Hello everyone. I'm an investment banking analyst and I.. hate my job to put it lightly. I'm also terrible at it, which is mostly due to how much I hate it (I was a top 2 analyst until I just started hating everything). No, I'm not throwing myself a pity party. I'm interviewing for back office roles at a credit card arm at my BB that's more focused on strategy and implementing AI. I'm pretty excited. Q&A, I guess? I've never seen somebody do the reverse in this group.
Trending Content
Career Resources
I think I might take a major paycut, but I'm not certain. The role I'll be moving to is extremely new and it's focused on building up our AI capabilities more than anything else. I'm lucky to be debt free so I'm not worried about the paycut. I'm a bit of a boring person I'm afraid--I like cooking at home, going to happy hour with friends, and reading policy briefs--so I don't think a paycut will cut into my lifestyle too much.
I wish I had identified it sooner, honestly. The prestige of banking will get to you. I was the first sophomore from my college in years to get an investment banking internship, and the "prestige" and "oohs, aaaahs" I got really overrode my instincts screaming at me that this was not the job for me. It's dumb, but hell, I was young and I believe everything happens for a reason. I made some amazing contacts and mentors, and it was actually one of the mentors I made who advised me that if I hated what I was doing I should seek other opportunities at the firm.
I'm not sure yet. My friend's uncle offered me an interview at a private equity shop, but at this point I know I don't want to take it. I think I might look at consulting or strategy options, most likely focused on tech, or I might exit to Washington, D.C. as a policy advisor. I know some people down in DC that are really interested in somebody with some Wall Street and tech experience (and I have both).
I know that what I will find most fulfilling is the ability to have a career where I can make an impact on people's lives (impact investing, maybe policy advisor, etc) while at the same time being able to pay the mortgage on time. The drive to have something like that has carried me through high school, college, and now this job. I'm still figuring it out. Maybe I'll create something totally new and found my own firm. I'm leaving myself open to any and all options :)
Knowing myself, I think the "lucrative small business/crazy startup" lifestyle suits me best, while continuing to work on campaigns. I'd love to have a small business with my sister, exit into a White House policy team (Senior Analyst, etc.) and then either go back to my business or continue working in DC for a couple different Senators while pursuing different ventures on the side at incubators.
But again, I thought I'd be working my way towards a PE gig and clearly that's not the case, so maybe it's prudent for me to tell you to check in with me in 5 years for what could possibly be a totally different plan!
Sounds like you’ve really thought this stuff out. Very cool, go after your something you’re interested in then. At the end of the day prestige and money only matter if you want it to matter, as long as the bills are paid and you’ve got food on the table then the rest is always up to you. Go trail your own path, it’s your life and it should be set to be as fulfilling as you can make it for yourself, however that might be.
Great post! I think you've got your head in the right place.
Just a piece of advice on D.C....just because you're interested in policy doesn't mean that D.C. is the right place for you. Basically, your job for the first 20 years or more in D.C. (if you last that long) will be implementing someone else's policies, often times ones you don't agree with.
In some sense, it's almost better to have no interest in policies and to just be power hungry - that's the type of person that thrives best in D.C. People who are actually interested in policy realize that its all bullshit after a few years and leave.
I have massive respect for someone with the stones to post a "IB to Back Office: AMA" thread. But life's too short to wake up every morning hating your job.
Thank you! Yeah.. I wake up every morning dreading walking into work. The happiest part of my day is walking out of the office, and my vacation was borderline euphoria. I gained weight from the stress alone.
Totally not worth it.
This'll be a nice contrast from the usual: "I grew up in a sewer and went to a non-target in Syria, now I'm in IB" posts.
Hey FutureProspects! A couple different reasons:
I don't consider a company worth 300k (and that's assuming astronomical student loans) that impressive. Sorry. I know plumbers and landscapers whose companies are worth more than that.
Thank goodness I wasn't seeking your approval! Just a good time and a good experience in my early 20s! And if it covered some student loans--all the better!
-Has super secret "company" you can't talk about even without naming it because it would "out" you that you started over a "cup of ramen"
-"Wasn't interested" in attending an Ivy League school (surely not sour grapes because you weren't admitted to any of them....yeah ok)
-Went a "top 40" liberal arts college that you can't identify, again, because you're so well known you would out yourself
-Post in a ridiculous Pollyanna style, complete with smiley faces
-Thinks you deserve to "enjoy" your job, because no one should ever have to do anything they're not passionate about to pay the bills, no sir.
3/10 low quality trolling
Oh dear - are we seeing another "Stephen Ridley" (Apr 2012)? https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/life-after-investment-banking
That guy works for 16 months and kept ranting about how IBD is not for him, and after 6 years (Feb 2018), he is back doing the same thing - banking. https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/junior-banker-turned-rock-star-return…
Want to show you this clip. I think the guy was saying how people try to get away from the track because they wanted to be "different". Most successful people stay on the track by being boring and normal (i.e. Warren Buffett all his life was doing value investing). There are also consequences of staying off the track that people don't usually account for: i) whether they can still get back on the track if at all, ii) if not, the amount of extra work that they have to do just to get back on the track. Do have a few friends who are in the VP level and got off the track to do crazy things; after 2 years out of the industry, all the peers have moved on and there are no more seats for him at the table. High Finance itself is an extreme competitive industry (esp product people - i.e. DCM, LevFinance, M&A) and people usually underestimate how fast they become irrelevant as soon as they leave the industry.
The only thing I'm wondering is, why leave banking for banking operations? If you don't like banking, why not move to ops at a tech company, because then you'd get to work on the 'future of how things work'? Plus, depending on company and size, it could be a lot more interesting and allow you to put your stamp on the industry a lot more than what I think you could do in banking ops.
I would just be careful as to whether you’re actually getting to play a role in real strategy and implementation. But perhaps you’re using the term “back office” loosely here.
Is there an innovation strategy team at the bank that works with business units on identifying solutions they can implement via AI, partnerships, or investing (via Corp venture arm)? If you’re also interested in private equity (but with fewer hours) or impact investing, and also have interest in tech, those roles might be more aligned.
If it’s implementing AI by the bank building something in-house, I would be careful to see what they believe AI to be (depending on how conservative or aggressive the bank is towards investing on innovation). For instance, some may think RPA is AI... or some bank execs may actually be against AI (because they don’t want the bad press of cutting cost by cutting obsolete employees, until their peers do, or because they understand the “black box” nature of it). In short, you want to make sure whatever group you join is supported by: a big budget that isn’t heavily gated by naysayers, executive buy-in, management team with a lot of clout and autonomy.
Lol serious...