I’m a junior studying CS and economics. I recruited for both banking and tech because I couldn’t decide which field I wanted to do (I’ve done tech internships in the past but neither love it nor hate it). I recently got a credit suisse offer and a Microsoft offer.
I’m trying to figure out which field/company to go into. In terms of a couple of pros and cons of banking:
Banking Pros: * Money down the line * I really enjoy the market, so I hope this translates to me enjoying banking * if I do banking this summer, I can break into tech or banking full time, though tech wouldn’t be as easy without Microsoft on my resume. But if I do tech this summer, I can’t break into banking
Banking cons: * Hours (but I don’t have a life anyways, so shouldn’t matter, but I need 7.5 hours of sleep to function) * I heard Credit Suisse’s name isn’t as great in the finance world, in comparison to Microsoft in the tech world * boring work potentially?
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Congrats on two great offers! What's the position at Microsoft? If its Software Engineering or Product I would take Microsoft. But at the end of the day, both places will give you what you need to succeed long term. It comes down to whether you see yourself excelling in tech or finance down the line. Tech definitely has a better lifestyle long term. You might also want to think about the tailwinds that the tech industry has -- if you were to want to start a company later on or something of that nature I would argue that having the tech skillset is much more versatile and valuable in the market today.
It's software engineering, and thanks for the advice! I'm just trying to figure out how much money (300k vs. 1MM+) 10 years down the road matters to me. Honestly, I'm not a great coder, which is why I don't see myself going past the 300k level, but for banking, I know I can grind shit out, but not sure if I could make MD.
edit was wronG
Then to answer your question I think both careers are good and ultimately you’ll make good money (though perhaps the edge is with finance). Its a rhetorical question but personally what do you like more? Because all the pros/cons you mention while valid will ultimately tie to that. I will say though if you do go tech you can get your MBA and always go into IB whereas im not sure if thats necessarily possible vise versa (software engineering roles)
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Appreciate your advice. Honestly, I'm not sure what I like more. I'm super into markets and understanding companies, but not sure if I can handle the mind numbing work for several years. At the same time, tech probably is more interesting in terms of daily work, but I'm probably below average in terms of my coding prowess.
Investment banking has almost nothing to do with the public markets so if that’s your motivation for banking I’d recommend going the tech route
Yeah, makes sense. Appreciate the advice!
I interned at Microsoft as a SWE, and it was nice. Definitely laid back (could be just my team but), I could come in at like 10am and leave at 4pm. In terms of work life balance, it's really hard to beat tech. I worked like 30-40 hours a week and got a return offer (not full time just another summer internship).
It really depends whether you value worklife balance to be honest. In addition, not everyone becomes a MD. People look for exit ops for a reason. Personally, I can't imagine myself trying to bring in clients as a MD. It's just not me.
Yeah, makes sense. The WLB is nice, but I also don’t know what I’d do outside of work haha.
Yeah lol MSFT usually has a more chilled life compared to other big tech companies (Facebook and Amazon specifically). If ur going to the tech path, work at MSFT for a few years then you can transfer to Google which still has chilled life (except for Cloud teams).
Also you said you don't what to do outside of work, you can always maybe start a side hustle or learn stocks/trading, because you mentioned that you are interested in the market.
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