San Francisco IB vs New York IB

If you had to start your career in one of these cities, which would it be and why? Banking is banking and I expect the wort to be the same in each city but what about from a cultural standpoint? I hear NY is more cut throat than a lot of other cities that do the same work.

I am really trying to get a good understanding of advantages and disadvantages of starting a career in either of these cities.

I appreciate any insight you can offer through experience or personal opinion.

 

sf is a cool city to be in, although i really hate the hippies culture at some areas.

decent night life, good food, semi- good looking girls

If you are also doing tech, sf might be your best bet.

NY has a better night life, but also more cutthroat in terms of culture. From a career standpoint, anything but tech/healthcare might be a good idea to start off at NY

 

The SF financial district (around California St. & up to the waterfront) there are SO many banks down there. When I was walking into work this summer it felt like I was in the middle of Manhattan. There are a lot of hippie's but there are some great bars that mostly professionals/non artist types hang out at. Even if you do bump into these people they're pretty laid back. Plus in NYC you have to deal with hipster fucks (which is worse in my opinion). This isn't uniform, but from what I saw face time isn't as big. You'll have plenty of 2-3 AM days, but most shops will kick you out by 9 if your not working on anything.

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When you say its more cutthroat in NY, I am assuming you mean that bosses are much more likely to be jerks, more face time is required, and more work is demanded from analysts. Is this correct?

And I know you said its not uniform but Orangutan you said many shops kick you out by 9 in SF if you're not doing anything. Does this include BB firms?

 

I didn't work at a BB so couldn't say directly, but it would just depend. Just email any analyst that you may have been talking to & ask them what their typically hours have been like. And I "kicking you out" should be regarded very loosely. Additionally, keep in mind that SF is second only to NYC as a finance hub in the US, so the "cut throat" stuff will be there as well. I would just brace for the worst & if they're laid back good for you.

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Why is it that IBD Analyst, Associate and Vice President total compensation is significantly greater in SF relative to NYC on glassdoor for major BBs like GS, MS, CS etc.. ?

Is it true that SF IBD mor lucrative than NYC IBD on average ?

 
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bling:

Why is it that IBD Analyst, Associate and Vice President total compensation is significantly greater in SF relative to NYC on glassdoor for major BBs like GS, MS, CS etc.. ?

Is it true that SF IBD mor lucrative than NYC IBD on average ?

California has different laws on overtime. I know for SA, interns can make $20k + because the overtime laws are much different (I believe it is 2.5x your hourly wage vs. 1.5x). Add up all the hours you work, and your overall comp will be much higher. Not sure if this is the reason for FT hires, however.

 

Thanks. The difference in FT hires is quite significant at least at GS and MS. The associates reportedly make 325K+ all-in and VPs make 800K+ all in which is significantly more than their NYC counterparts.

 

Glassdoor, much like the WSO comp database is based on a collection of unvalidated entries so remember that when reviewing comp info. All IBD comp for well known banks is the same regardless of city. Bonuses are starting to vary based on how a group does, so you may be seeing the boom in tech M&A skewing SF higher than NYC. Overall, it's not a huge difference though.

 

I think lower BBs place fine in the West Coast, especially the offices based out there. You'll get exposure to most West Coast centric deals, and you'd already be based out there. Both of these are very appealing to PE funds out there.

--Death, lighter than a feather; duty, heavier than a mountain
 

1) The training you get in NY is better (many banks do training within groups) 2) More senior bankers to interact with, more learning opportunities 3) Easier to transfer from NY than the other way around 4) Better FT opportunities, if you decide to recruit again 5) Not much sun in SF due to the fog...

However, if this is a full-time decision, I would strongly consider SF. The bay area is a great place to work and live!

 

Great points Classic, I'm definitely thinking about that. The thing is that, as you mentioned, I'm 99.9% set that I want to be in SF for full-time, since I have aspiration of tech PE (either something like Silver Lake or in VC). So it seems to me, that it's easier to get SF for FT after being SA there rather than being SA in NYC, hopefully getting an offer and then trying to parlay it into SF.

 

This is a dilemma solved by the following:

1) Did you choose Tech IB because you love the space and know it's where you want to get your (summer) analyst experience?

2) Did you just want to do IB and got placed into the Tech group?

If Tech IB is what you want to do, there's no place to do it other than the West Coast. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but the real Tech bankers are on the West Coast where the majority of verticals and clients are. Sure, there are some electronics and semi companies on the East Coast, but the EC groups all play second-fiddle and are largely unimportant.

If you simply got placed into the group but want the NY banking experience, do it in NY. If you're not in love with the Tech space and want to get the most exposure to other groups in hopes of making a more well-informed full-time decision, stay in NY.

 

That's what I needed. I have a deep tech background, I love the space, I want to get my experience there, etc. So SF it is...now I just need to get the offer(s) (so no, I haven't been placed anywhere yet; SF is a direct application to tech while NY recruits generally and then places).

Thanks!

 

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