I mean let's be honest we’re all in this for money. So why on earth would you go to nyc or sf and work like a dog just to give half your paycheck to the city? I don’t want to hear about exit ops let’s be serious, half of you won’t make it in banking long enough to make it to the buy side. Hours are bad but have you actually read about SF hours? Just as bad if not worse.
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Culture sucks. Houston sucks. It’s a mature industry with a declining client base from consolidation. Lack of exit opportunities.
its the keeping up jones attitude. IB, traditionally, is for people who went to K-12 private, then expensive private school. Rolex, caviar, etc. From that elitest perspective, Texas is a laggard. They don't care about growth, they care about prestige, aura, etc.
Who gives af. I like people not liking O&G. Fact of the matter is, if your actually bright, hard working, smart, etc etc, O&G provides asymmetric results. Its easier for me at the top energy PE shop, be CFO, etc in the energy industry than the tech industry where I am complete with every random kid in the whole world who want to work on the next mega tech transaction. Keep hating O&G, its the one thing the world relies on and universially underappracites. Makes my life easier from a competitive pov.
On money, no point in even having a discussion. River Oaks (best part of HTX) rent is 1.7-2k/month, for a 1x1. no state income tax, no CITY income tax. enjoy NY, imma live better than you. Bye.
You know ball
This is the issue I had with Houston people. Living a mediocre life where the bar is low is not living better than others. They don’t do anything else but sit in hot traffic, work, and go out to average restaurants but somehow it’s the best place ever lol.
yeah, realistically, as in all of life there are pros and cons and you just have to choose what you want. NY does provide a better experience with food, bars, etc no doubt, but at a high price point. Boils down to what you want really.
On the weather point though, NYC isn't the best either, there's only really 4 months in NYC which are nice and after that it sucks as well. At least in Houston I have my own car.
Houston is not the best place imo, Dallas is much better, Austin a close second. Finance in Dallas might be the move tbh.
Hot traffic>>> stinky subway..
own apartment>>>>roommates..
You act like you have so much more free time to actually enjoy nyc. I’m sure you’re eating mediocre food in nyc as well!
You obviously don’t know anything about Houston. River oaks, memorial and west u, where most senior bakers live, are all far from a “low bar” or mediocre lifestyle. It is also a top tier city for food
Do you actually find O&G interesting though?
I disagree w most of what this commenter is saying (especially re O&G PE which realistically does not exist) but as someone who works in the coverage IMO it's one of the better aspects. Quite interesting
Plus there are more and more general industries corporate headquarters in Texas, eventually they will move more coverage out of there as opposed to NY.
Because Houston sucks
assuming you don't want to be a career banker and want to exit buy-side, O&G prepares you mostly for HFs.
now, the issue is that the shifts in oil prices are extremely random and it's an illusion that you properly anticipated what will happen.
if you read Oil 101 by Morgan Downey you'll realize that you'll be better off doing something else for the long-term
Why do you say O&G prepares you mostly for HFs? And do you mean a specific kind or HFs in general?
I would also like to hear about the energy ib to HF. Pls advise
Houston is fine and you definitely make more money with the lower taxes/COL, but it's hard to just tell people to go there without knowing what it is. There's a reason SO many people lateral to NY from there.
The culture is very insular and most people in the industry / in Houston are from TX. It's not the easiest to be an outsider in that town.
Exit ops are also rather minimal outside of Texas or energy-focused roles. So if you move there and hate it, it can be hard to leave. You would usually have to lateral and even that isn't a cakewalk
You had me at money… I’ll take Houston with money vs being poor in nyc
If you are into O&G, have a Houston nexus / a desire to live there it can be great and fulfilling. I agree with others here that longer-term O&G (5/10/20 years out) probably not best place to be. NY / SF will give a lot more optionality career wise. In a down market you can be in any industry group in SF or NY and move to a corporate relatively more easily. If you are looking to move back from Houston in an up or down market it’s very tough given it’s a super niche sector. In the heyday of the Covid hiring boom views on candidates from Houston muted even at good shops.
Go with what works for you.
Cost of living benefit in Houston in amazing; if you work in energy, really anywhere in the value chain your quality of life far surpasses the coasts. I would not recommend moving to Houston simply to save $ if energy isn’t your thing. Houston economy is more 1 dimensional than other less expensive cities (charlotte, Minneapolis, Denver, Nashville etc)
Energy is interesting but it also went from being one of the biggest S&P sectors to now one of the smallest. There's just less deals to go around, so the sweaty hours are a function of we're fighting over a smaller pie. Maybe AI data centers and LNG changes that
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