IB culture vs other industries

Although it varies by firm and by group, it isn’t rare in IB to see instances of mid-levels and MDs yelling at juniors, sending disrespectful emails, and overall being inconsiderate and unprofessional. Is IB the only industry that has this type of culture/behavior? I’d think maybe PE would, but it seems more buttoned-up and academic than banking and as such would attract different personalities. Same with law. And i certainly wouldn’t imagine tech or medicine to have much toxicity at all.

Curious to hear thoughts.

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Any field that attractive hyper competitive people will be toxic. FYI ppl in medicine compare their residency years to IB analyst years.

 

yes. good friend is in general surgery residency and i’ve heard pretty awful things about the experience. lots of narcissistic and petty attendings that make residency hell for a lot of residents, especially first years. I think any field where climbing to the top takes serious sacrifice will have these types of personalities.

 
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- What I did expect: competitive environment, getting yelled at, sharp people, cutthroat, some narcissists / self interested people 

- What I did not expect: poor mentorship, leadership, and people management skills. This is the glaring difference between IB and the other jobs I’ve had, and why I’ll eventually quit.

Bankers are sharp and good at what they do, but are not role models or leaders. Literally was told as a junior associate by my MDs to “solve my own problems” after the group decided to can one of our stronger VPs, and I worked 100+ hour weeks because of it. In any other industry, there’s managerial competence and plans in place to ensure things run smoothly after the team chooses to let someone go. Seniors do not care about juniors, there is no incentive to mentor, no semblance of teamwork or group identity, and no shits given about personal development. Not sure if it’s just my bank, but seems like it’s just a bunch of self interested salesmen who churn and burn the juniors below them with no consequence. Feels like the Wild West.

 

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