What's Austin like for a young guy in finance?
I'm currently interviewing with a really strong buy side firm in Austin and wondering what it's like to live there.
I did my SA at a BB and if I went back there it would be in NYC, but I think this buyside firm is probably a better opportunity, I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of living in Austin after graduation. I've never been there and am just wondering if anyone here can give some insights in what life is like.
The other thing to note is I'm an NYC guy. I grew up in the city, went to college in the Northeast, and have always pictured myself living in NYC after college. All of my family is there, all my high school friends are planning on going back there, and 90% of my college friends are going to end up there. I don't know anyone planning on going to Austin, so a little worried about my social life after college. I've also never even been to Texas- I know people say Austin isn't really like the rest of Texas, but I'm a little nervous about just the culture shock as someone who has never really lived outside of the northeast. Also to add, this firm has a pretty small analyst class, so unlike a BB where I'd automatically have a big group of people to go out with, I don't know if I can really count on building my social life around work colleagues at this place.
NYC is also the night life capital of the world, and I'm worried that Austin isn't going to compare from the perspective of bars, clubs, and dating. I know I could always lateral in a couple years, but best case scenario at this firm I'm interviewing at would probably be analyst -> associate, so I'm looking at 4 years in Austin during some of the best years of my life to go out and have fun, and I'm honestly just worried about missing out on New York in that time.
Is it worth the probably slightly worse career decision to have a way better lifestyle in NYC? Am I being stupid and Austin is awesome? Would be great to hear from anyone who works in finance in Austin- thx!
Good luck w / Vista
Excellent work. Keep it up.
Ok slugger
following
Dont worry about your social life. You will be worked just as hard if not harder. Frost bank tower looks cool tho
I have a bunch of friends who are banking analysts at the sweatiest of sweat shops and all of them told me that going out on Friday/Saturday nights is really the only way to blow off steam and keep yourself sane when working 80+ hour weeks, and I'm someone that enjoys going out and having a good time. I think being in a place where I had no social life would make me go insane, especially if I'm working tough hours. Makes me even more skeptical to go to Austin because if I only have a few hours a week of free time, it's probably going to be nearly impossible to build new friendships, whereas I know I'll have plenty of college friends always willing to get drunk on a moment's notice in NYC.
Take the buyside offer if you get it. Austin is a ton of fun, more live music... club scene gets old real quick and you can always do trips / lateral after two years if it’s really such a problem... people are also just nicer + you will save tons of money given the low cost of living
Austin is by far the biggest “fun” city in TX (ACL music festival, South by Southwest) and with the influx of tech (Dell, Tesla, etc.) there will be plenty of highly educated people there to interact with. It’s probably the 2nd most popular city for college graduates (behind Dallas) in TX and the restaurant / bar scene are top notch. It’s definitely more liberal so the transition from NE won’t be that much of a shock - highly recommend you visit first before deciding
for a college grad in finance/consulting would you rank Austin > Dallas > Houston?
I currently live and work in one of these cities, if you'd like to PM me we can go in further detail. All in all each of those cities has different strengths in terms of finance so it really depends on what you want post grad.
Thanks. Unfortunately w COVID and exploding offers, I won’t be able to visit before accepting unfortunately, which is why I asked on here, but appreciate the opinion.
Go read your post again. . . . you pretty much have answered your own question. If you are worried about living here because you only know the Northeast, can't build a new friend group, and the bar/club scene isn't up to your requirements, don't come! Austin doesn't need you and it seems like you wouldn't love the city.
Clearly a 100 idiots a day are moving to Austin because it's an absolute dump of a city and metro area!
Shoot me a PM. I grew up in northern jersey and now reside in a major city in Texas. I can probably answer whatever questions you need.
Thanks + SBd. Is the bar/club scene comparable to NYC in the sense that there’s huge parties with thousands of people going wild? From looking online, seems like a lot of Austin is like hipster beer gardens, which is not exactly the scene I want as a single guy in my 20s. Is there stuff similar to b bar and the like?
Austin is a great city to be single in. If the job is really good, I think you would enjoy living there for 2-4 years. I lived in both NYC and Austin for several years each. But, it sounds like the most important consideration to you is a world class club scene. That's not Austin.
You're a young guy that has all the time in the world. Club scene in NYC is over-hyped, and to do well with women you need really good social skills, thick skin, and the ability to have fun. The girl that you want to say hi to at "Lavo probably had 10 other dudes approach her in the span of 5 min and wants nothing to do with you. I honestly think Austin will be a much easier place to score tail vs NYC
Pick Austin, you;ll have an opportunity to live in NYC one day, trust me.
