Would you redo IB again
Would you go through your IB years again if you had a chance to go back. Currently terrified of starting full-time because of the hours and environment and am considering just going with another offer that will be less stressful
Yes, it stunk at the time and you couldn’t pay me enough money to go back, but I did learn a lot and it was invaluable to my career
Do you think it opened significantly more doors than starting at a small buy-side firm would have opened
Don't do IB.
BTW - asking "would you do banking again" won't get you accurate information. This is because 1) the human mind always has a way of looking back positively on things + a lot of people legitimately get stockholm syndrome from IB; 2) most people aren't just gonna say, "yeah I wasted years of my life and made poor decisions", even those who are nice enough to be honest with you about this are going to feel some level of dissonance.
This is not to mention that you are asking people to evaluate their banking experiences from THEIR pov's. Your pov and their pov may not align. Things they found bearable and even enjoyable, you might find intolerable.
In general, if you ask this question whether on WSO or in your coffee chats, you're only gonna get information that's biased towards doing banking. I would suggest you ask people to candidly list the pros and cons of banking, then evaluate for yourself whether this job is right for you.
I like my job now. I wouldn’t have gotten my job without banking. It’s pretty linear
Really great point that I didn't consider. Think the fact that a good portion of people on this thread said ib wasn't worth it despite this tendency to look more favorably on the past also speaks to how much of a negative toll the job has really had. In your opinion, are exit opportunities only a real pro for top groups/banks because I personally think exits are the biggest pull to do ib (more than the pay, increased reps, and better network)
Yes, it sucked but I’m grateful for what I learned/how thick skin I became
No. It's a terrible option and I sincerely regret having joined. As a result of the A2A lifestyle, my days have become completely empty and pretty much consists of work and sleep. Now I'm stuck in golden handcuffs and cannot leave even if I wanted to.
If you can obtain another, better opportunity, jump at it!
Just curious why you didn't try to leave earlier considering how much of a negative effect it seems to be having on you
I simply got lost in the grind. By the time I looked up, my life was gone.
hahaha, what? Are you an idiot (not meant rhetorically, I'm genuinely curious)?
you're what, 4-5 years out of college. You have a negligible amount of restricted stock.? How exactly are you stuck?
This makes no sense. You’re acting like you can’t move / change jobs.
Finished over two years now and I honestly would not if I had to do it all over again. I wouldn't listen to a lot of these people on the forum. It's not worth it unless you are set on PE or Corp Dev. Still waiting on all the other "doors" this is supposed to have opened...
Facts bruh, don’t know if I would even include Corp Dev in that. Leaving my group after a year for a corp dev role in the industry I covered. From what I’ve seen so far, very few of the people in my department come from IB. You can get a role by just being a grinder (seemingly same shit you did to get into IB).
Yeah exactly, I just included Corp Dev in to be nice. The job just sucks and isn't worth it unless you are set on climbing PE. VPs will come on here and wag their finger about how grateful you should be to be making $20K more post-tax than your peers in normal jobs...not to mention all the opportunities today present outside of the corporate world.
Could you speak a bit to the comp that you are seeing in corp dev, and if not comfortable then the type of comp you were looking for while recruiting as well as how you see that scaling over time? Interested in corp dev as well for better lifestyle but not sure where to set expectations.
Could you elaborate a bit more about what types of jobs non-IB people in corp dev did
Can I ask what ways other than IB you’ve seen people use to get into Corp Dev? I wanted to get into corp dev eventually but have been feeling dejected after not getting a return from my bank this summer, so it’d be great to hear about any alternative pathways.
So are the only exit opportunities PE-related, or are those the ones that are only specific to banking (as in you could get all the other exit ops, besides PE, from other jobs). My other opportunity isn't known nearly as well as my IB full-time offer though it they both lead to the same jobs after I don't see the point
I've been in the job for only a month. Hours have not been so bad thus far, but talking with second year analysts and associates who I am close with, it feels as if it really consumes a big part of you as a person, and I'm starting to feel that way as well. Just spending so much time at work and thinking about work when you're not there, it seems to just consume a big part of you. I think people who stick with it for a while also become let their jobs define them as a person- I really think that is really not a good thing and something that people should aspire for.
