Why Are Exit Ops Such a Priority? What Happened to Grinding It Out to MD?
Genuine question here, why are exit ops treated as such a priority when recruiting for IB analyst roles?
When I read WSO threads or talk to people going through recruiting, it feels like half the motivation for breaking into banking is to get out of banking. Everyone wants to use IB as a 2-year stepping stone to PE, HF, VC, corporate development, etc. Does anyone actually want to stay and build a long-term career at one bank anymore?
What happened to committing to the firm, proving yourself, and grinding your way up to VP/Director/MD? Is it really that bad of a career path, or has the whole industry just shifted to chasing prestige exits because that’s what everyone else does?
I acknowledge that the WLB is infeasible, consistent 80 - 100 hour work weeks. Never having two days off in a row and waiting for the 2am email from a VP. But what happened to having that determination and loyalty to work your way up the firm ? To prove to yourself when it comes to getting thrown into the deep end you don’t sink but swim, embracing the challenge.
Would love to hear from:
• Analysts who plan to stay in IB long term - why?
• Associates/VPs who stayed - any regrets?
• People who left for PE/HF/etc - was it worth it?
• Seniors - what’s your conversion rate from analyst to MD and is it more common at EB/BB or certain firms
Is the obsession with exit ops overblown, or is there a legitimate reason nobody wants to stick around?
The focus on exit opportunities in investment banking stems from several key factors that have shaped the industry and the mindset of those entering it:
Work-Life Balance (or Lack Thereof): The grueling hours in IB—80-100 hour workweeks, unpredictable schedules, and constant availability—make it unsustainable for many to envision a long-term career. The lifestyle sacrifices often push analysts to view IB as a stepping stone rather than a destination.
Burnout and Attrition: The industry is structured in a way that expects high turnover. Many firms rely on a "burn and churn" model, where analysts are pushed to their limits, and only a small percentage stay to climb the ranks. This reality discourages long-term commitment.
Prestige and Financial Upside of Exit Opportunities: Private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, and other buyside roles are often seen as more lucrative and prestigious, with better work-life balance. These roles also offer the chance to work on the investing side, which many find more appealing than the advisory nature of IB.
Changing Industry Dynamics: The path to MD has become increasingly challenging. Success at the senior levels often depends on generating significant revenue and building a strong client network. For many, the risk-reward tradeoff of staying in IB doesn't justify the effort compared to the perceived stability and upside of buyside roles.
Cultural Shift: The competitive nature of those entering IB—often driven by a "what's next?" mentality—fuels the obsession with exit opportunities. Many view IB as a means to an end, not the end itself.
Optionality and Career Mobility: Completing an IB analyst program signals to the market that you're smart, hardworking, and capable under pressure. This opens doors to a wide range of opportunities, making it tempting to explore other paths rather than committing to the long grind in banking.
Perspectives:
In summary, the obsession with exit opportunities isn't overblown—it reflects the realities of the industry and the priorities of those entering it. While some still grind it out to MD, the majority see IB as a launchpad to other, more appealing career paths.
Sources: Breakdown of Post-IB Exit Opportunities, Am I missing something about buyside exits?, Why the focus on exit opps?, Breakdown of Post-IB Exit Opportunities
Marketing
Bump
80 hour work weeks aren’t sustainable for most people. Deep analysis, I know.
Agree but my point is why do so many college and high school kids obsess about getting a role in IB for a job they wouldn’t like and want to leave as soon as possible.
Okay burn out and WLB isn’t sustainable but there is other roles / stepping stones to get into PE. I acknowledge it may take a few years longer but at the end of the day the right career path in Corp Dev or Consultancy can still lead to PE. So why do so many people obsess about the prestige for IB.
Feel like part of it is to prove that you can handle the trial by fire
IB is the fastest way to PE, IB uses its analyst anyways. IB firms made the job transactional, it’s IB firms fault. It’s not a career option
tell me another job that pays 110k right out of undergrad that doesn't have crazy technical skills requirements (i.e. tech, etc.)
"collage"
Ah yes because going from IB -> UMM / MF PE ensures you no longer work 80 hour work weeks
Who would want to keep doing this shit for the rest of your life
Then why do so many people dedicate and waste their collage years (and now high school year) obssessing about getting a role in IB.
People only want the job for exit ops that shouldn’t be the case.
Brother you can’t spell college don’t worry about making it to MD
highest paying job without crazy barriers of entry right out of undergrad.
