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Short Answer- no.

Happiness is contingent on your present state. If you are living in the moment, doing things you like, thinking about things you like, with people who make you feel like you like yourself, you'll be happy.

Thinking about your career will always lead to unhappiness. You get your FT offer- great but its not at GS. Let's say you get an offer at GS-- now you want BX. You're at BX but your growth feels limited and you want to get promoted to VP. It's an ongoing cycle.

A lot of losers on this forum (I'm one of them) fool themselves into thinking that their life is dependent on IBD. Again, I was one of them before I got my SA gig, so don't take offense because it's the truth. Go watch some Jordan Peterson and reevaluate what you value in your life.

Look, I'm not saying give up, but look yourself in the mirror and ask why on earth you want this job. IBD is far from a "dream job", and if you haven't figured that out with all the info available on the internet, idk what to tell you.

Get a diary, sort your thoughts. When you die at age 23, 32, 69, 90 years old, whenever you die, you're not going to be thinking about this bullshit about who's rejected you and whether or not you landed your "dream role" out of undergrad. Truth is, no profession is above or below another, and a janitor has the same capacity for happiness as an MD at a BB. Reality is, the janitor is probably happier because he is content and grateful with where he's at whereas the MD probably never escaped the mentality of clawing towards the top and always wanting more despite asking themselves if they truly deserve it. This imposter syndrome and questioning whether you'll ever achieve happiness will never escape you. It is a state of mind.

Continue forward if your reasons are right. But that's for you to judge. Don't let your pride blind you from a non-IB role that may suit you and be very good, like something at a big 4.

 

I'm afraid that IB is not your dream job. Many out there in IB have depression, suicidal thoughts, and generally feel that their day-to-day is meaningless. For me, that isn't necessarily associated with a dream job.

1. I would say that you want the IB "badge" to feel some sense of accomplishment, but, again, getting the IB badge just shows that you didn't understand what's important in your life yet. Or even worst, your entire worth is derived from external factors (titles, careers, salaries, etc.).

2. Alternatively, you may have some insecurities that you need to compensate for with a prestigious and well-paid job. Some people even go into IB because they lack the proper skills to build friendships, romantic relationships, or interesting hobbies, and instead of taking an introspective look into themselves and working on it, they would prefer to put the 80-hour workweeks (it's easier than to face reality) to justify their lack of accomplishments in other sides of their life e.g. I'm too busy to deal with other things / I didn't care about them because I worked towards my career.

3. Also, some people worked so much to get into a prestigious career, that they neglected many aspects of their lives - relationships, experiences, family, etc. - and it may feel hard to acknowledge the fact that you sacrificed a lot and in the end, you ended up with nothing. You're in your 20s, you still have an entire life ahead of you. If you deal with your mental health, your life goals, and with everything that worries you, you'll end up being more satisfied with your life and end up pursuing things that align better with your priorities.

I've written a general view touching on many unhealthy reasons to want an IB job hoping that you could resonate with one of those and maybe solve the underlying issue. Only 5% out there may be extremely passionate about IB, for many of us, our reasons to go in it could be easily found in my comment and once you work on your motive and solve it, you will end up being more satisfied with yourself even if you make it in IB or not.

Also, if money is extremely important to you, there are many options out there for intelligent and hard-working people. Go into a job where you can develop a skillset that afterward you can use on your own and hopefully start your own business. MS me, but IB is a far cry from an entrepreneurial career and the vast majority of bankers would never try entrepreneurship because they lack any marketable skill.

Take a look at this course on happiness: Harvard Positive Psychology 1504 on YouTube (it's an open course and it's free). I'm sure it will help you improve your perception of life.

 

The absolute brainwashing you goobers have going on is quite literally insane. IB is fucking dogshit and no one ever enjoys it. Why are you placing your literal happiness on a desk job where you sit around grinding excel models and being a glorified secretary for two years of your literal youth? These are years of your prime that you will physically never get back in order to look "preftigious" on Linkedin and make some extra money that you will likely never get a chance to use during your analyst stint.

Dude I have never understood this sweaty ass mentality and only the most hardo losers that no one liked on campus used to think like this. 

Get laid. Build something of value. Go lift. My happiness is actively being destroyed by IB and I do a variety of things to offset that. When we base our value on external outcomes that we don't have control over, we will inevitably disappoint ourselves. Read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and start learning Stoic philosophy. Oh, and get laid. 

 

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