<p>Hi everybody, I 've just got a file reporting the average salaries of jobs in finance, IB...but I was astonished by it because those salaries are not as I thought. Any opinion about it ?</p>
<p>bonus not included</p>
<p>Yeah, what did you expect? That everyone made five million bucks a year?</p>
<p>The avg 1st year financial analyst at a BB last year took in about 100k total compensation as far as I've heard.</p>
<p>^^^which is about 12.00 per hour!</p>
<p>heh, think of it like bootcamp.</p>
<p>And you get to live in a 500 sf apt for $2,000 a month. Then taxes take about 40% of that 100K. Another $5,000-10,000 to student loans. You are left eating pizza just like in college.</p>
<p>Or commute maybe 25-30 minutes and live in a 1200sf apartment for ~$1500 per month. Add in the cost of a car and it's about equal to living in Manhattan. (you spend about 25 minutes commuting via subway anyways...) But you're 22 or 23. You don't need that much money. Most 22-23yr olds make half of what an analyst makes after taxes. On top of that, most 22-23 yr olds pay taxes. An IB analyst has ~$65k left after taxes and the avg 22-23 yr old has ~$25k left after taxes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
heh, think of it like bootcamp.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Only this bootcamp is air conditioned, heated, does not require boots, has water coolers, company car service, unlimited dining allowance, free cellphones, and packs 200 people into cubicles that are around 6ft by 6ft (1 per cubicle of course).</p>
<p>But whatever, good analogy.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Only this bootcamp is air conditioned, heated, does not require boots, has water coolers, company car service, unlimited dining allowance, free cellphones, and packs 200 people into cubicles that are around 6ft by 6ft (1 per cubicle of course).</p>
<p>But whatever, good analogy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I meant as in a 'career-boot camp'. especially the summer analyst positions, when everyone wants to work their asses off in order to help land the fulltime offer. Like that girl who ended up doing 120 hour weeks and even a 140 hour week at Lazard during her summer internship.</p>
<p>Plus, car service and the dining allowance only start after 9 pm I think ;)</p>
<p>I was being sarcastic...</p>
<p>The average salaries in this survey are fairly high but if compared with other careers' salaries like doctor 's or engineer 's...apparently those are lower...and that is what makes me query</p>
<p>You cannot compare finance jobs to a doctor--two completely different levels of education.</p>
<p>I agree with you; however, I don't compare the level of education. I just compare the salary. Is there anyway we can make higher than in the survey(besides salary)? I mean it will be ideal if we work for a firm and also have shares. For instance, when we work in IB field, how great it is if we get high salary and also have shares ( the stimulus then will doubly increase since making profit for the firm is also making profit for ourselves).
Please don't look at me as an egoist. I just want to be a little ideal when orienting my future).
Thanks for all your opinions and advices.</p>
<p>Also you have to remember that med school takes 10 years. A person coming out of undergrad business throughout these 10 years would have gotten an MBA and had much experience that him or her has leveraged in value. Analysts are just entry level jobs for people coming out of a good business program. you need to re examine the way the way you have compared these different professions.</p>
<p>"I agree with you; however, I don't compare the level of education. I just compare the salary."</p>
<p>Yes, but an MBA from a top B-school has much more earning potential than a doctor from a top med school. By not taking the education into account, you really miss the fact that MBAs will make much more money, on average, than doctors.</p>
<p>Truly, you seem lost.</p>
<p>You don't necessarily have to take education into account, but you're still misreading the data. Raw salary numbers don't mean much on their own. You need to take into consideration the fact that you will be working a longer duration than a doctor if you are in a business-realted field.</p>
<p>For instance:</p>
<p>If you compare two people who are the same age and entered undergrad at the same time. Four years later, person A graduates with a business degree and starts a new job at $50k. Person B graduates and goes to Med School. Eventually (after Med School and interning and whatnot), person B goes to work and makes $300k a year. </p>
<p>Which is the better option? It depends. You would need to figure out the growth rate for both salaries, how much Med School costs for person B, estimate their actuarial lives and calculate a relevant discount rate. Then, you would calculate the present value of their salaries as of the day they both graduate from undergrad. </p>
<p>Essentially, the question you need to answer is whether or not waiting a few years to work and paying for med school is worth the additional $250k (or whatever it is in actuality) in salary. It may or may not be in your situation.</p>
<p>The point is that doctors' are paid so much because they (among many other reasons) lose out on several years of earnings. Just because someone makes four times what another person makes does not mean that they have a better quality of life.</p>
<p>Ehh...I would disagree...doctors' working hours aren't the greatest either.</p>
<p>I would still say that business allows one to have a much greater earning potential.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is more stability in the medical field (I've never met an unemployed doctor...assuming the doctor is competent) but in terms of pure earning potential, business holds a much much larger edge!</p>
<p>"person B goes to work and makes $300k a year"</p>
<p>yea, just to let you know, not all doctors make $300k a year. increasing insurance costs(thanks to increasing stupid malpractice suits) and other bills make me venture to say that a typical doctor with no advanced specialization(radiology, cardiology, etc.) makes around $150k a year. In small towns, maybe even less. </p>
<p>Business does allow for greater earning potential, granted one is talented in the field. I believe the corporate world to be somewhat of a pyramid system where it gets harder and harder to move on up. And if you can't move up, you're not stable in your position since you have no growth potential. So in the future(the way our economy is tumbling), I see many mid-level managers/ executives losing their jobs when they are 40-45 and not being able to find new positions easily since they are competing for less spots amongst themselves and the younger people trying to make their way up.</p>
<p>"Essentially, the question you need to answer is whether or not waiting a few years to work and paying for med school is worth the additional $250k"</p>
<p>The same person who is successful enough to make $250k starting as a doctor is equally capable of making that amount or more in the business world after 8 years(for example: ibanking). Furthermore, the doctor will have to pay off his medical school loans, plus catch up all the salary that he didn't make in the 8 years he would have if he had been working in business. When its all said and done, the successful business man will make more than the successful doctor.</p>
<p>Well put!</p>
<p>To play devil's advocate and defend medicine, I should note that unsuccessful business people tend to be much worse off than average doctors.</p>
<p>Furthermore, politics, racism, and sexism (while present in every aspect of life), do have a more profound impact in the business world (this is my opinion only...not fact).</p>
<p>These are all risks one has to balance if trying to choose between business and medicine!</p>