CS student- too late for IB?
Hey guys, I have been browsing this forum for a while now, but this is my first time making a post.
Current 2nd year CS student at a semi-target. I was interested in finance in HS but ended up pursing CS instead; now I'm not 100% sure if it's the right path for me. I have a SWE internship lined up this summer at a unicorn, and the new grad pay is on par with FAANGs. Is it too late for me to recruit for 2022 SA roles, and is it even worth it? Recruiting at my school is not too strong, so it will definitely be an uphill battle. I have thought about pursing SWE for a few years than potentially pivoting with an MBA, but the tuition + lost income would likely be too expensive for that path to be worth it. Also, I'm just not sure if I'd want to be an associate at 30.
I am almost wrapping up my 2nd year; I also understand that junior year recruiting is starting soon. What are my potential options? Is there any chance at all that I land a BB offer next year?
Some options off the top of my head:
Defer Graduation, transfer to stronger school, drop everything and study technicals/network.
I appreciate the advice.
Unless you’re extremely passionate about finance, stay in CS. If it’s “hey I might like this better but i’m not sure”, stay in CS. Browse here long enough and you will see plenty of people kicking themselves for doing IB and not SWE.
From a lifestyle + comp combo it’s hard to beat.
Do not do this. Grab a mba in a couple years if you still have a desire for banking but I doubt you would after realizing the perks of being in tech.
What are your thoughts on post mba banking? Is there any way to break in without an mba? I don't know how I feel about such a big opportunity cost, less exit opportunities, and being an associate at 30 when I could've done it at 24.
I just don't see how you can justify banking over swe especially with all the info on this site about the rampant burnout that analysts are suffering through and the benefits of the comp and culture in tech. Think long term, which industry is growing and which job is going to increase in demand? This seems like a no brainer to me unless you have a passion for being treated like a punching bag and enjoy being constantly stressed out surviving off a couple hours of sleep.
If youre smart enough for CS dont go into IB.
Was in almost the exact same situation as you - CS major, realized Sophomore summer I didn’t want to go into a SWE role. I was too late to apply for junior internships, but I ended up doing a tech internship junior summer and then recruiting for IB FT. It’s definitely possible, and if firms under-hire this summer and the economy opens back up, there will probably be FT spots up for grabs. I would apply to IB internships if you can, and network with people beforehand. No harm in applying/learning more.
I had no idea this was possible. How rare is it to land a ft opportunity without an internship? If you can do this, then wouldn't it be possible to apply for analyst positions 1 year out of college or something? Also, do you attend a top target?
Non-target. Not getting a FT offer out of undergrad will make it significantly more difficult for you. I would go hard at FT recruiting if I were you. In terms of rarity, probably more rare without a finance internship junior summer, but if you do something in finance it shouldn’t be a super difficult story to spin. Keep in mind you are also competing with kids who interned but either didn’t get a return offer or kids who want to shop their offer to a better firm.
Don't do it. I studied CS and ended up at a BB. SWE has better $ EV (when you consider churn in "high" finance) and you will be happier with your life.
Very broad question, but at age 30-40, what do you think would be the average salary of an analyst class considering the burnout rate? Surely if you're in PE you'd be making 500k+ right? In top FAANG I hear you can make senior or staff in 8-10 years which pays like 4-500, but I have no idea what happens after that. Either there's a huge bottleneck or people just get complacent and don't want to grind anymore.
To the extent that literally any college graduate is capable of doing ibanking work, I'd choose an area with higher barriers to entry. You're already seeing the payoff from acquiring SWE skills, so only abandon that if ib has greater upside for you. I don't think it will and would encourage you to ride this out for a few years post grad and if you develop a love affair with finance, go cash in at some quant fund or go to b-school.
Definitely stay in CS unless you would kill for IB. CS has a relatively much better work-life balance and pay. You also get equity and bonuses without working your ass off. Not sure about IBD, but many of my friends on the trading floor or quant all want to step into CS.
Bro, you have a unicorn internship lined up in your second year of college. Don't do any of this shit above.
I may be having a bit of an existential crisis here, but there is no debating that finance offers the fastest career growth compared to anything else, assuming you don't get burnt out. SWE may be great from 20-30, but I honestly don't have too much of an idea of what happens from 30-40, and that's what's keeping me on edge. With IB you certainly have a lot more options.
You’re overthinking it. I do PE because I can’t code at a unicorn, lol.
Also have a CS background and a similar timing and path to you. Network early and hard, but have your story completely locked down before you start calling especially "why not tech". When you chat with more people they will tell you "you're too smart for banking/consulting/product..." Honestly you are: the work will be intellectually meaningless for at least 2 years and it's not the best place to put your brain. If you decided finance is the right path for you by all means go for it, and with perseverance and networking you'll have no problem getting a banking offer for junior summer, even if you start halfway into sophomore summer.
But you need to convince yourself first. I superdayed with GS/MS/Q for tech banking, completely cleaned the technicals, but their feedback was "you don't like banking, you're going to leave us in 2 years". My learning was that you can't convince others well until you convince yourself. At the end of the day, I'm not in banking because it wasn't right for me.
Hey can you PM me abt Q process?
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