Wondering why this keeps popping up. Is it the culture, hours, pay, nature of the work, future of the industry? Also what kind of jobs do you mean by 'Tech'. What comes to mind initially is software development and engineering as well as sales. What other roles would people consider desirable in the world of tech?
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grass is always greener.
tech has better WLB.
finance has a better $$$ ceiling.
This isn't even true. The equivalent of MD's at tech F500's make just as much. Global heads of groups at VISA, Salesforce make 5m+. Realistically only IB, HF, and a select few AM roles make more.
This is a forum filled with sophomores that would literally blow middle aged men to secure a PE internship. So, take their advice on banking with a grain of salt.
Why am I getting monkey shit?! I'm right.
The majority of this forum hasn't even graduated college. Hearing candid advice on other industries can be incredibly helpful.
By higher $$$ ceiling, I really meant to say that you're more likely to end up on a 7 figure income by going down IB/PE/HF compared to going down Big Tech. Sure, it's possible to get 7 figures in tech at L7/L8+ but it's a fair bit harder to get to that stage vs. getting to Director+ in banking and co.
Also, by tech I was thinking of technical roles like SWE rather than tech sales.
The difference is really in the ceiling and the speed at which you get there. You are right that F500 global heads make a lot of money, but making 7 figures by late 20s/early 30s is extremely hard in that field (outside of stars in tech you really don’t see it).
Don’t get me wrong, it is also extremely hard in finance, but you have more paths to get there (and HFs tend to be willing to pay just based on performance, so you can get there quickly).
From a risk adjusted basis the tech side is great because your risk of getting fired is generally much lower.
The people asking this question always make a single core assumption: That everyone working in these fields made their decision based on which one would maximize comp/net worth. They likely make this assumption because that is what they are doing. The question means little if you are actually interested in one or the other.
I usually think of SWE too, but I am terrible with programming, so I could never succeed in tech.
People look at banking as "its not what you know, but who you know", and tech is the opposite. So, depending where you fall on those ideas, thats which one you think is better
Just elitism probably. They're both good jobs, but IB is much more open to people from different backgrounds/skills. Not sure why tech guys love to shit on banking because it's a great gig for those of us that aren't geniuses but are hardworking. BBs offered me the opportunity to attend events at their offices (all expenses paid) to network with professionals and learn about the industry. I got interested in it and went through processes to get an offer at an EB. Tech firms never had anything like that, and expected candidates to have taken several comp sci courses and already be strong in coding/technical knowledge, whereas I was able to learn everything on the job in IB. In my experience, tech guys look down people who are studying liberal arts or business, but in IB they take anyone, from engineering to finance to philosophy
There is more elitism in tech than finance imo because networking is not as important.
If anything finance is way more elitist than tech. So much emphasis on elite universities and elite internships. Tech is way more meritocratic.
Nah man, I know people at BBs that have colleagues from all sorts of schools, and they take a ton of people from diversity programs, which take students from all over. Also, EB recruiting was during my sophomore spring, so I didnt even have internship experience, but still got interviews at most of them. All I had to do was connect with people I met during recruiting events and show my interest.
Tech is better if you can swing it. Regret not studying coding basically every other day.
The two draw different crowds. Most kids in SWE wouldn't cut it in IB (not for intelligence reasons but if you've ever worked in IB for > 1 year you'll quickly see why) and likewise most kids in IB simply weren't interested in coding or don't have the aptitude for it either.
I'd say at the junior levels it's a wash in comp if you're top tier in both. The caveat as that in SWE you're work life balance will be a lot better than IB. You aren't 9-5, but you sure as hell aren't 80+ hrs a week on a regular.
I'd say as you get to mid levels, IB comp as a gruop is on average better but then in tech if you get lucky and are at the right place at the right time (think my friends who are 3 years out of college who are SWE's at Airbnb, they'll pull in more than your average MD this year alone). They are the exception but not the norm. Similar could be send for exiting sell-side into buy-side (thinking a tiger cub group that kills it one year in P&L, yes that kid might also make more than an MD or SWE).
how much did they make total, and what did their average week look like in terms of hours
For airbnb? I won't say. It's disgusting and will likely hurt lots of peoples' feelings on here. Brady just won his 7th superbowl, i'm tryna keep the mood light LOL
IMO the median-or-better kids of either field could do both if they had the chance to go back to school etc. Prob a bit more time investment needed for tech than vice versa
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