Finance careers that are ambitious but not crazy

I am currently wrapping up my freshen year of college and I know I want to work in finance. I am a highly ambitious person and am ok with working above average hours, however IB just doesn't seem worth it to me, especially when you consider analyst salaries don't actually go that far in todays NYC, SF, etc. 

What are some career paths in finance/finance-adjacent that are ambitious (Think around 50-60 hrs/week) but not being worked to death/having no social life like IB? I'm obviously not expecting to get anything with near IB level junior comp but I think something $90K-$105K sounds reasonable at the entry level for that level of hours in MCOL/HCOL cities.

Any tips/advice is highly appreciated.

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Future leader/early career rotational programs for students at large-mega cap companies will be an opportunity to get your feet wet and feel out different finance related pathways. It's more of a networking opportunity to find a mentor or find out what you want to do if you have no idea after graduation. Pay isn't great and you'll be physically moving offices frequently but WLB is nice and it's doable to roll that into a M7 MBA/more senior corporate role after a couple years, seen it many times. Not necessarily ambitious but it is a decent option to consider.

 

If you want a salary like that early on regardless of where you are located lyou are probably in a FO/MO spot at a bank so maybe something like Risk at any BB or a quieter commercial/corporate banking spot even something like trade and treasury solutions (I think that’s just Citis name for it but there’s others) are alright hours with alright pay

 

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