This is overrated

Now that I think about it, investment banking is kind of overrated, don't you think? I mean let's analyze the fact that this job could be done by your average joe, it doesn't take a boy genius brain to do this. Most of the people on this forum want a challenge, so why not switch to PE or VC? Does everyone here want investment banking for the rest of their career? Sure the payout is decent, but no thanks. In no form am I hating on IB, it's just that I get skeptical, bear with me.

8 Comments
 

If you truly were familiar with the mentality of people on this forum, you would know that most people don't enter IB with the intention of staying there for their entire careers. Also, getting a job in PE or VC straight out of undergrad is very difficult and there are few such positions available. Finally, if IB were such a simple job as you say it is, wouldn't that make it underrated instead of overrated? Or did you rip that idea out of some Elite Daily headline?

 
Best Response

I want to say this is a poorly written troll post, but I guess I'll try to answer this.

  1. No entry-level job is going to be rocket science. They don't let 20+ year olds do the difficult work because that would be ridiculously stupid. Clients want to meet MDs who have cut their teeth, not some precocious college graduate who built their first model.
  2. Your point that the work can be done by the "average joe" is useless. Plenty of people looked at Picasso's art and said it was easy to replicate. Doesn't mean they actually tried to create Picasso 2.0. Same goes for IB, obviously on a smaller scale. Sure, you can learn the Excel, the modeling, the finance concepts on your own, but most people don't.
  3. The pay is "decent" made me laugh. What do you want to make out of college? 500k?
  4. I also thought it was funny that you essentially insinuated that IB was some sort of easy career, while the guys in PE/VC do god's work.
 

Yeah he has the entitlement problem for sure. If an analyst makes 130k gross after their bonus that literally puts them ahead of over 90% of Americans at age 23 and probably ahead of 99% of those who are the same age. The "average joe" sure as hell doesn't work 70-100 hr weeks.

 

Your average Joe processes TPS reports, balks at responsibility, and that with some Monday night football satisfies his intellectual curiosity and capacity. Besides you need to crawl before you're entrusted with the game winning shot. Hopefully you're old enough to get the reference.

"I am that I am"
 

The pay in IBD is decent?? It's outrageous. 22-year old kids who make almost triple the average salary is what makes it worth it to a lot of people. The work is more often than not boring and uninteresting but yo do learn very valuable skills and you make tons of money. The actual work you do in IBD is massively overrated, the pay and the learning experience are definitely not.

 

Labore voluptas totam quo voluptate itaque. Et ut impedit ipsa. Et accusantium dolorum officia. Blanditiis sequi minima culpa corporis assumenda ut.

Vel id sed ut nam. Et necessitatibus reprehenderit dignissimos dolore voluptatibus blanditiis velit. Tempore labore facilis sit voluptas quia suscipit impedit. Dolor necessitatibus perferendis magnam eligendi quam at. Minima esse id labore blanditiis sit. Nisi doloremque assumenda rem consequatur quas optio voluptatem. Eos veniam excepturi facere mollitia.

Animi eligendi earum ducimus nihil est neque. Voluptates dolor voluptas et illo et aut qui dolores.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 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

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 11 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $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

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...”