Leaving IB before even starting, what options are there?
Incoming 2026 BB intern, originally wanted a role in Investment Banking for the same reason several others did: to provide for those we care about.
I just lost them. I know loss is an extremely unprofessional topic in this field, so I won't dwell. Instead I'll be brief and ask what else is out there instead of IB.
What career can I drop my internship for and get into that is the least intensive, relatively requiring the least effort and hours, and not a social role, not communication heavy, and not client facing. I have no will for money anymore since the motivation for it is gone, so as long as I can survive on the salary I'll be okay. I don't know what else is out there though that fits the technical skillset, and I don't have the motivation to network again to find out.
Edit: I have no interest in "keep your ambition" or "do it for them" or any of that, just the name of a job or two from the people here, who know more than I do about the nature of different roles.
what about providing for yourself or your future family. You shouldn't have placed such motivation on an external thing anyways.
Are you just going to give up on ambition and jump into some shitty, low effort back office role
Loss is tough, but don't make decisions that you will regret in this state.
You owe it to yourself. Your loved ones will be watching over you. Make them proud
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are a few career paths that align with your preferences for a less intensive, non-client-facing, and technical role:
Data Analyst/Scientist
Software Engineering
Risk Management
Operations/Back Office Roles
Actuarial Science
Technical Writing
Freelance/Contract Work
Government Roles
If you’re looking for a way to transition without networking extensively, consider leveraging your current internship offer to pivot into one of these roles within the same organization. Many large firms have internal mobility programs or adjacent departments that align with these career paths.
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/trading/sales-in-st-dead-end-career-path-in-2020?customgpt=1, Tech As An Alternative to Finance, Tech As An Alternative to Finance, Consulting Exit Opps for Introverts, The Path to Least Resistance: Why IB May Not Be What You Really Want
Sorry for your loss. If you don’t want to pursue IB but want to stay in a chill finance role, would look at finance rotational programs at larger companies. Can get a taste for FP&A, accounting, and other similar gigs
What interest you in a job? You really didn’t give anyone anything to work with here.
Hi,
Will not pretend to understand what you're going through regarding loss of family / friends. All I can say is I'm sorry, although I'm sure you've heard that too many times already.
Think about what makes you happy. Is it working with your hands? Manual labour / outdoorsy work (sounds weird but oddly enough I loved the military because of this). I know you most likely think you can't be happy but whatever you're feeling now it won't be helped by wasting away in a back office role you only took because you didn't care.
Definitely not saying IB is the right choice for you, I'm not in IB but reading the posts on this site, its hard to imagine those outside of a select few who have an intrinsic motivator rather than for the money and lifestyle potential.
Guess what I'm trying to say is that if I were in your position (from a personal level) I'd go join the french foreign legion because realistically what else would I be doing with my life that didn't make every waking hour feel like a slog? Not saying you need to join the army, but I believe thinking "I don't care so I'm going to get a job where I don't have to care about anything" is the wrong mindset. I think you'd be much better off forgetting about money and lifestyle and go and do something where it seems like you can do cool shit and maybe regain some semblance of gratitude for life.
Thank you for the advice. I heavily considered and wanted to join the US military my first year of college, but I never considered foreign military. Its not even that far-fetched or unrealistic, as I have a dual US and French citizenship, despite only living in the US.
Your profile notes S&T. After leaving the military, did you find coming back to finance and S&T interesting to some degree? Could I ask your motivation for entering the field.
Apologies, it’s an old title from my first job at a physical trading house. Still work in commods though just on the shipping/broking side more than the trading side.
Ultimately I went to uni after my stint in the military and felt that my biggest gripe was that my decisions didn’t have an impact anymore. Get good grades? Great, I guess, but nobody rlly cares. Get shit grades? Yeah, still nobody cares.
My choice to go into commods trading and later shipping stemmed from the fact that I felt that my decisions had outcomes even if they were small.
Obviously with the trading side your decisions affect price, supply, demand. In the shipping side (where I am now) I’m not naive enough to say the economy will fall apart if I don’t show up to work, but if I am not able to solve the problems I’m presented with, or help solve someone else’s problems and a 150k MT shipment of iron ore is late or needs to be rerouted, then someone somewhere is going to feel it.
I still want to make money and give a good life to those i care about, but if I truly had 0 worries and dependents, I would let my mind run wild thinking of all the things I’d want to do if money and lifestyle were not an issue.
I will say if you are thinking of military, read books, go online and find someone to ask questions to (I was not in the US military). Make sure you have a VERY good understanding of what it actually means. Especially in the US (barring future events) you aren’t rlly in an active war, so it’s gonna be a lot of training, waiting to rush, rushing to wait, and it can get quite frustrating to train like a dog for something you might not even get to do (deploy). This is 100% of the reason why the foreign legion appealed to me for a long time because it has a 100% deploy rate, so you WILL use your training. Again, personal desire that does not translate to you 100% but coming from a military background it is not all kicking in doors and doing cool shit
Try consulting, it's more interesting. It doesn't even have to be MBB. I've done finance and consulting and the diversity of assignments is much higher in consulting, the people are more chill, you get to travel, and as long as you aren't at a sweatshop it can actually be quite interesting and refreshing.
Terribly sorry for your loss. It gets better. I try not to give advice but just share opinions: now isn't the best time to make long term plans and you might want to consider taking some time off. I lost a parent my 2nd year of college and what I should have done is take a break and re-evaluate what I want to do, to grieve properly, and to also refresh my spirit. It's your call. I wish you well.
Thank you. Yes, I could probably get into consulting without needing to network much, as I already have connections there.
Yeah you're welcome, I'm pulling for you.
Plus a lot of folks skip out on consulting to industry and life gets even better. Typically a raise, even better hours, and you get better treatment because of your consulting background. If you're "operational" i.e. not suffering from burnout or depression (hey, I understand, I spent years there) then I'd say you have some fight in you to do more than "just survive". And if you take some time off, so be it, it's better than flailing around. A very close friend took a couple years off and another took a semester off after losing family members, they're doing really well and didn't torture themselves like I did by trying to pretend things were fine, burning out, ending up as a bartender for years, and then clawing my way back in. Don't be stupid like me, be smart like my friends, they're toing to retire earlier LOL.
I don't know your temperament but I'd point out that if you were capable getting into IB, you're not the type to bum around and you're going to get bored at some point. If you need a break, do it, and if your head is in the game then continue to rock out at life. As you get older, you'll thank yourself for giving yourself more options. And remember: you can always change directions again. But do take advantage of your youthful energy to set yourself up well in life. It gets a LOT harder to change directions as you age.
All the best :)
My two cents - taking the job you have now will be easier than getting a new one. Just be a bad IB analyst for a year, don’t do what you don’t want to do/can’t do at this stage, take the payday and walk away with IB on your resume when you get fired/leave.
I will leave it to the vox populi to decide if this is good advice or toxic advice, but hurling yourself into a demanding job can be a positive distraction during grief. Speaking from experience.
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