Becoming a Finance Professor as an Exit Op?
Although I will just be an intern this summer, I can't stop thinking about my long-term career trajectory. One idea I have is to become a finance professor one day. Would it be a good idea to work in finance for 10-15 years, make a lot of money and save, and then become a finance professor? Seems like a good gig considering it's a more chill job with pretty good pay and summers off. Would like to be married before I'm 30 and start a family in my 30s so I think this would combine my interest in finance and being a good parent one day. Thoughts? Obviously, my first priority right now is to get the return offer though haha.
There are finance professors at the best universities in the world that have never worked in the financial world. Don’t think you need to work in IB to become a professor, LOL.
my profs in college rn did that. They worked to become partner/PM at well established firms and came back to teach. The pay is signficantly levels off what they learn but they enjoy teaching "the next generation" and they also get a really good WLB(they made their money already so obv pay doesn't matter at this rate).
Also, taking classes with these types of profs are always the best. Many fun stories to listen in on and always some insane guest speakers coming in.
We had a guy who us to work on the street come back (was an alum) and teach a 4 hour class every week. Guy was hilarious, had great stories, would show us his portfolio, talk about the old days. Lotta athletes in the class, he was always challenged everyone to racket ball. He chiefed cigs too, sometimes in class.
Is this a SEC school by any chance? My university had a guy with the same story and he was a total fucking tool. You ever heard of a professor give extra credit for coming to his tailgate? Fucking slimeball wanting to perv on 20 year olds in skimpy outfits on game days.
Hahah sounds like my vp, but hey I don’t blame him
nah, I wish.
This guy was somewhat the same vein. He did take us out for drinks after the final. Class had a lot of seniors, including me, and it was the last final of college, so the "after party" got crazy. Our professor would talk all the time about Manhattans (the drink) in class, so everyone was subsequently drinking them. Our professor got hammered and ending up staying on some of the limited rooms on campus. He did tell a girl on our basketball time at that event that she was beautiful (I mean she was, but weird to tell her).
Chicks in their 20s >>>>
Very true. A lot of my good professors were CFAs that came from asset management
Had a finance professor who worked his way up to VP at a BB then decided he wanted to become a college professor and spend more time with his family.
Every Professor at my alma mater has a Ph. D., which I believe is a requirement. Might be different at different universities but that would require another 4-6 years of school
Know a guy who did his analyst stint, 2 years in PE and then went and got a phd in economics and became a professor, very easily doable if it’s a goal of yours, make a good amount of money and then cruise into the academic world….gives tons of credibility in your classes that you teach too
One of my professors was an ex IB analyst. Hated the hours but still teaches valuation courses.
My favorite finance professor at the University of Wisconsin did this. He was an MD at MS and left to teach. You will have to plan for this financially unless you want to be on a teachers salary.
But I think there is nothing wrong with this. You do have to think about if you want to be a professor or faculty as there can be different things that are required of you that you may have to plan for
Will you have the academic aptitude/skillset after 15 years in finance to go and get a PhD? You need to think about that.
If you want actual professorship with tenure at any university worth its salt you need to get a PhD. Finance PhDs are competitive, and are basically applied economics PhDs (you need significant math training to even be considered). Also most prestigious programs have a soft requirement you do a two-year pre-doctoral RA at a top university before being a competitive applicant. If you wanna teach at a university as an exit the Ex president of European BB IBD taught at my mba school, but only as a senior lecturer (very different from professor).
I think finance PhDs are easier than actual econ PhDs and might not require a two year predoc (if you are coming from a competitive school)
Was in a PhD Econ program for two years on my way to becoming an academic before IB. Even published two academic publications. Here are some thoughts:
If you want to be a lecturer teaching part-time and low level classes for $60K per year, you need experience and a MBA/MS degree.
If want to be tenured, teach real classes, and be taken seriously, you need a PhD in Finance which requires a ton of math, especially with a focus on statistics for Finance. That's one of the big reasons that I left the PhD program. You sign up because you like economic theory and the business world but you end up doing graduate level mathematics which is not only extremely difficult but boring as all hell.
I knew this going into the program but I underestimated the difficulty of high level mathematics - it is not a linear relationship (pun intended). If you think Calculus I and II were not too bad plus your intro level statistics courses, it's very misleading. The next step is basically like jumping off a cliff.
A MBA prof in my bschool earn 1m per year from my school.
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