Has it overall been worth it so far, or would you have preferred taking another job out of undergrad
I think it has been worth it given I have relatively little other responsibilities.
Had I the same salary and more time, I’d be in the gym more (still doing a decent job at this) going on more dates, and spending more time with family and on hobbies.
I can still achieve some of these, and I hope in two years I can resume these fully once I go to a better WLB career. I do feel as if I am developing a lot as a professional however which isn’t true for my friends in other easier careers. Which hopefully will benefit me for the rest of my career. It feels not worth it at all at times, and worth it at others, though I’m sure in 1 or 2 years I’ll have a much more valuable and thoughtful answer to this.
If I were an idiot whose only value-add was selling my soul to the bank, then yes I would do it over again.
So why do so many people try to go into IB after undergrad. I'm sure many of these students could get jobs at smaller buy-side firms though still choose to do IB instead
Why do people want to get into banking? Money, comfort in following the herd, prestige (losers) and a tiny percentage actually enjoy doing deals.
If you are interested in investing and have the opportunity to join a strong team (who are willing to teach) with strong returns, I would do that instead.
I'm on my second stint in IB, but don't know if I'd redo it again.
Why did you choose to return to IB then
I'm redoing it, but don't know if I'd redo it again.
Yes and I would dodge work better which was my big mistake - it would've been a lot less bad if I was more experienced at the time
It depends who you are and how introspective and emotionally fragile you are. I hated the role, but even the things I hated taught me much. I think I see 4 pros that are hard to dispute:
The reasons people commonly list they didn’t enjoy it or wouldn’t do it again:
The advice I wished all people would get is the advice a manager gave me:
“I never hated my job, if you do, it’s the wrong job and time to leave.”
It sounds simple, but you need to realize someone out there will love the job you are working and will be better than you and enjoy it more and as a result you will be both unhappy and not the best at your job. It’s different finding a job hard or going through a rough adjustment period, but if you can do the job and don’t feel fulfilled you are wasting your life by not leaving. Getting back on topic, I hated IB at the end and someone had to tell me it was time to move on. The beginning was hard and I hated my bosses at times, but I didn’t hate the work. If you really can’t stand the function of the role you should leave and accept that taking a wrong job for you is a clue to finding the right job.
How do you recommend getting your confidence back after working on an abusive team? I was RIF’d earlier this summer and am questioning whether I want to rejoin IB although I think it’s because of the team I worked on. Call it PTSD.
This is really hard. The only way to get your confidence back really is really to work with people who aren’t abusive and learn that old beliefs and behaviors weren’t rooted in reality.
Just an example, early in my career I had an internship where a full-time analyst told me I was “useless” and “retarded” everyday and refused to answer any questions I had. As a result, I strongly questioned my ability, whether finance was the right field for me, and if I could even do the IB role. Despite getting a return offer for my internship, I almost didn’t return and actually even looked for a new role following getting the offer.
Fortunately, I returned to the firm for fulltime. Also, the abusive analyst was canned for performance because they were actually very bad at their job and that’s why they were always stressed and irritated. I went on to be a really good analyst and later had a pretty badass and fulfilling career in my 20s in finance. I also can now say without a doubt, finance and specifically investing is the right field for me. I love it and am good at it.
Another piece of advice someone said to me once is if you look up in an organization and don’t want to be like anyone above you, it might be time to leave that organization. Good mentors and bosses who you think are admirable makes a world of difference. You build confidence through completing tasks correctly and it can be completely undermined if someone frames every single thing you do as incorrect or they don’t give feedback that allows you to make adjustments.
Thought I’d provide an alternative perspective. A couple years in, I’m happy with my choice. I would do it again if I went back, despite the downsides. I want to caveat that I don’t think I will do this forever, and I also don’t recommend everybody do investment banking. This is just why for me it made sense and continues to do so.
