Question for IB analysts with friends in tech

I wish this was a satirical question but it's not. How do you guys cope with friends in tech sometimes making 1.5-2x more and having much better work life balance/culture..it didn't bother me at first until one day it did (after all the long hours start getting to u and u start rethinking ur life choices)🥴

12 Comments
 
Most Helpful

That’s not entirely true. I go to a tech school and have friends who have accepted software engineering roles at Amazon, Apple and Google. The pay is roughly around 160-170k including stock benefits that vest over 4 years compared some some EBs that pay more than 200k in good years. Obviously it’s different on an hourly basis. Another thing is that IB pay scales much more and much faster than tech roles where after two years in IB associates make 350k compared to engineers who are stuck at the same salary.

 

anon_undergrad

That's not entirely true. I go to a tech school and have friends who have accepted software engineering roles at Amazon, Apple and Google. The pay is roughly around 160-170k including stock benefits that vest over 4 years compared some some EBs that pay more than 200k in good years. Obviously it's different on an hourly basis. Another thing is that IB pay scales much more and much faster than tech roles where after two years in IB associates make 350k compared to engineers who are stuck at the same salary.

Agreed - pay scales much faster in IB, and generally there's a lot more upwards mobility that is mostly dependent on your individual performance. Granted it also comes with the increased risk of "up or out". But the bank wants to eventually promote you to MD in the long term if you can actually perform and bring in fees, as you transition from being a cost centre to a revenue generating asset. In theory there is almost unlimited room for MDs at a bank, as long as each brings in sufficient fees to justify their existence. 

That's not the case in tech roles - there's plenty of room for high paying junior roles, and even senior engineer type roles that actually write the software, but promotions above that can be spotty, and depend more on internal politics or if there's room, despite how well you may perform individually. At the end of the day, they only need a handful of people leading the direction of the software team, and if there's an internal view those people are competent and they stay in that role (don't leave or aren't promoted), it'll be difficult for anyone to get promoted into that role

 

Most of my friends work in tech, absolutely rethink my life every week after another 90hr grind on BS materials with bad culture. Once tech hiring is back to normal, I might just go become a SWE (cs degree). Maybe, I’ll see you on the otherside OP

 

Tenetur sunt quibusdam ut autem. Est voluptas quasi fugit veritatis repellendus. Et alias voluptas odit maxime. Esse molestiae sint velit et possimus. Ut sed nemo et dolores asperiores. Accusantium praesentium id quaerat. Iste accusantium ut aut amet nobis voluptatum repudiandae.

Ipsum molestiae hic et eos. Quia beatae dolores repellendus non quo non.

Quia assumenda autem porro assumenda. Cum voluptatem similique error ut. Ea explicabo sed nesciunt. Quidem ut non autem fugiat odit nemo.

Itaque et quisquam odio cupiditate sapiente iusto. Quia ullam sequi excepturi vel. Voluptas veniam non est qui. Non id ratione corporis id vel aspernatur. Voluptas animi rerum voluptas dolorem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”