It should be the case as 90% of people have to exit. You can't have everyone staying
Because this job fucking sucks
Wrote you some deep thoughts but this damn app crashed on me. Lesson learned.
Points were valid. First actual meaningful comment I recieved thank you.
because who the fuck actually likes their job? IB is a shitshow.
The job is pretty demanding (but this has always been the case) and it provides a great skill set for other opportunities. But pay has stagnated and has not kept up with inflation, and is below similar levels of pay in the past. So, when people do the math on the pros vs. cons, it doesn't check out.
Agree, would just like to attach the Lehman pay, to add evidence to your point and raise awareness on how ridiculous it used to be.
use an inflation adjusted calculator too
Is it a payslip for ants
Because most people who have succeeded enough to get into a good college, etc. have gotten very good at following "the path," i.e. get these grades, do these extracurriculars and you'll be successful / happy. They see career as a continuation of that until they eventually get senior enough to realize they have to proactively take accountability for their lives.
Can't speak for all, but have met a lot of Associates in Tech coverage groups promoted in the last few years from Analyst between 2022-2025 having had a particularly difficult time leaving banking for Tech-focused PE/VC firms compared to Analyst classes right before them in 2021-2022 during the post-covid hiring boom. A big case of job hugging.
Was that year a hiring boom? I chose another exit after my stint in 2022 but I definitely remember having a plethora of PE/VC opps for quite a long time. Has it really slowed down / classes decreased more broadly?
Have seen this happen as well, even to some of the most talented TMT IBankers I have ever known. Wishing the best for all of us who have been dealt such a bad hand by this job market.
I share your sentiment to an extent. I always thought it was kinda strange that everyone is so focused on exiting when they haven't even entered yet. Doing almost anything with that mindset (means to an end) will likely lead to hate and regret. Personally I can't see myself doing anything other than IB, at least as a career. I didn't even know what IB was until my senior year of undergrad and even still had only a rudimentary understanding of it. Once I started doing it (albeit at a small boutique) I actually really fell in love with it. I think the problem is not with IB itself but that HS and college kids dedicate themselves to an incredibly difficult job and life without really knowing themselves and what they truly want, other than monetarily. With all the hours required to break into the best banks, there's no time allocated to investing in yourself. I spent that time in college learning about myself (each year I wanted to do something different; came in with undeclared major) and it 100% paid off. Everyone's situation is different but at least for me IB is hard but worth it. It's not a means to an end for me; it's just spending all day on the things I like doing. If money were no object I probably wouldn't do IB, but money is an object so might as well make it doing something I enjoy.
Because the seniors are losers irl. Not like Gordon Gekko or Jordan Belfort.
Nepotism is the ultimate rule, meritocracy is much lower compared to other "flashy" industries like tech. Not saying that it doesn't happen there, but being smart gets you further.
There is the paradox of bankers wanting to hire someone from a certain background (usually ties to going to an expensive college), but then seeing that these bankers don't want to get abused for an amount that their parents pissed away for school.
Lack of upside and the industry dying. Not to mention analysts dying for 70k give or take base after tax. Bonuses not guaranteed and many banks trying to fire before bonus season or before paying out benefits.
I could go on. People that "made it" earlier won't get it because the downfall of the industry started in 2008, but got even more fcked after covid. Job stability was one of the perks of IB and its not there anymore.
If you have to go through so many hoops to get into IB, the opportunity cost of taking risk is much lower.
Under what circumstances is the industry “dying” to you? The industry is cyclical but deal volume has generally increased (albeit slowly) over the last 20 years? You can’t compare everything to the experience at the top of a speculative bubble
the work hard play hard culture of pre-2008 died, that's why he is saying
now it's just another corporate path
By industry, I meant what the OP is referring to which is the grind culture and what it means for the average (not rainmaker MD) investment banker.
Even if deal volume increases, the bonuses are not going to be as insane as they were before. How do I know this? I work in a niche group at a large bank that had its record year in terms of volume this year.
Come around to bonus season, not only was it worse than prior years but we are also the most understaffed we have ever been. Banks were willing to pay for top talent back in the day, but now a banker is much more of a commodity.
Top of a speculative bubble huh? I think the economy will come back eventually, but I think the pay will only be more compressed inflation adjusted moving forward.
Someone kinda touched on it but I think this is only dire at larger banks. As a bank scales in size typically the junior experience is treated more more like a meat grinder sadly. Many people are forever bankers if they started in the LMM/smaller end of the MM.
