Anything wrong with a chill career?
I should start by saying that I feel incredibly fortunate to have an NYC offer, especially in this market and especially given my situation. I'm a junior at a top public (umich/uva/etc.), but not a business major, and have an offer in corporate banking at a foreign b/s bank. My goal was always to end up in nyc, and I initially wanted to go into consulting, but my school doesn't place well into nyc offices. I was super thrilled to have gotten an offer at first, as I basically cold applied, and am still very excited to be in nyc this summer, but some insecurities have crept up on me.
I see all these biz school kids going to BBs/EBs (and to their credit, I haven't been grinding since freshmen year like them), and part of me feels a bit envious. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to work their hours, nor am I very ambitious about exits. My real problem, I guess, is that I don't feel confident enough in myself to be comfortable with a chiller career. It's some social pressures and prestige that get to me. Like when people ask me where I'm going, I feel a bit ashamed and just say a foreign bank they probably don't know of. But, honestly, it aligns much better with the lifestyle I'd like to pursue. I like to work, but I can't imagine constantly working till 1/2am every day. I'd like to be able to keep lifting consistently, get outside on the weekends, have some time to myself. And my bank seems perfect for that, with a great collegial culture too.
So, to avoid spiraling anymore, I guess I'd just like to hear from people who followed similar paths and what your experience has been. Or for people to tell me to suck it up, rerecruit, and work like everyone else.
sounds like you are not happy and are just looking for some validation/affirmation that you are not making the wrong choice
maybe try IB for a couple years - don't have to do it forever and I am sure you can sacrifice lifting for a bit
"There are no solutions only tradeoffs"
Nothing wrong with a chiller career, but you can very easily fall into a dead-end no progression, low pay and still be unhappy
Right. Doesn’t sound like a great idea to go into IB just out of insecurity though? That’s if I can get in.
On the pay/progression point, curious what you mean by this. My bank pays a smidgen under street for analysts, although I’m well aware that TC for MDs maxes out around 400-600k, maybe a little more. But that doesn’t seem all that bad to me, I’d be plenty content if my peak earnings were even like $200-$300k.
Not trying to be deflective, just trying to understand
My point was not coming from your emotional POV regarding insecurities and feeling like your falling behind.
It was more on 2 years of IB sets you up for better roles in the future and you can learn a lot and you have that stamp of credibility on your CV.
If you want a chill corporate role with good hours and $200-300K those roles are a hell of a lot easier to obtain if you have prior IB experience.
There is always a bigger fish, my friend, and you need to get some perspective. It's 100% okay, and definitely should be the thing to do, to feel grateful about your opportunity. There is a kind of kid going into corporate finance who wishes they were in your seat, a kid who is going to be selling insurance post-grad wishing they were in the corporate fin kids' seat, and someone unemployed wishing they had that insurance gig.
Career is very long and the ultimate goal should be to setting yourself up as high as you can before you enter the corporate world and you've made it pretty high up the ladder of where you could be . Leverage this and play your cards well and who knows what doors will open for you in 3-5 years.
There is nothing wrong with wanting a more laid back career.
You are fortunate enough to be in a spot where you will be: a) in NYC, b) being paid reasonably well and c) close enough to the "IB action" to see if it's a good fit for you.
Smash it for a couple of years in corporate banking, and make sure you speak to not only the IB teams in your bank (DCM is the most obvious transition from corporate banking but try and talk to everyone), but also the other "products" (more specialised lending like project finance - many of the foreign banks are very good here, derivatives, trade financing etc.). You should be able to get a sense from the people themselves and the transactions you see as a corporate banker as to whether any of those are something you'd like to pursue, or whether corporate banking really does work for you. You are young, you have plenty of years ahead of you to figure it out and make a transition if you wish, and corporate banking gives you a pretty good opportunity to see a little bit of everything in the finance world.
It sounds like you know yourself well enough to know that "prestige" and money aren't the things that will keep you going when you have mind-numbingly repetitive work to do at 2am for weeks on end (assuming you are being honest here). That's great to know at a young age, and things like keeping up with fitness, hobbies and time to yourself cannot be taken for granted. Not to mention enjoying NYC! Better to play the long game than burn out after a few years of intense grinding.
I do understand the insecurity, but for people with some level of self awareness (sounds like this is you) that should resolve itself after a while. Once you are close enough to the IB world to see what it is actually like, and see where your priorities really lie in your personal life, you will be in a much better place to decide whether that really is the right path for you.
