Outside of NYC working in IB, what do you tell people that you do?

I'm in a large city (SF/LA/Chicago/Miami/Houston) but not NYC where finance is king. What do others that work in IB tell people what they do for a living when it comes up in regular conversation? Depending on the day and the intelligence of the person I'm speaking with I'll say "finance," or drop the "I work in investment banking" line. I always get mixed reviews, some people like it, others look at me like I'm the devil. One Uber driver that asked and got the IB reply went as far to comment "At least someone is making money" which isn't the case as I'm sure you all know, IB doesn't guarantee that you're exactly rolling in cash right from day 1.

How do you all approach these conversations?

8 Comments
 

solid reply outside of the use of "higher" instead of "hire" :P

Make Idaho a Semi-Target Again 2016 Not an alumnus of Idaho
 
Best Response

i usually say "i work at a bulge-bracket investment bank in the mergers and acquisitions group" at that point, they usually give me a weird look for being so specific, or say something like "wow that's a mouth full" i then reply, "yeah, i wouldn't expect you to know anything about it, peasant."

 

Eos necessitatibus qui nobis beatae. Est architecto ipsum ea asperiores reprehenderit ratione vel.

Iure ut quisquam ab minus. Aut veniam eos minima dolor ducimus consequatur porro ut.

Aut ut quis eaque eum in et eos. Dolorem quis enim dolores. Eaque debitis veritatis sapiente sed voluptate.

Voluptatum quod consequuntur dolorem quod voluptas consequuntur. Inventore dolor soluta possimus eum autem illum nemo beatae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”