Software Engineering Vs Investment Banking
I Was Wondering Which Career Would Be More Lucrative And What Are The Trade-Offs?
Working In Tech Now Pays Very Well And It's Much Less Hours. Does The Pay In Ib Make It Worth The Hours?
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Apples and oranges. But if you're good, I think the below is pretty accurate. Unless you're a real genius (and the fact you're considering both tech and IB suggests that you aren't), don't plan on working your way to the upper levels at Google or the like purely on engineering merit.
Also, I should add that SWE requires more of an interest in the work than IB. It's not intellectually difficult, but coding day in, day out is not tenable over a 20 year career unless you enjoy what you're doing. After a summer internship at faang I realized it wasn't for me, so I pivoted to banking.
Doesn't IB also require interest in the work? Or banging out excel sheets and pumping bullshit powerpoints 80hrs/week for 10 years before starting to pitch to clients about your juniors doing that same bullshit is totally fine?
Not to the same degree, no. Talk to senior SWEs vs senior bankers and you'll see what I mean.
The roles and responsibilites of a banker shift as one becomes more senior.
lol at best IB is medium-high risk for job security. Look at virtually zero FAANG layoffs vs a large amount for banking this year.
Well this aged nicely HAHAHAHAHAHA
Lol @ light workload. Unless you want to be a mediocre performer @ FAANG, you’re not gonna be working 9-5. Many people do 60+ hour weeks, which is definitely nicer than IB, but not a light workload by any means, as the work in SWE is much more intellectually demanding than it is in IB
Hey, I know this is an older post, but I'm wondering if you can comment on how you got a FAANG internship early in undergrad. What kinds of internships did you have before that and how did you secure them? Was there networking involved for faang? How did you study for coding interviews?
SWE at FAANG is anything but low risk. Bezos fires people like crazy
You also need to actually know how to code to get a SWE gig at a FAANG. Whereas any kid at a target school can read the M&I 400 and have a reasonable shot at banking
I think I might be able to contribute to this. I want to do IB and my dad's a VP in software engineering. His role is actually fairly interesting as he works for a BB, so a lot of the software he works on developing is in financial technology that people in a variety of FO roles use. Objectively speaking, it's a cushy lifestyle. He makes about 200k before taxes (although he's a VP so if you compare that to banking, it's not great), but he's also always left the office by 5 and been home by 6. Never missed my or my sister's practices, games, recitals, and performances as a kid and I truly appreciate that. Sure, money was a little tight when paying for college, but I'd MUCH rather take some loans out than have had my dad grind banker hours throughout my childhood (although the hours get better in banking from what I've heard).
Now, the actual work. He doesn't really face clients much and although he is a VP, he doesn't seem to be managing too many juniors (again this might just be based off of what I see). He does a LOT of coding. You would think that as you rise you do less and less coding, but this just isn't true. I don't know much about coding (my dad tried to push me into it but I never found it interesting), but I do know that he does a lot of it. Given that he enjoys coding, he can spend time with his family, and sustain a comfortable lifestyle in a nice suburb, I would say it's a pretty decent gig.
At the same time, the skillsets required for IB and software engineering are miles apart. Miles. Like other posters have mentioned, you have to be proficient in coding to get in. Interviews are thus more meritocratic (you can't really network you're way in because you still have to be a good coder at the end of the day) and you'll see a wider range of schools on teams. At my dad's BBs, he has colleagues that have backgrounds from really shitty colleges (he himself is a nontarget). Banking recruiting doesn't seem to be like this. It's not as meritocratic and the materials required for an interview aren't hard. In fact, given my dad's role (the blend between SWE and finance), he knows a lot about finance and he's honestly really smart in that area (this doesn't really apply for those that are looking at roles in FAANG).
Like other posters have mentioned, you're comparing apples and oranges. Vastly different jobs in every metric you can use to make comparisons. Good luck!
As someone who did a SWE summer internship at a FAANG before switching to IB, passing SWE interviews is really not as difficult as people on WSO make it appear to be. I took two introductory level programming courses and then looked at the "cracking the coding interview" guide, and was able to land multiple good SWE gigs. It's really not that much different than prepping for interviews in other industries if you put the same amount of time into it. Coding just seems really complex to people who haven't tried learning it before.
Agreed with this (also interned at a FAANG as a SWE prior to consulting ft) - another point to add is that as much as people on WSO hate diversity hiring in IB, diversity hiring in SWE is much more blatant at FAANG (e.g., Grace Hopper)
What are you after in life? They both offer prestige in their own regard.
Work Life Balance and low stress for good pay? Go for SWE. You can always pivot to another area in the FAANG company IF you are capable and motivated to learn. Do SWE and get an MBA... that’s ideal.
Do IB if you’re after stability and great pay. Luckily, I worked ina group that I truly enjoy (RE) so it wasn’t so bad for me. My hours were manageable and I had a very normal stress level. I still left to pursue REPE/development because that’s what I’m truly into
Op Here. I Am A Freshman Studying Both Economics And Computer Science.
most of the comments are comparing apples to oranges:
in finance you don't really make good money (1MM+) until you reach the director / md level wheras in tech at director+ compensation is 1MM+. Comparing a vanilla sr swe who makes 500k to an md at centerview is idiotic. bottom line both pay well and wlb is better in tech.
I feel like people on WSO tend to inflate SWE pay. My uncle is also a SWE and he just turned 40. He started at a BB and then moved to a hedge fund. Like the other poster mentioned, my uncle is also on around $200k (including bonus). So he’s basically on associate 1 pay or even less (depending on who you comparing it to) and he’s in his early 40s so his pay likely won’t have much room to grow anymore. He is also a die hard programmer and all he wants to do is code so he doesn’t really care about climbing to the top (and he said true programmers normally just wanna code and nuffink more).
Life is good and cozy for him. He leads a 9-6 / 7 work life, sometimes hitting midnight but maybe only once or twice every month or two. He has one kid and doesn’t think he can afford more.
My brother started in SWE out of college making 200k+. The trick is to go to a tech company, not be back office.
We are based in the U.K. tho. Have just never heard someone making $200k out of college doing tech, or anything really. I know a few friends started at Microsoft, IBM, Dell etc doing software engineering and they started at £40k ish.
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