Also should note there are a lot of great CorpDev gigs out there once you have done IB or IB+PE that you couldn't get without the 2yr-4yr grind. Have plenty of friends in their mid to late 20s now working 9-7, making solid six figures, and seeing a strong path upwards in their corporate roles.
Would highly reccomend to starting IB analysts to view the gig kinda of like Med School but even better (2yrs vs 4yrs), you get paid, and you have the optionality to take a variety of different paths depending on your interests.
On why most people don't want to grind it out to MD? Well I think most people realise they can be a lot happier with a bit less money and far more free time, which you don't know until you have gone through the IB experience for a while
What sort of corp comp would be considered a good exit after 2-4 years?
Depends on where you live and the respective COL but I'd argue that $150k base (median Corp Dev Manager Salary) + 30-40% annual bonus is a solid exit if you're someone who is at a good corporation, like M&A and want a life again.
Not everyone is super prestige / career driven forever as this tends to wear off at some point (and making work the validation of your existence is very unhealthy).
Think it's partially an ego thing as many people don't view corp dev the same way as IB / PE but making $150k - $175k+ all-in (depending on how long you stayed in banking) and having a life, being able to be close with friends and family, traveling numerous times a year, being less stressed, being in better shape, etc. isn't anything to hang your hat on. However, understand how it can be difficult to make this jump especially if you're making $250k - $300k all in as an associate.
Just my 2 cents.
Its like going to uni/school - not everyone wants to get a masters, PhD and become a professor; some just want the education of IB and then go out in the world to do better things.
Loyalty to the firm? lmao
It’s been a stepping stone for the last decade bro.
“What happened” well, PE as an industry grew and grew and grew and a bunch of bozos made out like bandits by getting multiple expansion on idiotic concepts like HVAC or dentist roll ups.
More seriously if you want to understand the trade off made—IB is strictly client services, so you are bossed around by the client which often are financial buyers or owners (PE firms). Also, no one idealizes being a glorified seller, so all these business club kids who think they will be the next Warren buffet jump ship from IB thinking they will operate companies and be a genius at “operations” while also moving up in the food chain.
Sadly, they reach PE and realize it’s actually a fundraising slight of hand and a racket where fundraised dollars are passed from company to company and the goal isn’t good investing it’s optics for fundraising and your firm. PE then becomes a game of politics and spanking the clown as you try to figure out why joining a declining no longer growing industry isn’t like the once rapidly growing and nascent industry your firms partners joined.
Sleight of hand for fundraising… very good.
PE is essentially a different form of banking from what I have observed over the years as both a “banker” and “investor,” though I am a credit guy so investor is a stretch.
I have seen very few astute PE “investors” over a decade. They are all generally process oriented people that buy things which fit within the criteria of the marketing materials used to raise their funds.
Having participated in all corners of the market, from MF or unfunded sponsors, I hold PE shops in very low regard in terms of being stewards of capital. But I’m happy to clip some spread off their ass and then go drink a few beers
Yes I want to stay in banking long term.
At some point you get tired of spending 70% of your day doing some variation of comps work
There is limited/no room at the top anymore. Comp has compressed MATERIALLY not just post-GFC but also in the last 10 years (there are some outliers such as the CVPs, Qatalysts, etc. of the world but that is the exception not the norm). The idea of banking being a "meritoracy" died a long time ago. In short, no one wants to grind anymore in this industry because it's not worth it (for most people) anymore. You can still make a boatload of cash doing this, but it's not the same level of coin as it was 10 years ago while the overall workload hasn't changed.
It’s pure sociology. Each generation idolizes something, and the next inevitably finds the blind spots in that idealization, often turning against it, for better or worse.
For instance, boomers had no issue climbing the corporate ladder, staying in one city, and dedicating their lives to a single career. Modern generations, on the other hand, grew up surrounded by stories of people making millions in a few years through startups, or quitting their corporate jobs to launch something in Brazil. That naturally kills the enthusiasm to grind for 10-15 years just to get rich later.
Add to that the endless stream of psyops, best-sellers, and influencers echoing certain life scripts like “you only live once,” “how I traveled to 60 countries,” or “quit your job and find purpose”, and you get a full cultural realignment of what people value and aspire to in life.
Will also say that prestige lost importance. If before that prestige was highly correlated with wealth, now they are separated. You can become rich without having anything prestigious associated with you, so many are ready to trade social impressions for building wealth based on their own terms.
Id disagree entirely. It's more the average banker in the 90s would be instantly rejected for being a poor candidate today.
