I know the tech vs finance topic is very overused but I have been researching a bunch of different finance careers recently as I have been interviewing for FT and I am starting to realize unless you are in a sweaty IB PE or HF spot you really are not making more than a lot of kids in tech. For example I was looking at corporate banking as it is known as one of the more chill and high paying jobs in finance and from what I saw salary for VP is around 250-325, and from what I saw you are probably making 400-500 as an MD. This would be very similar salary growth to the tech path. Im posting this because I am considering switching to tech but the only reason I am not 100% is because I genuinely do really like finance while I dont hate programming but I dont love it. Does anyone on here have any recommendations or stories of if they switched from finance to tech or tech to finance and could comment on this?
Thanks
If I look at what my peers did over the last years after college, tech provided a very similar income path. Maybe their bonuses were smaller in some firms, but overall their job satisfaction, progression, and wlb were very positive. Despite the trough in the tech world, it seems like a safer avenue than IB/BB/PE.
But maybe that's just my group of contacts..
No I fully agree all my friends that are doing tech really are making similar to me and my friends that did finance its a little less but they will also have crazy good hours like I know multiple of my friends who can expect to work 20-30 hours a week and easily clear 6 figs right out of school.
I chose finance because I wasn't smart enough for tech
Both industries are blurred in terms of the variation in comp at the senior level. Often times the 'top' of the upper middle management make a large chunk of their money from equity in tech companies or base points within a raised fund that's been deployed / now exiting their portfolio. If you were an 'exec' level guy in either industry, you probably made a ton of money in the 2010s.
Yes but the thing about tech is it does not have grueling hours, you can be making a great salary and working from 20-40 hours that is not uncommon at all. Main point im trying to make is in finance it seems like its rare to have a chill gig that pays well while tech you can make a great salary and be remote and have great hours. Compared to finance most people that make a great salary usually had a very stressful career and long hours throughout their career.
Not entirely true. Maybe so at large tech companies but startup / SMB sized tech companies can be long hours for executives / founders.
"Tech" and "finance" are two of the highest paying fields. However, like law, there is a massive bifurcation in the space. If you are at big law/EB/BB/etc, you get paid top dollar. However, there is a reason why the average wages for first-year lawyers is $100k. There is a reason why the average finance job (not banking/PE/etc) starts at sub-$100k. The same is true with tech. If you work at the right company in the right "tech" job, you can be paid just as well. But you can also be working an entirely "normal" salaried job.
The distributions are basically all the same across those fields. If you get in at the right company with the right job, they all pay about the same. If you don't, you will be paid relatively little across all those spaces
Yes but the thing about tech is it does not have grueling hours, you can be making a great salary and working from 20-40 hours that is not uncommon at all. Main point im trying to make is in finance it seems like its rare to have a chill gig that pays well while tech you can make a great salary and be remote and have great hours.
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