At a target and freshman, pretty much committed to the grind and gunning for a gig in IB/RX hoping to go do PE and one day SM L/S. big dreams and no guarantees.
Wanted to ask people in IB, in PE, in HF, and VC would you do it all over again?
Was it what you imagined?
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Life will go by much quicker than you think, so... I would do something I actually enjoy. different industry, different locations, smaller towns, and settle down earlier in life.
yeah to me investing seems dope. but it’s not something i want to do forever, more on the VC/silicon valley/tech side
I do it again??!!!
The privileged ones who grew up in comfortable upbringings may say no, because the upside in income you get from finance wouldn’t really change the lifestyle they’ve already lived all their lives: having money for hobbies, eating better, entertainment, traveling, etc. So, when they regain consciousness—i.e., leave autopilot or stop following the Joneses—they may start to question why they followed the herd. They might even consider entrepreneurship or something that would have given them genuine excitement, instead of continuing to live and do essentially what they already did, but with a slight materialistic upgrade.
On the other hand, for others like me, who come from lower-middle-class or blue-collar families, where no one really had any serious university education, it was definitely worth it. It’s like living a completely different life. You are surrounded by polished people, you learn a lot if you truly want to (you need to go beyond what is expected of you to avoid monotony), you get paid well, and you work in a comfortable office where no one is breathing down your neck as long as you know what you’re doing. It’s an extremely comfortable lifestyle where I don’t really feel any stress because my stress tolerance is extremely high due to personal experiences.
Would I have wanted to go into entrepreneurship or something completely different? Not really. In entrepreneurship, you’re sacrificing 10 years of comfort in the hope of making it. When you’ve already been financially constrained your whole life, I don’t care about eight figures. Life goes fast. I don’t want to get buried with my wealth, and I don’t have this delusion of wanting to pass billions to my children. I live ten times better than my parents and it feels extremely pleasant to afford things that seemed out of reach during my childhood and even university years without hesitation.
If you're asking why necessarily some intense finance roles instead of something more relaxed with better WLB, Rubenstein said it better: Coming from a not so favorable background gives you an advantage compared to those that don't: Ambition.
Realest post of 2025 just dropped and it’s still January. Same story here and agreed 100%.
Super cucky way to say great post thank you
great fucking post i come from a similar background.
Real
First-gen college grad here. I started at a community college before transferring to a state school to study engineering. Did a stint in the military and now heading to HSW this fall to recruit for IB -- this post really hit home for me. Thanks for sharing
bro should be recruiting for POTUS with a story like that. must be H/S since wharton only took 1 transfer last year
dude lets connect. my background is the same only flipped. military in IT, now community college trying to transfer into a decent enough school to recruit. I'm in the academy now
Privileged person here. Wouldn’t do it again not because I don’t want to sacrifice my time or comfort to do the job. It’s because through my family I’ve recognized that there are more lucrative ways to make money besides IB that are more creative. Seeing my parents become wealthy in fields besides IB it has taught me that it’s probably the worst way to do it.
Real. It's probably grass is always greener, but I'm jealous of people who have careers they're really passionate about and where their individual impact made a difference to something in the world.
It's like the self actualization at the top of the hierarchy of needs - it's not necessary to live a very good life, but you just crave it if you don't have it.
Your comment absolutely resonated with me and I grew up in a similar household. Abusive and alcoholic father that left us when I was 14 and my mother was fighting cancer for the last 10 years which I paid for by working 3 jobs after college. Unfortunately, my hardwork didn’t workout for me. I lost my mom last year and I’m also in a situation now where I could never land a PE role due to how rigid their hiring practices are. (I’d have to do a post MBA IB stint and I’m 34 which would almost certainly get me auto rejected). I’ve done hundreds upon hundreds of cold emails and linked in messages. I’ve gone to industry events, I’ve offered to work for free, but nobody was having it. You feel like me in an alternate timeline. Do you have any suggestions for me? Would you be okay if I messaged you? It feels so bleak and hopeless for me at this point and trying to figure out my next steps. I’ve always wanted to be an investor and work on deals and I really can’t see myself doing anything else.
What grind bro, sending emails and getting good grades, you clearly want to do this if your willing to ask this. Stop trying to find cope for if you fail next year. And asking these people if they would do it all over again is pointless, this shit is way harder for us. Salaries are stagnant, PE and HF upside are much harder to come by, ib is compressed, I don't really consider vc a career. Can you deal with the state of finance in 2025?
this not cope buddy. 😂
6 months ago you started a thread named “extremely confused sophomore” and now are a thought leader on this site. What a journey, congrats!
i’ve gone full circle. i’m ready for lone pine!