I struggle to see the appeal of IB relative to PE or HF. The work in IB is mundane, doesn’t provide much intellectual stimulation and feels like it’s just a matter of optics/client pleasing. I feel like my day to day adds no value to my development or even our clients.
On the flip side, my friends in PE get to sit with management teams, be involved in discussions about deals and actually use their brains in their jobs. The money is higher AND more stable (IB bonuses go in the gutter if the market is bad whereas PE is essentially flat every year at the level of a good year for IB).
The people in IB are also less smart than PE and you tend to find more insufferable seniors who are grinding you out on useless pitch work from their insecurity of losing their job if they cant bring in deals. The incentives are aligned such that those above you grind you for dog shit work whereas PE incentives are aligned to grind you out on real deal/portco work. No brainer if you have to pick. Therefore, what is the upside in staying in IB? Just sounds worse all in all to me. The only people I see staying in IB are MBA associate because they can’t really get access to PE jobs with their backgrounds or people not smart enough to get a PE job.
Idk man, have you worked in PE before? Not saying IB is heaven, but a lot of what you said here also applies to PE.
Not yet, and I definitely don’t think PE is paradise but I’m willing to bet there is way less bs fake work in PE than in IB. Dont think PE associates waste 50% of their time working on random pitches that will never translate into actual deals. My impression is that most work is for something real like a portco or a deal (I know the work is not always sexy, but at least it’s real).
There’s also the fact that the IB team on a deal will tend to do the work the client doesn’t want to do themselves like cleaning data or reformatting slides while the sponsor will do the actual interesting analysis.
Valid criticisms of IB and as someone 2 years in certainly agree to some of these points. Sharing a couple of thoughts below (as someone contemplating their next moves as well):
1. IB is the safer option (most the time) if you're a strong performer. The bonuses, to your point, vary based on the cycle / firm performance (vs PE bonuses which are consistently being pulled from management fees) but there's certainly a spot for you post 2 years if you want to stay (vs the more popular 2-and-out nature of most UMM / MF PE roles), think the only caveat here would be once you hit VP level but that's still ~5-6 years in. Don't know the conversion rates of those PE associate programs but have heard they're 50% for sure
2. PE money is more stable (not always higher) unless your fund blows up or you don't get promoted and you get booted to get an MBA with no guarantee of a spot upon completion (hence the IB -> PE - > IB route being seen more and more nowadays)
3. Would make the argument that PE has insufferable seniors as well but instead of not bringing in deals, they aren't bringing in returns or being able to exit their holdings at strong returns or raise new funds
4. Would also argue PE has a ton of dog shit work involved too and in some aspects can be IB 2.0
5. Don't understand the "not smart enough to leave" comment as 99% of PE individuals come from IB backgrounds and it doesn't take a genius to spend 50 hours doing a Peak Frameworks course & grinding LBO's to get a PE offer. Simply think different strokes for different folks, I've met brilliant people all across areas of finance.
Cheers
Middle management at my current firm is notoriously clogged, and I know that there is no way that anyone in my Analyst class will make it to MD.
A lot of the current MDs are in their 30s-50s, and we all know that they will NOT step aside to pave the way for the next generation.
If we stay too long here, a lot of us will retire as overworked and disposable middle management members, only to be replaced by the next person, creating a Death of a Salesman Willy Loman scenario for us.
I did not sign up for my life to end that way, so while I build my skills, I am looking to have something to show for my life and everything my parents sacrificed for me to attend a top target school and land a good role coming out.
I don't think anyone plans to stay in IB for the long term anymore. Wonder what are the key reasons? Comp? Lifestyle?
I'm in LevFin banking as a VP and I like the gig. I did one 6 month rotation in tech coverage and wanted to fucking die. So unbelievably tedious and half of what we did was made up. So "banking" is not a monolith.
Why do you like LevFin and not coverage?
Coverage is more like being the traffic cop: lots of meetings, decks, and celebrating when someone else closes the deal.
Haha, welcome to modern IB recruiting — it’s basically speed dating for your CV. Most people treat analyst roles like a fast-track bootcamp: survive the 100-hour weeks, learn the ropes, and bounce to something shinier.
So true; my blue-collar boomer parents were asking me why I'm not showing enough loyalty to my company, and I was telling them that those days are gone and it would be awesome if I could find a company where I could stay long-term.
Sometimes sticking around for longer is the best decision. Moving around for a 10% pay bump is not always a wise decision.
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