For Vista you can request to be moved to Chicago for full time FYI. Happened to an analyst I know there
If I theoretically were talking about Vista, this is FT recruiting and it’s a city specific process. I assume I could try to transfer internally eventually, but no idea how easy/hard that would be.
What is Vista’s reputation in Austin?
Most people in Austin don't know what Vista is, I am from TX and most of my friends who have lived in Austin have never heard of Vista lol
I feel like that's most of Finance in Austin. There are a lot of interesting firms, funds, and family offices that fly under the radar here
Most people in Austin don’t know or care about anything related to finance. It’s a tech and arts city, finance is in the background. You can make really good money with reasonable CoL, but no one will be impressed by your job.
Austin is dope bro you'll like it. Making finance money in Austin (or anywhere else in TX) is honestly a cheat code.
Going to have to agree here. In addition to making Vista money and paying Austin COL expenses, doing a stint at Vista right out of UG is going to be an unreal professional experience for you that will pay dividends for the rest of your career (obviously will be more relevant if you remain in a principal capacity over the long term, and especially if you continue to focus on the tech vertical). The fact that it happens to be in Austin is just a bonus tbh. Like the comment above me alluded to, you’re probably going to be living a lot more comfortably in TX. You’re going to be completely fine either way, but I think it’d be worth pushing yourself out of your comfort zone on this one, especially for a competitive buyside opportunity right out of undergrad (assuming this aligns with your long-term career goals).
Great city for music, outdoors, bars, street food. Generally would say its a great place to live, but if you're not into making new friends theres no shame in staying in your comfort zone.
Theres not really a direct comp for Austin, sticking a slice of California in Texas results in a real funky hybrid. Has some Denver, Nashville, New Orleans vibes in different parts of the city.
fuck street food. who gives a fuck about eating a shitty little shishkabob out a cart? you gonna move over a shishkabob? go to beirut your shekel will stretch farther
You need some kimchi fries, street tacos, and pop-up bbq in your life
Austin is the greatest city in the world. great finance jobs are a little few and far between though as most of the large deals get done in Dallas, Houston or on the coasts. I don’t know of any tech IB groups in Austin, for example. Austin is absolutely booming though. it’s just not super big. it’s an incredibly fun town, tons of sun, year round golf, beautiful lakes, beautiful women, smart people. fun, more low key bars (more like Brooklyn than clubbing in manhattan) an incredible live music scene, great landscape, low cost of living, etc. there are fun clubby type bars in Austin where you can do the bottle service thing if that’s your fancy, but definitely a much more laid back easy going vibe in atx. if you make friends with someone who has a boat, that’s the life! it may not be where you settle permanently but considering all your hook ups in NYC and a solid buy side gig for 2-4 years, I highly doubt you can’t end up back there if you want, and you will not have a bad time in Austin!
Based on your post it seems you really love NE. So, stay.
Enjoy 6th street
Go visit Austin for a week or something instead of listening to randos on here.
Not possible unfortunately. Exploding offers + COVID means I have to decide without ever going.
i heard its weird?
i bought a mona lisa shooting up out there at a skate park or some shit think i got a pharoah leg tat would recommend
Assuming you want PE longterm and the shop is vista it seems like an obvious choice. MF PE analyst position is the most elite finance job you can get coming out of undergrad so if you have the opportunity you take it. Even if you dont like the city, it is a long term move, you can either transfer to the SF or Chi office or recruit with vista on your resume after two years and get interviews at every ny pe shop out there. Especially being that you are a rising senior and going to start your career in a covid affected world, would you really want to take the risk with on cycle recruiting? Bird in hand.
Agreed with this point. I see OP's point on the tradeoff but the vista brand is too strong to turn down imo. They recently opened a ny office so I wouldn't be surprised if they build that out in the next few years
Consequatur qui mollitia deleniti qui at. Excepturi deserunt provident enim adipisci rerum suscipit recusandae. Dicta soluta enim omnis voluptatem. Ad dolor consequatur qui omnis quo. Ab delectus vel sed et voluptatem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Quae blanditiis neque odio iure ut ea. Vel id corporis autem accusamus qui. Accusantium omnis ullam sit architecto dolores. Harum modi fugit est quae et recusandae. Illo cupiditate reprehenderit omnis debitis quas autem.
Iure debitis esse sit animi et occaecati est. Id quidem voluptatibus modi atque dolore animi. Consectetur omnis sapiente accusantium ut non cumque neque. Corporis et est maiores labore. Debitis neque animi non recusandae eveniet. Earum nobis possimus tempora a rerum atque voluptas. Aliquid ex a voluptas quae voluptatem perferendis aut architecto.