This could be a stupid question but why do people choose to work at huge banks? Like going to a smaller bank still has similar pay to some degree but much better hours. Seems like a small firm would still give you good pay but an actual wlb? Any thoughts?
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Hours aren't determined by the size of your firm.
Brand and training. Having that big name on your resume when you start your career is a good advantage, as is having the big deals on your dealsheet. There is also structured training and more rigor in how work at the junior level is evaluated. It's often pedantic, logos not perfectly aligned, colors not perfectly matched etc. but there is standardization in how certain things like calculating cost of capital is done.
A lot of the small firms are the same hours, or only slightly less hours, for a much larger discount in pay, exits and branding.
Most people are not looking to stay in IB forever, it's a means to an ends.
From someone who has worked at a shitty Canadian bank to BB (ignore title), the main thing I say is the actual work you do.
BB provides solid training and the big cohort means there is structure in what you do. If you have trouble, you can ask the dozens of colleagues for help. There's a clear pipeline you can reference in terms of career development either internally or externally (thanks to the developed brand).
Smaller firms, you're very much on your own. You'll often hear 'You get more responsibility early on'. Now I'm sure some people like that, but it's not for everyone. It's the thing where if you get a task and you genuinely don't know how to get it done, you go off and figure it out rather than asking 1/10 of associates. Also, there's often tons of grunt work you have to do at the lowest peg on the pole. Also, hours are not that different from BB, since there's more variability (imo).
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