I've surfed this forum for a while (post occasionally also), and noticed every other post is about combination of hours and pay. I think we've reached a consensus that you work on average of 90 hours a week with a high standard deviation and high variability/uncertainty within the week/ We've also established that a first year analysts will make about 120-150k at a BB all-in..
but in the grand scheme of things, those questions are more or less meaningless (they correlate money and hours with happiness, which may or may not be true), so I have a few important questions that I feel really haven't been addressed. I'm going to ask that only people who work FT answer, because I feel being a SA doesn't give someone appropriate knowledge. This is aimed more at analysts at BB and MM since that is what I'd be applying for.
1) If you were a junior in College again, would you do I-banking again? If so ,why? If not, why not, and what other jobs would you do?
2) Does the pay and exit opps compensate for lack of life/physical toll?
3) Are you able to keep in contact with friends/GF's once you start, or do you slowly lose them all? If you lost them, what sort of mental toll has this place don you?
4) People always say money doesn't make you happy, how has i banking proven/disproven this statement for you?
5) How has the job changed you?
6) Just overall, are you happy (truly happy, I know a few people who say they are "happy" because they think being able to pick up girls with money makes them happy, but they always seem miserable)?
I trying to decide what to do with my life, and interviews are fast approaching. I have a 3.5 at Stern, and internship at Blackrock under my belt (thinking of maybe joining Portfolio analytics). I've been leaning more and more towards Sales and trading (which is problematic because my school is recruited much more heavily for banking). I've read a lot about the different opportunities in finance, but reading and actually working is COMPLETELY different, so I'm not going to pretend to know which I'd be better at/like more (but at the moment I'm guessing trading). But I will tell you guys I'm the type that enjoys going out on weekends, and not one of the library-rats that spends their life studying (unlike most of my school :x )Any other general advice is welcomed, you can probably assume what I'm getting at with my questions.
Thanks!
or if you are feeling really lazy, "was it worth it?"
Since no one else has answered you yet...
1) Yes. Any entry-level job is going to have a lot of mindless work that needs to get done, at least with banking you can advance relatively quickly, get paid and have good exit opps. I wouldn't want to do consulting because of constant travel and would not want to work at a normal company. I had a HF offer as well but didn't like the location; that is the only other job I would have considered.
2) I think this depends on your long-term goals. If you want to have a career in banking or PE, then yes you pretty much have to (could start as analyst in PE too but hours/lifestyle are essentially the same as banking). If you want to go to a HF/do trading they don't care quite as much - if you can get an offer out of undergrad I would just do that instead of banking first. And if you don't want to do finance in the long-term but are just doing it to "check it out," don't. Stay far, far away.
3) You can stay in contact with friends but it's hard to stay in touch with hundreds of acquaintances - I just lose track of who I've talked to and who I haven't talked to. Maintaining a relationship is tough but not impossible. It's generally a function of how long you have been together and how understanding your SO is.
4) It hasn't. Bottom line is if you hate the job and want nothing to do with it, you will be miserable no matter how much you get paid. Working in a good group/with good people makes more of a difference than getting paid more. Besides, at this point you don't make more on an hourly basis than you do with other jobs.
5) Tough one. I've definitely gotten more out of shape from being in an office so much... not as bad as most people but noticeable. Probably also become more impatient. Then there's the matter of sleep debt.
6) Well, I will be happy when I finish up in June, does that count? Overall I'd say neither happy nor miserable... some days you will feel on top of the world, others you will hate yourself. So it's hard to answer this one.
It sounds like you're leaning toward Sales & Trading because of the lifestyle. If this is something you value highly, do S&T, no question. Yes technically your exit opps will be more limited but hating your life for 2 years doesn't make up for it.
Yes it was worth it and I would do it again. To the more specific questions.
If I was a junior again I would definitely do it again, and probably go even harder for the job than I did at the time.
The pay and the exit opps more than make up for the lack of control over your life (the control is the biggest aspect not the time etc)
Still have my friends that came to NY, made lots of friends in the bank (you essentially live with them so its natural). And I'm engaged to the girl that was my college GF (so I definitely "kept in contact")
Money doesn't make you happy, but it sure does help. The ability to go and get what you want when you want it and not worry about price is great. Once you're out and into your exit opp of choice, you even have the time to spend that money on trips, friends etc. As an analyst, when you have the time to do so, you can goto whatever bars, restaurants and clubs you want, buy stuff for your friends and yourself. Its nice.
It has made me even more pessimistic on the world around me, given me a work ethic most people would kill for, and the ability to very easily learn new skills. After spending my time at a BB, switching to other industries, doing things I hadn't even seen before became much much easier. It has also given me a very skewed view on the world in terms of what "good" compensation is. Making $150k your first year out of college means that you have very limited options that will pay as well.
Yes I'm happy. I leveraged my job into a better one, learned a ton, made a bunch of money. I wasn't happy a lot of the time while working at a BB, that came in brief waves, but now I am.
Basically an analyst stint (one, two, or three depending on what you can pull off) sucks while you do it, but has a lot of benefit to your life afterwards. Instead of going to law school, or something else you can learn while getting paid to do it.
thanks for your responses! prior to this I was under the impression that every I-banker was filled with regret and remorse.
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