No
Although I would not say I am a softie, this job def have mental tolls on people
I would not do it all over again.
I would not listen to the Restless guy above. He's consistently one of the rudest and worst posters on this site. I guarantee I grew up less "privileged" or "comfortable" than him and his argument is nonsense. He's completely missing the point.
The issue with the industry is NOT necessarily the lack of WLB/extreme grind in exchange for money. It's the lack of job security and stability. If you're a mid-level professional from high-finance it can take a years to find another comparable role. And no, most corporates are not goin to give you a ton of credit for your experience and you'll be making the equivalent salary of what you pulled in as a first year analyst. People like him clearly have never experienced a rough market. The landscape of white-collar work is changing even more now with AI, overseas talent, cost-cutting, etc tool even if people don't want to talk about it.
If you can survive the downturns, I think high-finance is very much worth it but frankly most people will not survive those cuts. The math with regards to demand and the number of good seats out there just doesn't check out.
edit: irrelevant
Didn't need to read anything past this. You don't have any idea what you're talking about nor do you have a grasp of economic cycles. You won the lottery and began in finance at the start of one of the greatest cyclical bull markets in history and are convinced your savvy internal "politics" and Powerpoint skills have made you some kind of competitive high-finance gladiator that's irreplaceable. You make Smoke Frog look like a genius.
If anyone reading were to take one thing away from this post, this is it. A lot of you know, a lot of you don't.
At a certain point, what differentiated value you bring to the table trumps where you worked and where you went to school. Everyone who broke in can grind hours, pull together analysis and output slides. There is no shortage of pedigree, but far fewer rockstars.
Appreciate your OP post man, I'm very much in the same lane.
Skills like resilience and ambition are things that are hard to truly acquire without being pushed to your limit. I know plenty of people who couldn’t make it the full two years in investment banking or even through their SA stint, and transitioned to MBB/Corp Dev/Corp Banking/etc. And honestly, they are almost always outperforming their non-banking peers, so from my experience, IB is totally worth it. That’s not to glamorize the heinous lifestyle you will live for a period of time depending on which bank you end up at.
No
del
No. Working in a sweatshop EB group and my priorities have changed. Taking care of health, social life and having control over your own destiny rather than following a set path are more valuable than I ever realized before. Being in the industry now, I’ve seen that it’s more commoditized than ever. Planning to leave finance after a few years and do my own thing – you truly only live once and I don’t want to go down as a basic finance guy. In a way still glad I did it or else my eyes would have never opened up, so from the view of my own personal journey it was probably worth it.
Looking back, the biggest issue I have with the path is the short term nature of each stop along the way in the early years. My advice now tends to acknowledge that this may be a necessary evil to gain the prerequisites for certain roles but as soon as you find a place that you can see yourself liking then try to stay there as long as possible. Even if it means missing a promotion by one year or whatever. Longevity is underappreciated by the younger guys but it is noticed. And think about it like compound interest. That political capital you build is hard to quantify but will pay dividends if you can stay put long enough to reap the reward
Yeah I would. Not because banking is the promised land (Private Equity isn’t either). Nor is “high” finance a prestigious career (who cares what other people think).
It’s worth it because of few things.
1) Most people don’t know what hard work is - banking isn’t the same as being deployed in Kandahar- but it does teach you how to put in the hours. Work as an analyst for 2 years and leave for a startup or something, and you will be the hardest working person and that really counts for something.
2) It gives you real responsibility at a an early time in your career. That’s great cause what you’re working on means something and that’s satisfying. But also great cause it teaches you how to separate the bullshit jobs from the real ones.
3) It teaches you how to present and speak publicly. Again a skill most people are awful at. As an analyst you learn by osmosis (seeing your MD speak) and if you’re able to earn trust by practice. No where else do you get the opportunity to present complicated and important things to the c-suites of billion dollar companies. If you get good - when you move to your next opportunity- you’ll be miles ahead of your peers, and will constantly be brought into important discussions, presentations, etc. Because you are good in the room and can be trusted to to say something stupid and incoherent. That’s how low the bar is.
4) Brand matters - being the former investment banker in the room means people trust you and your knowledge more than they honestly should. This is important if you want to be given more responsibility than you deserve.
