Title says it all, I think I just hate finance.
I’ve gone to school for business, worked a ton of internships, got a full time IB offer for a bank I’ve worked with for ~4 years now, got good reviews, got promoted etc etc…
I’ve come to the realization that I really, really DGAF about it all. The modeling, the assumptions, the PPTs, the people, the work, the culture, the hours, I’m just unhappy and it’s starting to weigh on me that maybe this was a mistake, maybe I’ve wasted so much time doing something I cannot see a long term career in.
In my DNA I feel like I need to build, to create, but an engineering degree or software development career is years away and not feasible right now.
Just ranting, but now I’m lost on who I am, what I want, and where to go.
Anyone else experience this? Anyone left finance for another field and can give me some advice?
buy a small business and operate it
now with tariffs and fears of recession might be the best time to find something cheaper/someone paranoic to sell it to you
Great advice
This is the goal eventually when I am a bit more liquid. Would love to be an operator.
I'm going to take a contrarian view and argue that it's not finance you hate, but you've reached a plateau where you're looking to pivot in your career.
You're probably feeling something similar to (or exactly like) burnout from long hours, work that you no longer derive any intrinsic value in completing and just a general feeling of numbness throughout the days, and weeks.
The whole notion of wanting to build may just be moving from an advisory role to joining a firm where you can lead or own a process, team or group. I'd strongly look into strategic finance in mid-sized technology companies. They're more lean, so you deal with a little less red tape than the big tech companies, the strategic finance role, depending on the firm, may force you out of your comfort zone with some elements of data analytics, and dependent on the firm's internal culture, may even have you work with other teams outside of core finance-oriented workflows.
If you have any PTO (maybe even a sabbatical if you have the financial flexibility), I'd advise taking a moment of peace and doing something you genuinely enjoy. This could be hiking, chilling by a pool, spending time with loved ones, reading a book (yes just this, it doens't have to luxurious), or anything you derive a sense of happiness from doing. Getting out of a bad headspace can do wonders for the soul and that first act will allow you to be open to other perspectives/opportunities you may not be seeing.
Look, you did the work, you've climbed the mountain, maybe now is a good time to exit into something a bit more relaxed.
tl;dr - consider vacation + chill exit ops
100% agree. From what I've seen ~4 years into banking is when 90% of people decide to leave if they haven't already. Unless you're absolutely neurotic about your job, most people in life just want a normal job, with predictable hours, and build wealth at a normal pace. OP, I would suggest you look into joining a corp that you think will give you these two things 1) time back, 2) healthy cash flow to sustain yourself.
Helpful thank you. I am taking some PTO for the first time in a couple years to decompress here.
I'm curious how the PTO and pivot has worked out. I was rummaging through some old threads and this piqued my interest.
I felt the same way. At the end of the day, all finance jobs are pretty much the same. Excel, PowerPoint, emails, more emails, fake smiles, fluorescent lights, sitting on your ass all day staring at a screen, shitty boss, less shitty boss, corporate bureaucracy, etc. Especially in banking - I mean what bank doesnt' have the resources to underwrite that
Can you see yourself in your bosses' shoes? Do you want to be an MD one day? Do you want to do what they do? Do you just hate being a low level Excel monkey or do you actually hate finance all together?
Really look into SWE life. Grass is always greener. SWE's sit on their ass all day too and I'm sure feel similar. There have been threads on WSO and other sites comparing the two, I'd look into those. That being said, is a CS or engineering master's an option? You say that career is years away, but 2 years is a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Granted, I have no idea how the SWE/Engineer world works.
Do you have stuff outside of work that you look forward to doing? Jiu Jitzu, biking, film, curling, rec sports, lifting, food tasting, jerkmate ranked, whatever.
Sounds like you're bored and want more, but not dying. Maybe volunteer for a cause you care about (coach kids sports?) or focus your energy to find a great partner. Find meaning outside of work. Or maybe, you do need a change and you'll regret this 20 years down the line if don't do anything.
I would never want to be an MD - was never in the picture. Re:finance, I've always been business-minded since a kid, just working in it now isn't very good.
I have basically no friends or hobbies outside of work, unfortunately. Pretty much always just work, sleep, and time with my SO. That's it. Hoping to branch out now for friends and hobbies.
Just go build something. Why box yourself in and say you "need an engineering degree"? Find a problem, read up as much as possible on the industry, and go do something about it.
This is bad advice. It doesn't work that way though. Reading up on a problem != being heavily involved in a domain and feeling the pain of that problem.
The best solutions are always built by those that know the problem intimately and the build a solution to solve said problem.
It's much like why no matter how much industry experience MD's have, they will never try to say to a client they know better than them about their industry. You would never say to a CEO of say a mining company how to run a mine when you've never spent a minute inside of a mine.
The point is that OP doesn't need to go get an engineering degree to start a company / solve a problem.
