What doors does IB/finance experience close?
Re-reading the Walter Isaacson bio on Steve Jobs and in it he notes that when Apple was getting off the ground, Jobs used to say that if someone worked at “x” bank, Apple wouldn’t hire them.
Disregarding whether this was wholly or partially in jest, what are doors that might be closed off to former bankers/investors/advisors, etc.? More of a conceptual idea than literal - does the mental training, grid spreadsheet orientation stifle creativity? Does the transactional nature of the business erode thinking outside the box?
I honestly can't imagine a job that would close doors solely on the fact someone worked in IB. However, I could absolutely imagine someone's personality being a factor into a door closing. But I think everyone views IB experience as a boot camp on getting multiple skills ramped up.
Doesn’t necessary close any doors but makes it hard to recruit for jobs considered “lower” on the prestige/pay scale than IB. Something like FP&A for instance, most hiring managers would be skeptical on why you’re leaving IB for FP&A and not PE or something similar. If you mention it’s purely for WLB it’s an insta ding in most cases. Aside from this haven’t heard anyone say that it stifles creativity although, it probably does after a while (then again how much creativity do you really need in any finance/corporate job).
"What doors does IB/finance experience close?"
In the real world, IB doesn't close any doors that do not require technical skill/knowledge. Absolutely none. This only really is a thing for potential employers who are terminally online or if you are speaking in the most literal "targeting individual opportunities not the opportunity set" with your example being good way to demonstrate this. IB won't keep you from working at A highly regarded Silicon Valley computer startup even though you may not necessarily be able to work at early-Apple specifically.
PE/VC/HF is where you get more of a narrowing, although the degree to which they actually close doors depends a lot on the specific firm/investment strategy/personal experience/etc.
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