Boutique IB is a lie -- Experience Rant
This is a rant, I used to work at a boutique in a large mid-west city. The salary was absolute crap at 55k + almost non-existent bonus. I know not all boutiques are like this, but I am sure there are plenty of people who are willing to take this kind of salary to get their feet in the door.
I was one of those people, I thought I could lateral into a bigger bank after a year, but that turned out to be a lie, especially for someone coming from a semi-target that BB's and EB's recruit at occasionally as an afterthought, which has only a few alumni in NYC. But anyways, even after a lot and I mean ALOT of networking, I couldn't even score one interview at a BB or EB. I get the sense that rarely do analyst spots come up at big banks and when they do, usually they are filled thru internal recommendations from alumni at target schools. The only type of firms that I could get interviews at were the middle-market type of companies, (William Blair, PWC).
Long story short, I ended up going back to school to do an MSC in applied math, and now work in a technical role at a fintech startup, making more than twice what I used to make + stock options, the company recently raised 100M in capital, and my boss has inquired whether I would be interested in leading a new product expansion in a geography and more stock in the company if the expansion is successful.
TLDR: Don't be narrow-minded and think that IB is the be all, end all. There are plenty of opportunities outside of IB.
Says to not be narrow-minded. Writes off a solid MM bank like William Blair because it's not considered BB/EB.
Good shit.
You signed with a bad firm and went into it knowing your salary, but still didn't like it. Sounds like you A. Didn't know how to vet a firm, or B. Had few, if any, other decent options. In response, you come to WSO to vent and write off over ~50-75% of investment banks. You do know that each boutique functions differently, particularly in terms of salary, culture, even deal process to an extent, right? Then, you proceed to justify your decision by throwing in the final paragraph, justifying how without IB you're still crushing it, as though you found some discrete loophole. Lastly, you state that IB isn't the end all be all, which is some seriously PROFOUND stuff. Did you not know that 95% of people enter IB in hopes of leaving after a brief period of time, to fill some of the most sought after positions within finance? I hope you hydrate because your post reeks of saltiness.
I'm sorry that your experience was so negative, but honestly, there are so many factors that you did not go into detail that it's difficult believing to an extent. How did your resume look? What sort of interviewing abilities do you have? What type of transaction experience did you gain at this boutique? I am not saying this is the case, but if you were lacking in any of these areas, that would explain this situation.
I spent a year at a "no-name" boutique in the NY area. My pay was about $60k all-in, but the experience itself was solid. There was no real modeling component, so I would create my own DCFs for transactions as a learning opportunity. I spent a lot of time crafting my story and experience as well as putting my resume together and then hit the pavement networking. I ended up with interviews at several MMs, one EB, and two BBs. I ended up at an MM as that was the first offer I received and really liked the location.
Working at "no-name" boutiques is no fun, especially since you're normally there since nothing else worked out, but it is what you make it.