The management consulting industry would like to have a word with you
![quietly] I'll kill you](/files/inline-images/image_40.jpeg)
Dude, then leave and go be happy! I'm serious. Find a nice corporate role you enjoy, or maybe go work at an endowment, or do something entirely different
Family Offices seem chill, definitely been applying here.
I need to make some money so I'm staying in finance.
Ok actually I'm thinking about corporate strategy now. Kind of finance but not full blown finance.
I quit finance after working in it for a year. Went back to school, got a MS in CS. Love what I do now. Yeah I don't make banker money, but I'm fully remote and have a very chill job with autonomy. If I get laid off I'm not worried, because I'm good at what I do and am good at marketing myself, I will land a gig relatively quickly. I work in tech and love writing code. I have a SaaS side hustle that's on hold due to other responsibilities, but it's a fully functioning MVP that's in the marketing & product market fit phase.
I was in your shoes. I followed my instincts knowing I'm cut out for building rather than selling other people's businesses. Note I said instincts, not passions. I always liked tech because I grew up with computers and I like working with them. The fact that I get paid to do what I like is just a sweet bonus. I looked at banking and saw that it's a shrinking industry (it still is and it's getting even smaller), and thought it was dumb to basically work as an over glorified secretary for 6 years just to be shoved into a VP role which is de facto sales + project management without any training. My suggestion for you, if you really want to maintain a somewhat similar salary or lifestyle, is to try to break into tech sales and sell software. You'll start as a BDR/SDR and make like 100-120k OTE, but it compounds just like anything and after a year or two you can move up to AE and run your own book of business, which is exactly what MDs + Directors at banks do anyways sans the years of stress and all nighters.
As for traditional engineering, it's not that different from just sitting in an office all day and writing instruction manuals or working in excel. It's very cut, dry, and boring. Software is more fluid and fun imo and we never touch excel except for product management reasons.
Not to hate on your career transition (which sounds like it worked for you, so hats off to you), but if OP hates finance (which is almost always a sales oriented job), why would you recommend going into tech sales? OP mentioned wanting to build something, but I would akin that to something like being in an operator setting, not a tech sales setting.
It could be that OP hates the BS related to finance. Associates aren't in sales roles yet, he isn't speaking to clients and trying to solve their business problems and needs yet. He could always transition to Product Management, which, while not directly building something, is still a very important part of building.
Where did you do your MS in CS at? Did you study CS in undergrad, as ik a lot of programs require that for their masters, and I've seen people say that a MS in CS isn't worth it with no background in it. just curious what you think/did
I got my MS from Binghamton State University.
I did my cs pre-reqs at College of Staten Island, though I could've easily done them at Brooklyn College in hindsight. I studied Economics in undergrad, graduated from Baruch. I can make a post about my transition from Finance into Tech if people would like.
My MS was worth it for me because you can't break into software engineering easily without going through the university pipeline of CS degree -> Grind Leetcode -> Get an offer from big name company.
I utilized it and it spring boarded my career. YMMV of course, but those that say it's useless are the same ones that get a degree in CS and never bother writing any actual code or doing anything to break into tech.
Respect.
Oh no, such a surprise.
I thought all you little tryhards here love IB since you were 4 years old?
Since birth. Upon birth there is a picture of my father holding me in one hand and a deal toy in the other. You gotta start early. I heard that some womb training is coming out soon. And they want to know who kicks the hardest.
I love finance and accounting and data, its a passion, I find it enthralling. If you don't jump out. Fail Fast, Learn Quick. I know a bunch of people and friends and family who prefer philanthropy, ministry, sales, cars, law, teaching...It's how you're wired. Do it!
I left finance to go into consulting. Not easy to do, but I did it.
I related to what you say deeply. I spent 6 years in finance feeling uncomfortable the whole time and just bored as hell. I found it easy, uncreative and, genuinely, in real decline from a bonus/employment/progress perspective. Finance is always going to exist, but it felt pay has been eroding in the industry for years now and just felt you were waiting for the AI to inevitably automate your boring, easy job.
Consulting is much better. Sure I’m not earning as much as I did yet, but I get to actually create things and contribute to the world. And I have some variety on the stuff I work on from month to month.
Sure, some projects are dead as hell. But at least I have a future career I can look forward to instead of just seeing 20 years of Excel and meetings with dead people to talk about truly pointless things in front of me. And it’s a partnership so there’s potential to make far more in 10-20 years time than I could ever hope for in finance. And I hope I get to look back when I retire actually happy with some stuff I did and projects I worked on.
If you want to actually make things, not doing it in your career which takes up most of the best years of your life is a massive waste.
What? Finance to consulting is easy to switch - what are you talking about?
Thank you.
Edit 4/27: Thank you all for your responses. I'll be taking some time off to really think about my path here.
A path without pathos perchance
This kids is why you shouldn't lie in your answer to 'Why Finance?'.
Go lie about wanting to become a doctor or lawyer instead
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