1. I enjoy working on deals, and I especially enjoy working with clients in my sector. Frankly a 12-16 hour work day flies by when it’s a mix of marketing decks, investor and diligence calls, modeling, etc. Am I exhausted at the end, yes, but the time flies in a blink of an eye for me. Work day never feels like a slog. In fact I get shocked when I hear my friends talk about how they’re bored at their job and feel like they’re wasting their time or not learning anything. I can’t imagine feeling that way about work.
2. I’m fully immersed in finance and technical skills, understanding and contributing to deals, and building expertise and knowledge in the industry I’m aligned with. I’m not someone who just wants to work 40 hours, turn it off completely, and then go to my “real life”. Pursuing mastery is something I want to do in my life, and this job encourages and rewards it. For now I want to build a career in finance, so every single work day (even the shitty ones) I know that I’m building toward my long-term goals. And I get to learn an unbelievable amount from just interacting with my MDs (all killers) and senior execs and partners at our clients every single day. As soon as that changes, I’ll be out in less than a minute. I know so many analysts that don’t care to work in finance long term and don’t care about the industry group they’re in, and honestly I don’t know how they survive even a single day on the job. If you look at what you do at work and can’t see clearly how this is gonna help you get where you want to be in 5-10-20 years, dear god, get out.
3. I am someone who enjoys working hard and being stimulated. That is important to me. I would absolutely go crazy if I was simply working 9-5 and then doing whatever I want. 9-9 is probably more my speed (obviously as an analyst I’m not at 9-9 yet but getting closer and closer). Do I enjoy those days where I’m surprised that I barely have to do any work? Yes, love it, but only because most days I’m highly stimulated and engaged. It’s a treat when I get free time. If I wasn’t so stimulated and focused on work, I’d spend much more time feeling empty and drinking, doing drugs, etc. Ask the college version of me how I know. I average 70-80 right now and would like to bring that down to 60-70 eventually. I very rarely feel like I’m working for my company, I mostly feel like I’m working for me.
4. I’m just not that interesting of a person, so my opportunity cost is low. I don’t need to learn 6 languages or travel the entire world every month - I really enjoy the vacation days I’ve been able to take every 4-6 months in IB, including international trips. I don’t have hundreds of friends that I need to hang out with every single day - I have a couple close groups of friends of 8-10 people, and I’m very happy maintaining those friendships and seeing them on the weekends or whenever I can. I don’t have tons of interesting hobbies that I need to spend 50 hours a week on - I’m totally happy hitting the gym, watching some tv, reading, going out to concerts and playing some golf when I can. I think a lot of other IB analysts are sacrificing the interesting and rich lives they would otherwise be leading, but for me honestly I’m not sacrificing anything and feel like I’m gaining.
5. I like making a lot of money and not having to worry about spending it it. I think this job is setting me up well for a life free of financial worry. I’m not even saying I want to be super rich - I just literally don’t want to worry about money, and I currently don’t. When I want something, I buy it. If my friends invite me out and I want to party, I party. If I get invited to a trip or a wedding or a vacation and I am willing and have time to go, I go. If I want to eat something, I eat it. If I want to buy a round of drinks for my best friends, I buy it without hesitation (and without needing to nickle and dime them). I once had a friend ask me for $5 gas money for driving me long distance on a trip. No judgement at all, makes sense, I paid him no problem. In that moment I knew I *personally* want the ability and the privilege to be a generous person and not ever have to ask someone for $5 to do something that I want to do for them. Hell make that $50 or make that $500, make it $5,000 if I ever end up getting somewhere.
It’s that simple for me. Obviously there’s things that could be better. My priorities can change as I have a family, and there’s some hobbies I wish I could do much more of like skiing and playing piano. I hope to figure that out eventually. But as a young single guy, I’m glad I’m actually picking up some skills, being challenged and growing, learning something every day, building towards a long term career, and getting paid a lot to do it.
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