5) Banking makes you more confident and mature.
My personal take is that money is useless without time. So that’s not what I would focus on for value add of banking. I would focus on the skills - mostly the soft skills you get from it. I’m probably missing like 20 other things in this list. You don’t have to stay forever- even just a year puts you miles ahead of peers.
No, went MBB -> MF Edit: also not from money, so I can echo the top poster above but it is still a no. You don't need to go into high finance to elevate yourself and your family, far from it
Would not do it again and do not recommend it to others. Not because of any problem with the career. The job itself is great enough. Interesting work if you ask me, mentally stimulating (I’m still learning around the clock), challenging, work for cool clientd, work with smart peers and bosses and execs on other side of table, ridiculous compensation when you think about it, clear upward growth trajectory, constant feedback, constant professional development, adrenaline from having to deliver and compete, clearly defined indicators of success, lots of responsibility early on with work product and hiring and reviews and firing and so on, list goes on.
The dealbreaker is the horrendous lifestyle. Hours and demands make it straight up impossible to be healthy. You can’t eat, sleep, or move properly like a human being was meant to. That’s the only downside. Depending on your staffing level and group, you can have months long stretches where you don’t sleep more than 4 or 5 hours on a work night, and I’m not talking truly peaceful restful sleep either. Even basic stuff is impossible: forget 8 hours of sleep and exercise 7 days a week, even 6 hours of sleep a night and 4 days of exercise can be close to impossible. Granted this could be mitigated by moving to a slower group. If you can even get a job in a IB group where you at 70 hours a week I’d say it’s worth it, but at 90+ every week how long can someone last.
I’m only still here because I’ve somehow managed to survive this long without quitting or getting cut, this is the only thing I know how to do, and it pays well. Really passive circumstance more than active decision to stay. That’s a horrible thing to admit, and I’m not proud of it, but it’s the reality. And maybe that’s life for most mediocre people; we’re all floating in the wind.
Everybody hates their job. Even the tech people who have it all STILL find a way to hate their job. Most of my friends outside banking complain they don’t make any money, don’t ever get any feedback, their work is pointless, and they’re bored out of their minds all day. I’m over here not having a clue what they’re talking about; I’m making over $300k in my mid 20s, constantly being forced to get better at my job, seeing the direct impact of my work daily, and still feeling that slight fear every morning because I know nothing is guaranteed and I have to perform if I want to keep my seat, but absolutely hating my life because I can’t sleep, eat, or exercise like I want. Pick your poison kiddos, and just take care of your health as best as you can while you do it.
what group do you work at to be working those hours? is it a top group at a top bank?
the rationalization for working those ungodly hours (i have a feeling you're exagerrating here, too) could only be for exit opps.
In my view people chart the IB career path wrong and there is a lot of short term thinking and young kids on this website.
Absolutely 1000% I would do IB again. It gives you confidence you can work in a high-stress intense environment and can execute professionally at a very high level. You also become aware of the pace and speed hard workers work at. This pace and understanding carries with you throughout your entire career personally and professionally when people assess you and your ability.
Now, where people can end up regretting IB and finance in general is when they fail to build other aspects of their life. I did IB, PE for a year, and left for an MBA. The MBA allowed me to have more time for myself and date and think about what my passion actually was.
The way you screw things up is you get to 30 and you are single, you don’t know what you want to do with your life, and hate your job. Don’t do this. Instead, realize when to step off the train of intense finance if you don’t have a passion for it.
My happiest friends did the following paths:
-IB/consulting -> HF
-IB/consulting -> PE -> MBA -> Non-PE/ entrepreneurial endeavor
-IB/consulting -> more lax corporate role
Again, the corporate training, credentialling, and nest egg are really something. Realize you can do IB and later become a software engineer if you really want and you’d have an incredible perspective that is an asset to many new businesses.
This problem isn’t isolated to IB it’s more broader defined to law, medicine, etc and is simply:
don’t work all the time if you don’t live the work. Further, no matter how much you want money or credentialling, you need to have time to build fulfilling relationships and passions otherwise life just sucks.
I wouldn't say you screwed things up if you're 30, single, and hate your job. More like you're entering a developmental arc and it's up to you to figure out what to do next. Life happens. People realize they're not cut out for certain things. When I was younger I would've said they're a screw up. Older now and I realize they just made the best choices they could have at the time. You're not a screw up in life if you manage to work in high finance imo. Clearly you're a competent person, you just are the type to want some predefined path set out for you so that you don't have to worry about what your next career move will be.
