Why did you decide to go into finance?

Finance is something you do when you don't know what else to do but want to make a good paycheck as you slog through the rat race.

Or, you are interested in being capitalism's gatekeeper. If you have a strong interest in something like goods or services, finance won't help you because it doesn't normally touch any of the goods or services.

Finance is merely the conduit to business, like legal is to the law, and medical practice is to healing. If you have an interest in touching product or services, directing the equity, or even if you just want to see smiles on people's faces because of what you're doing, finance might not be for you.

Just my thoughts on what you might want to think about as you look around at your peers.

Also, remember that a lot of kids who are at targets self-selected there. So, they might have already made the decision that maybe they don't care what they do as long as they're paid well for it and they don't have to do anything more academic than undergrad.

Here are my two cents and the main reasons why I've spent 10+ consecutive years in IB without pursuing career opportunities in other industries.

1. Visible career trajectory: Promotion cadence from AN to ASO to VP to D to MD is highly structured, which has kept me motivated to always strive for that next rung on the ladder. Role / responsibility and skillset evolve over time, keeping the daily grind somewhat new.

2. Favorable risk vs. reward: While IB compensation isn't anywhere close to the mid-2000s heyday, overall it's still very attractive. A 30-year career, of which ~15+ years occur at the MD level will yield meaningful wealth accumulation without any principal risk.

3. Means to an end: I don't measure myself by my career. While IB is more consuming than most "jobs", it's still a trade of services for capital. I prefer to then utilize that capital to fund pursuits that bring me joy and personal satisfaction.

I aced 3rd grade math class and knew it was for me.

Because I wasn't smart enough to major in computer science but still wanted to make good money without having to go to grad school until I was in my late 20s

How i got into finance -- Wanted to get into video game design freshman year but switched to business to appease the parents. Wanted to design games and own a video game company at some point. Looking back, that was a dumb basis for the decision.

After the first finance course i was hooked. "So this is why companies make xyz decisions. This is how a business get started. This is how they make cash. This is how to build a successful enterprise." etc etc. Finance is the lifeblood of business, the economy, and global infrastructure.

Didn't learn the technical chops to design a game (been teaching myself this over the years as a hobby), more importantly learned what it would take to make a successful game company.

Still haven't gotten around to starting the game co. yet but have a tech co.. Happens to be a great intersection of business, finance, technology, and creating user-focused experiences.

Know finance = know business. Know business = bring value/skills to any industry. No industry pigeonhole.

I heard my friend's dad made $10mm one year and he was an investment banker, so I wanted to do that too

IMO, there are 3 categories of jobs that have outsized impacts on a capitalist economy:

1. Capital Allocation and Facilitatory Services

2. Capital Ownership/Management and Facilitatory Services

3. Capital Creation

1 are all your financiers. everyone working in some capacity to direct the flow of funds from people/institutions that have it to the projects/ventures/companies that need them with the view of creating value in the process. Apart from the other 2 categories it's very rare to able to manipulate or at least guide the manipulation of millions to billions of dollars worth of assets through transactions without having complete "skin in the game".

with 2 (aka entrepreneurs, executives, boards, consultants) and 3 (engineers, designers, researchers, inventors etc) they have a lot more skin in the game when it comes to their jobs. if a bridge fails, it's ultimately your fault for potentially killing lives. if an application gets hacked or is unusable, there goes any semblance of making money. likewise, if you choose to enter a market or produce a new type of product and it fails you have to deal with all of the repercussions.

in other words, finance has the best risk-adjusted ROI in terms of economic impact on a macro and micro level - it's hard to beat.