I don’t think investment banking is the way for me anymore
I'm a rising junior at target school. Had Top BB IB aligned. Just found out my GF is pregnant, which I am perfectly happy about and planning to take responsibility for this pregnancy (tho unexpected). I never had parents around me as growing up. Both worked hard to make the living as the immigrants (moved to the US middle school year). And I always promised myself to not repeat the cyle of being absent once I become a parent. I don't think I can do IB anymore. Have zero idea what I want to do.
As of now, just trying to optimize for upside and monetizing my social skills / network. I wanted to reach financial freedom and independence for my family. My parents still work. I wanted to reach earning potential of 600k+ by the age of 30. Now I can't think of any alternatives that will allow myself to attain what I wanted and be home.
is it too late to, u know..?
Tell me you were in a frat without telling me you were in a frat
No, I’m not a frat brother. Just a student.
Dude, I’m sorry. Are you crazy? If your girlfriend is keeping the baby, you better stick with ib for next summer. Don’t pmo.
And pivot? I’m not certain about working 70-100hrs while she’s finishing her med school by the time I’m doing ft.
This is a tough one and above 99% people's paygrade here. I haven't been exactly in your shoes so take my advice with a grain of salt but have kids/nieces and friends are all at that age of having kids.
My advice is - you make it work until it doesn't. I've had 1-2 analyst friends (BYU students typically) that have a 1-2 year old when they hit the desk and while their lives are probably 2x tougher during their analyst years now that they're all VPs / Directors they are living their absolute life. I don't know what their spouse did so maybe their significant others spent more time with the child. Another anecdote is that I have an MBA friend who went into banking and his wife was a 1st year in residency when she gave birth and they've made it work.
Also I may be wrong but from what I've seen 4th year med school students are stressed out with residency interviews but quite frankly have a bit more time aside from that 2-3 month sprint. Also, looking back taking care of a senior year in college could be a lot of fun. Yeah its going to be a bit of sacrifice but at least you're doing school which is low stakes (assuming you get a FT return) + you're young and have that energy to raise a baby.
Point being - I wouldn't give up on your 'dreams' or career goals just yet. It may ultimately come to a point where you both physically can't manage having a child so one of you needs to take a step back but I don't think its the time yet.
Best of luck with whatever you decide, good on you for taking responsibility at such a young age
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. I hope I can continue the run until I can do it. This means a lot. However, Do you have any other finance roles you suggest for me to look into?
Energy trading
Personally I'd look into corporate banking. Base pay is the same (bonus is only 20-40%) but WLB is nice which I believe is typically 55-60ish hours a week.
No well paying job in finance is give you a 9-5 job but this is realistically closest you can get while optimizing WLB. Of course the other path could be FP&A which probably is a strict 9-5 but at the same time the career path / promotion / earnings is much much limited
Asset Management (not all firms) / Wealth Management
I would do your summer analyst role then use mobility to switch to either sales & trading or equity research. These roles get no love here but Im not convinced the IB —> PE path is better personally (and I’ve been on said path for over a decade!)
95% of people here will tell u to do the internship and sacrifice your firstborn for an RO. Have ur gf give up on her med school dreams first before u do given you'll make more money faster.
Good for you on taking responsibility. I am a young father and have a second on the way. It’s been an immense joy in my life. My advice would be to make your GF and honest woman and hold on to each other. There’s more to life than work.
Thank you
Maybe few things to consider
Thank you for the realistic advice. It is why I have attempted to cruise over different finance career paths excluding IB. Most of the so-called exit opportunities for the IB seem to provide better WLB. However breaking in will be much more challenging.
Long shot but if your goal is really to make money and provide financially, try to convert your internship into a FT seat in Houston (or Chicago?). NYC will just not work. Even VPs quit IB in NYC because of kids, let alone an analyst. As someone mentioned above, the cost of living just makes it impossible. VPs/Ds move to suburbs and face a 90 minute commute each way, but as an analyst you won’t have that luxury. Houston has the largest medical center / complex in the world. It is a boring city but hey now you have a kid. Priorities shift. Rent is dirt cheap so you as a full time analyst can sponsor some dignified living for your gf and the baby. Plenty of comfortable 2BR apartments for ~$2,500.
this is good advice
I do not want to be pigeonholed with oil and gas. But, I presume pursing Houston seems like an option as well. According to some graduates who had underwent career development in Houston, most of them couldn’t leave Houston. How does private credit, hedge fund, orcorporate development sound? Any other career path that you can think of?
Would imagine a lot of things like private credit and hedge funds are reliant on IB before. Also, your ability to take HF risk (can blow up in months and job stability is nill) is probably gone.
Some different advice, but I’d consider looking at AM. Personal bias as I work in it, but working for an insurance company, endowment, or pension fund’s team is going to give you lower stress, more job stability, and more time to actually raise your kid.
grind in IB harder for the kid
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