Also funny enough your comment describes me to a tee. Former IB analyst turned Software Developer looking to try my hand in quant finance because the door is open to me.
I will take the other side. It’s correctable like anything else and not the end of the world, but if you are 30 and credentialed but you dislike the field you are in, have not developed hobbies, and most importantly you do not have fulfilling relationships you have screwed up your 20s. Odds are you got lost in the sauce of prestige and money and it was at the cost of personal development in key areas that will define happiness of your 30s.
Beginning to date and develop friendships, find hobbies, and figure out your career and grow in a field you like all in your 30s is a recipe for disaster there just isn’t enough time. Furthermore, other people will have figured those things out in their 20s and you will competing against people who are way more focused and stable than you are.
I don’t mean all this as a put down or scare story as much as advice to younger posters that just working your way up a ladder in IB/PE if you hate the job at the cost of relationships and your health is really not fulfilling once you start reflecting in your 30s and seeing people who love their jobs and have families.
Now consider myself to be a mid-level professional and yes, I'd easily do it all over again. Have made some amazing friendships from my time in IB (which led to some amazing friendship in PE roles I wouldn't have gotten w/o IB experience), gained finance skills I never had before (went to a liberal arts school) + communication and presentation / storytelling skills, and taught me a lot about hard work and perseverance that I honestly think many people in the millennial and gen-z generations are missing. Yeah it's not truly a struggle like living paycheck to paycheck or being a combat vet, but I'd put it as kind of akin to the skills development and relationship building you get from being a dedicated athlete. Get paid quite well, have gained a ton of exposure to senior management teams and c-suite execs, been able to do a lot of cool things I otherwise wouldn't have been able to w/o my time in finance.
I had a great, solidly middle class upbringing but both my parents were immigrants and grew up poor (especially my dad) and the amount I make and what I am able to experience would be a fantasy to them when they were growing up. I also think the increased maturity and mental fortitude have really helped me in other extremely stressful life scenarios on the personal front and am grateful to have been able to better face those situations as a result.
Were there some dark days and did I have some periods of deep turmoil where I questioned if it was all worth it? For sure, but at the end of the day could've always walked away and I love the role I'm in now. And I guess I've been fortunate to not have truly ever needed to sacrifice personal health or fitness, and yes I missed out on things at times but never had to skip a wedding or anything like that, but I'm happily married and have great relationships w/ friends and family still, so maybe I lucked out in that regard.
Curious, what city are you based out of? Happy to hear though that you have managed to find a good WLB.
is there a lack of job stability in IB/PE? Like GS is always hiring and PE seems more accessible than ever to get a job.
now retaining the job migjt be trickier and idk anything about that. but i feel like a lot of nontechnical roles in Silicon valley would want to take a banker and corp finance.
also banking seems like another 2 yrs of schooling where you’re prepared and get a brand name to do other thinge
No. I would’ve studied engineering and made a high salary without giving up my hobbies, social life, and identity. The reality of not having a work life balance and its implications on my quality of life didn’t hit me until I graduated. Now that I have an economics degree my options are limited. If I want a finance job with a work life balance then the salary and hours will be worse than if I went into a different field.
However as you can see from this thread (and real life) there are plenty of people who dont have the same regrets. Maybe you will be one of those people but both you and I don’t know that. So my advice to you is to take on a minor or major in a differnet field that will give you different skills that will allow you to pivot if need be
The term WLB shouldn't be used in banking. You literally don't have a life in banking. There is ZERO balance and the people who defend it are delusional and have zero recognition of how short life is and how 99% of us will regret this on our deathbed
I believe that is the fault of the MDs more than anything else. Banking has a management problem above all else. In my experience it's no different than any other sales organization. Bankers just aren't taught how to be effective managers when they're moving up the ladder.
Happy to take your job off your hands for you if you’d like then :)
Nope! I would've skipped finance entirely and would've just done my 4 + 1 Masters in CS instead of doing BA in Econ, working in banking for a year, then going back to school for 3 years to get my MS in CS. So much happier working as a software engineer and being able to spend time on building a side hustle (fingers crossed) soon to be profitable business. I get paid 6 figures, work fully remotely, and work ~30 hours a week when it's not crunch time which leads to me working 50-60 hours a week. I'm happy, I get to spend time on my hobbies, and I love what I do. Especially after finding out first year analysts in NYC get paid only 100k a year for working 80 hours a week? Finance used to pay out a lot, now... unless they shift the wages to match inflation, it's a shit deal. Bonuses don't matter as well since you don't live off a bonus, you live off of your salary.
