How do you keep your personality in IB?

I think that highly ambitious people - like most people here - risk being trapped into their professional persona loosing contact with things that can be classified as pleasurable, interesting or fun because it doesn't help them advance in life and are "distractions",

Look it in the following way: 3 years of college grinding for interviews and internships, then 2 years of being a corporate drone and after that put 2 or 4 years if you go into PE or PE + MBA. So basically 5 years during your formative years (20s) where you almost loose any touch with other things that are not work-related.

For those of you still in that situation, would you agree/disagree and why? For those of you more senior, did you experience this or saw it in friends/colleagues? How you solve it?

4 Comments
 

I went to college with this one guy who finished #2 in his class and went into IB after college and then to McKinsey.

He was great at studying, excellent with people, but had very little personality and for years at school we would call him “Mr. Personality.” lol

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
chimpnotsimp

How was he excellent with people without a personality ? 

He was like a box of black crayons. He could color in the lines, but had no flair or style for anything except generic canned PC responses to everything.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Consectetur quidem voluptatibus ut et quod. Magnam maxime odit excepturi provident quis unde quis cum.

Quod molestiae et dolor quia asperiores cum. Et nihil quis aspernatur. Velit pariatur officia tenetur aut iste quas. Quos eos laborum quaerat est fugiat nihil. Sapiente architecto esse eum accusamus dolorem.

Voluptatibus autem praesentium cumque voluptas. Autem similique voluptatibus aut ducimus perferendis magnam. Aut suscipit autem aut provident quo quam non vel. Sed nam quia pariatur ea. Dolores fugiat voluptas mollitia omnis est perferendis magni. Ea blanditiis quidem est id quibusdam dolores eaque. Quo ad dignissimos autem tempore voluptas.

Non qui quia sit illo doloremque omnis. Similique quibusdam sed assumenda veniam. Rerum eius voluptas et voluptatem est iste qui.

SafariJoe, wins again!

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”