Every other thread is talking about exit opportunities and how you should do XYZ because the "exit ops are better". Personally I feel that life is a pretty twisted journey and is you are smart and take advantage when the opportunity presents you will be successful and happy. Frankly, if you are in IB, regardless of the group, firm, part of the country, you will be able to do a lot of amazing things.
So I ask this question :
If being fisted had great exit opportunities would you do it. Honestly, from the way people plan their entire life one step to the next I think the answer would be yes for the vast majority of people.
Discuss.
Im a student and couldn't agree more. I go to a complete non-target and have networked with alums in some pretty high places. Each of them have told me how "non-traditional" their route has been to where they are now. Most recently, I have been speaking with a VP at GS who did commercial banking out of UG and really didnt even know what investment banking was out of UG. I have also been told that there is a slim to none chance that you will be or want to be exactly where you may see yourself 15 years from now. How I look at it is I will get into IBD, work my ass off, learn as much as possible and I know I will be successful no matter what I do due to the skillset, networking opportunities, work ethic, drive, and ambition that will first get me in as an analyst and complete my analyst stint.
My floor price for getting fisted: $800M.
I agree with your sentiments, though. That definitely describes the majority here. A lot of that will change after they've been working for awhile.
I'm more like $8M myself. Yeah, I'm a whore, so what?
The exit opps are amazing. It opens you up for everything.
^^^zing!
I just think it is a trait of modern American society to be obsessed with attaining rather than maintaining, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But at some point you need to be satisfied with what you've done/what you do.
While i generally agree (and do not want to discredit your message in any way), I would argue that the exit opportunities are NOT equal no matter what you do. Working for the GS/MS/CS/JPMs...etc. probably gives you better opportunities than working at some no-name, no-deal, nothing firm.
Maybe I'm wrong though?
No, you are correct. The impetus for me making this post was the M&A vs Lev Fin topic and how people were arguing about exit opportunities. Just recently there has been a bunch of posts talking about being miserable in PE, how banking isn't the dread job people say it is, etc.
I had a bunch of people over for dinner last night and the discussion was on the markets and then finance in general and somehow we got onto the top of kids wanting to be bankers since they were 16 and prepping for it with every step mapped out and all I could think about was how sad that sounded. I am not saying that you should not go after you're goals, but to life simply cannot be mapped out.
Once you get that GS/MS/JPM/BOA/UBS whatever offer you should start deciding what you like and focusing on that. Lev finance is very different than M&A and both have cool things you can do once you are done (or god forbid actually stay in the career you have been "dreaming" about).
I suppose this is all philosophical on my part, I might be a tad older than the average age here. Just saying that there is a lot of hate going on for a lot of things when people simply do not realize the twists and turns life gives you.
No, you are correct. The impetus for me making this post was the M&A vs Lev Fin topic and how people were arguing about exit opportunities. Just recently there has been a bunch of posts talking about being miserable in PE, how banking isn't the dread job people say it is, etc.
I had a bunch of people over for dinner last night and the discussion was on the markets and then finance in general and somehow we got onto the top of kids wanting to be bankers since they were 16 and prepping for it with every step mapped out and all I could think about was how sad that sounded. I am not saying that you should not go after you're goals, but to life simply cannot be mapped out.
Once you get that GS/MS/JPM/BOA/UBS whatever offer you should start deciding what you like and focusing on that. Lev finance is very different than M&A and both have cool things you can do once you are done (or god forbid actually stay in the career you have been "dreaming" about).
I suppose this is all philosophical on my part, I might be a tad older than the average age here. Just saying that there is a lot of hate going on for a lot of things when people simply do not realize the twists and turns life gives you.[/quote]
I completely agree with you there. I have now finished my undergrad and am heading of to a BB, but not once did I have everything planned out since I was 16. I didn't know what I wanted to do until my 3rd year in undergrad after my summer internship.
People here need to calm down and accept that things work out and that, to paraphrase someone I can't remember right now, "the universe conspires to make our biggest desires come true"
Word. Just an example, I know someone who started off at a relatively small, struggling HF straight out of an Ivy league school in 2003. For the first couple of years, he made something like$35K per year and had to borrow money from friends to survive in NYC. He stuck it out cause he loved what he did (and still does), not cause there was "prestige" attached to it, fast forward 7 years later, he's a millionaire many times over.
I know that, myself, and many others, would've been looking for the exit door after the first 6 months of living off $35K/year, but he didn't, and it paid off in the long run. Of course, he also loved what he did (trading). I guess my point is that instead of looking at everything as a stepping stone to something bigger (i.e. higher salary, more "prestige"), find something you enjoy doing and stick to it, even if its not in Finance.
i agree good story you never know what can happen
wow. great story. i love hearing stuff like this. it must have been a really shitty hedge fund, to only pay $35K/year. kudos to him for sticking it out.
To get into banking you have to be the sort of person who has lived life as a CV building experience.
You do everything for your CV at school then university, why would that stop when you get into your career.
Bankers are habitual CV builders.
or 'resume' as you guys say
Look there are two ways to be a successful person.
A) Work really hard, get excellent education, work with well-known firms and people. Eventually achieve a high level of value as a known entity. Work / plan.
B) Be at the right place at the right time, and take advantage of it. Be "lucky."
(B) is a lot more fun and glamorous; if it works out, it is excellent and huge ROI. The stuff of legends. (A) is a lot less risky and more common; it requires planning. If you won the lotto, you would probably think most guys at HBS were tools who worried too much about what would ultimately be a small amount of money.
So don't hate on people based on which ever path they take. There are some people that are just oriented to the planning / working hard and others that are more carefree. No right way.
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