Do I have to deal with being made redundant? Ofc, but that stress isn't so bad compared to IB redundancies. I personally believe the pie is only shrinking for high finance and that it won't be automated, but the need for so many workers in this industry will continue to shrink until it meets market demand. I think that MDs need to learn how to manage better though and the system is broken. There is no need to have analysts working till 1 am making marketing materials that could be pushed off till next week. MDs need to also communicate better and the banks need to start training people earlier on how to effectively manage and organize deals efficiently.
How difficult did you find it to get accepted into a Masters CS program with only a BA in econ and finance experience? I am the comment above you and currently going through the same dilemma.
Super easy tbh. I just went back to school enrolling in a second bachelors at a CUNY, did my prerecs for my MS CS program, took the GRE, and got accepted into Binghamton. I also did this all during the pandemic so YMMV. But it was also easy for me because I have a natural talent for CS in the sense that I like it, I enjoy writing software, and even when I'm frustrated, I'd rather do CS than anything else as a profession. Getting into masters programs is so much easier than bachelors. In grad school you're treated as an adult so they don't baby you as well. I will say my CS degree wasn't "easy" and you have to put the work in, but it was easier for me to get through it because I actually had an interest in computer science and being a developer. If you're in it for the money, you won't get far.
Second year here —
Absolutely not. Having zero freedom and worrying at all times — whether it’s 8pm on a Friday or 9pm on a Sunday, is absolutely brutal and ruins your life.
Banking really wouldn’t be so bad if there was just a little bit of predictability; but there isn’t, and you’re at the mercy of your seniors (and clients).
I think I’ve learned that I’m OK with working to live rather than living to work.
1000% it's been awesome
Tech would have been better with perfect hindsight, but I don't think that's a fair way to look at things.
I'd probably do Tech if I was starting out today.
Yes, I'd do it again. I've had a volatile career on wall street, but I still wouldn't not trade the post-grad part of my career for anything. I've built a top 1% work ethic (relative to non-IB professionals), picked up great soft skills, and made a group of lifelong friends who went through the ringer with me.
There's almost no other industry where a 22 year old is trusted to do such critical work and money is just the cherry on top. Mid-career is different as your values change and other things may interest you more in your life, but you'll still benefit from your strong early start.
Also a piece of advice since I saw your post...don't join a single manager. Shrinking industry, path to PM non-existent...go to a pod shop or LO platform. Strongly suggest.
God this is such a great thread. Everyone should have different responses, rightfully so.
For me it's yes and no. I went into IB because I felt like I was "smarter than average, but didn't have any passions" and so this was a default solid place to, at least, start my career and figure it out from there. Oddly enough, I learned more personally about myself than professionally during my time in IB - as in, what I truly value in life. Hint: it's NOT the insane amount of money / "prestige" / status. Rather, it's freedom of time and having "enough" financially (read Psychology of Money - fantastic book, one of my all-time favorites). Tbh, don't think I would've figured all this out had I not done IB, so for that, I'm grateful for it.
TLDR, my two cents is: Do you have any obsessions?
Fuck no. I grew up poor as shit and totally beat the odds to become “successful”. But you’re not successful when you’re grinding out a 100 hour week in a sweatshop; you’re a literal fucking moron who is killing yourself to chase false dreams.
It is absolutely not worth it because you are a literal slave 24/7 and are constantly being overworked with unrealistic expectations and deadlines with little ability to push back. You are forced against your will into dangerous situations regularly where you could fucking die. Heart palpitations, fainting, puking from exhaustion, dizziness, high blood pressure from overwork. There is no point when the expectations are this inhumane and you are doing so much damage. Shame on all of the toxic seniors who don’t give a shit and whose greed and incompetence will contribute to the next analyst dying.
Yes. Fuck it. We live once. I love the grind. Maybe I won't when I am 30, but right now I love it.
IB and consulting exits are vastly overhyped on this site
If recessions start occurring in intervals aligning with historical norms then that will be a terrible experience for everyone involved. 2010s was likely an anomaly
However, you will have an income floor to a certain extent from the experience
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