Hi there, I am an undergrad struggling to decide where to start my career. Would love any sort of advice on where you think the best place to start would be?
Quantifying best as overall balance of wlb, comp, enjoyment, exit opps etc...
Thank you!
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It is interesting that you frame the question as "If You Could Restart Your Career, Which Area Of Finance Would You Start In?"
For many of us perhaps, finance would not be the answer...
But to answer directly, I'd be torn.
(1) I'd choose IB again (because you get paid to learn about very interesting and forever-changing industries, and the more original and unique (and good) are your ideas, the more clients will like you, so it can be intellectually stimulating as you move up the ranks), but perhaps be slightly more expeditious in exploring what PE might look like. I may decide though to stick to IB. I wish I had explored when I had the chance.
(2) I'd choose HF - the learning is good, and the rewards are strict (as in, your rewards are as good as your contributions and (quantitative) performance). Plus, the hours are much more disciplined than IB, where the fruits of my weekends and evenings and will forever be at sole and absolute discretion of my client.
As a fellow undergraduate junior, these are the areas of finance I have been considering working in. These aren’t weighted on the criteria you mentioned, but rather on their level of intellectual stimulation. In no particular order:
- Leveraged Finance IB
- Project Finance IB
- Private Placements IB
- M&A IB
- High Yield Fixed Income Origination
- Municipal Bond Origination
- CDO/ABS Origination
- Credit Fund Analyst
- Infrastructure PE
- Commercial Banking
- Corporate Banking
- Corporate Development
- Corporate Strategy
- Model auditing for PE firms
- Director of Finance at Startup (obvi a long term vision)
- Director of Finance at PE portco
- Outside Board Member
- Financial modeling and analysis for small-to-medium sized businesses (forming myself an LLC/LLP)
- Finance in Renewables Industry
- Finance in Industrials Industry (I like greenfield projects)
- Others
My primary interest is in creating bespoke products / solutions for companies with high degrees of complexity and scenario analysis. As a result I have an interest for debt and debt-like instruments. You’ll find that a lot of these do fit the description of good WLB and pay. If anyone has any other suggestions for careers I might be interested in, please feel free to list them.
Sounds like you might enjoy restructuring
Also, an undergraduate junior - what about Private Credit/Direct Lending and PE Secondaries as well
You just listed almost every field in finance as a possible interest lol
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