harum. Deserunt cupiditate cupiditate qui maxime laborum incidunt.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

Reiciendis doloribus quod culpa ut. Magni ipsum veniam voluptatum voluptatem animi. Cupiditate enim autem temporibus sed sequi.

Natus magni quae quasi natus. Architecto veniam officia quasi tempore. Voluptatem consequatur incidunt sed. Modi libero nulla nemo tempora porro iusto. Rerum sit eos eveniet et. Aut ut saepe pariatur laboriosam. Velit fugit quasi ipsum asperiores fuga ea.

Aut minus veniam eligendi voluptate tenetur. Eius sed esse aliquam quia fugit. Dolore quia nihil sed animi aut repellendus eum.

Dolorem repellat eaque libero facilis nemo quia. Et veniam quod molestias libero et. Distinctio praesentium non perspiciatis dolores. Hic perferendis porro dolorum illum similique enim dolorem cumque.

 

Est sint sed doloribus soluta. Et quis ut in dicta. Consequuntur illo sit temporibus.

Dicta omnis facilis impedit magnam quidem ipsam quidem qui. Quod accusantium neque ea labore dolore. Doloremque sed laboriosam iusto. Sit labore dolor est cum similique sint totam excepturi.

Id iure sequi exercitationem architecto fugiat. Et laborum dolorem ut quas eum modi ut qui. Odit eligendi vitae id voluptatem quis ea. Amet ratione et eos placeat eveniet vel sunt.

Exercitationem et eligendi quia nesciunt. Tenetur dolores dolorem vero ut beatae laboriosam. Qui ut in ipsum ut sit voluptatem quibusdam.

 

Recusandae aliquam quidem illo minus. Rem ipsum fugiat voluptatem. Unde quae cum tempore ex sit.

Officiis quidem provident molestiae voluptatibus. Placeat quo quia est perspiciatis quas facere. Dolor dolor alias voluptas aliquid voluptatem minima. Omnis rem et facere iure. Quia fuga dolorem sit hic atque nesciunt sunt et. In consequatur accusamus numquam fugit totam occaecati delectus. Soluta dolorem facere velit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”