Thank you, appreciate the reassurance. My bank doesn't have an M&A side, but it does have a strong project finance team, which I'm quite interested in. I would agree with you though, I think a lot this insecurity comes down to not having enough perspective yet, so I best just be patient.
is this MUFG/SMBC?
StanChart is a great bank. Know people who work there, great culture and you can easily move between different product groups. Keep in mind that if you place into LAF, M&A those are proper IB groups—not CB. You can always lateral if you’d don’t like it, if it’s the only offer you have though, take it
Not at StanChart, but still reassuring thank you!
"But how do you know if she's the one dad" ahh post
Grow up.
Anything wrong with not overworking myself?
only downside is that you'll need to deal in social settings with insecure tools that will scrub on ur face how much they work and how much they make
but other than that, no downsides
Hi agree with others here around here that as long as you are happy, could be a great opportunity, and ultimately needs to work for you.
Broadly speaking feel like students today, and back when I started, students are under a lot of pressure to go find some “job” at some “firm” and people like to drop on prestigious, hierarchies, and pressures around perceived quality. Most of school / college is a broad funnel to winnow / guide people to X,Y or Z careers and it almost feels like a herd mentality with tunnel vision ie if you aren’t in banking or a too 10 bank, consultancy, etc you are a loser - which is completely wrong.
I would take the perspective, and this can be uncomfortable at first, that ultimately you are going to be managing and guiding your own career, what makes you happy may not be for others and vice versa, and there is a lot of ways to have a comfortable life with / without the grind and you need to do what works and fits best for you and if you can find something you really enjoy it’s make a big difference. Post the GFC where many left the industry I speak to very very few today who regretted leaving banking and to the contrary with the benefit of hindsight either appreciated the experience and happy to move on or felt they should have started with their passions sooner.
Hope this helps and good luck.
Choosing the lifestyle you want from a career is a trilemma where you can pick 2, but not all 3: work-life balance, interesting/meaningful work, and pay. If there is a job that has all 3, it'll be supremely competitive, since everyone who's qualified will want it (i.e. Dermatology in medicine).
I think the best option for most is to start off in a grindy career where you'll learn a lot and are paid above your peers. It's much easier to go from IB/Consulting --> FP&A or other chill jobs. Additionally, those jobs DO give you a leg up on others since you're doing more complex work and also know how to make client-ready presentations/analysis under pressure. I haven't personally done IB, but I do know that in consulting, if you are able to stomach the ebbs and flows of the work, it's not completely unsustainable from a lifestyle perspective either. I often wish I could leave at 5 and get a solid workout/sleep every week, but I also really like the work I do in restructuring consulting and perks/pay that come with it.
If you're 100% sure that's not for you and you aren't trying to make $500K in total comp or something, more power to you and be confident in your decisions. The two wealthiest people I personally know are not those I'd change my life with even though they're worth literally 5x or more what I am. Money isn't everything and anybody who talks down on you because you don't have as prestigious a job as them is either socially awkward, a narcissist, or both.
As long as you're productive to society and are able to provide for your loved ones, you're a winner.
Thank you, much appreciated. Do you think it necessarily has to be IB, or can corporate banking still be seen as a good career starter? Obviously, I would expect IB to be proportionality, maybe even disproportionately, better, but I guess I’m lacking perspective on how much of a difference it really makes. Won’t I also be handling complex work and working under client pressure in CB?
I don't know too much about corporate banking, so I don't want to give you false information. What I can say is that I know of a few people in restructuring consulting that got in after doing some work in corporate banking, so I'd imagine it's a solid place to start. That could be because restructuring is more credit heavy than other fields, but I'd ask other folks on here for better info.
What I will say is that in any interview, people will know you don't have real world experience and you have to basically sell them on the fact that you're smart, trainable, and not a complete beginner. I grinded my way from fucking audit to where I am now. It was a loooong road, but my goal for each job step was to show the skills I learned and explain how it's transferable to this new one. Bonus points if you can convince them that your seemingly unrelated skills give you a leg up over others (i.e. my accounting knowledge helps me in RX vs a Banker/PE guy)
When time pass most people stop giving about prestige and focus more on quality of life. I am more on the competitive and ambitious side but I am starting to wonder why I shouldn't go in the credit department of a top bank, make it into the top 10% of salaries and work 9-6 (more or less).
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