Is there ageism in investment banking, similar to tech?
It’s well known that tech industry has ageism bias. Lots of older engineers struggle finding jobs or become undesirable.
What about investment banking?
Interested in others perspective, but I'd almost consider "reverse ageism" to be the issue in banking. Generally, the hierarchy is so strict and there is constant jockeying to be the banker that "adds the value" which translates to won mandates. Within the team, good luck getting people to take your opinions and contributions seriously without meaningful experience. It's a bleak thought, but the person who controls the relationship pretty much decides what constitutes a good idea and who receives credit.
That said, revenue rules everything and if there was a 5 year old landing big mandates they'd be celebrated as a god. In some ways, that is a level of transparency that I can appreciate.
Experience is highly valued in banking and unlike tech the skill set doesn’t evolve so quickly as to make you obsolete.
An exception would be at the post MBA Associate level where older candidates can be viewed as not cut out for insane hours at that point in their lives. But, people who are committed to going through the ringer can make the case.
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In our firm older managers have significantly more respect based on experience, their network, their gravitas and leadership style.
This doesn't mean that there is a role for every manager who wants to move up though..
Depends on the bank. I’m joining a MM bank and I’ll turn 32 right before I start as an associate in July. While I don’t necessarily have deal or even a ton of finance experience, I bring things to the table that the bank values, such as sales, management, analysis, and soft skills.
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