<p>i'm just a would-be college freshman looking into different types of careers. I don't know much about i-banking or business-related areas. But the stereotype that I've heard is that you work in the office all day and have no fun. My teacher who graduated with an econ degree from claremont mckenna told me many of his friends now working in business are having not much fun although they do make quite good $$.
I'm sure that there are many people who like the field of business, so if you're one of them, where does the satisfaction come from? How would I know if I like i-banking/business?</p>
<p>get an internship and find out</p>
<p>does anyone have a link to a post that discusses the pros and cons of i-banking/business?</p>
<p>read a book like Monkey Business.</p>
<p>I just finished reading Monkey Business and the book taught me more about Ibanking in two days than all my previous knowledge about this field. I have a question for people who actaully worked as Investment bankers, Is it really as bad as they made it seem in Monkey Business or was that a bit exagerated?</p>
<p>Uh, duh. It's all about stress. I don't think it's that bad by the way. Monkey Business was written to satirize the whole investment banking industry.</p>
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Is it really as bad as they made it seem in Monkey Business or was that a bit exagerated?
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<p>What do you mean by this? If you're talking about the hours they describe than yeah, the hours in banking are pretty bad. I did job shadowing with one over spring break and he basically said that the hours were **** but the comp was great.</p>
<p>There are some other books that touch on banking too. Running of The Bulls by Ridgway. They explain the same thing about their internships in NY. One girl worked 140 hours in a week. They touched on stupid things too, like copier problems, issues with the printing dept, etc.</p>
<p>not just the hours. I meant in terms of the bull**** the associates receive from the VPs and MDs, the fact that the 2 guys in the book always played meaningless and minor roles on deals etc.</p>
<p>I agree that you should intern to find out, but ibanking internships are hard to come by. Go to college for a year and find out how well you do with all nighters and other times of high stress and endless work, if you thrive in that environment, look further. if not, just forget it. If you are gonna get a finance degree anyway, there are other options too, most of which have a lot better hours (but also less comp).</p>
<p>also consider that most people work those insane 100hour weeks for a max of 2 years before goin to grad school or advancing, and that 2 years in ibanking will open up a lot of options for future careers. Its all a question of whether youre up for getting through that initial stage of your career.</p>
<p>Well, speaking for myself--there are fun times, and there are stressful times. The fun comes from both completing something meaningful, working with other smart and dynamic people and having some fun after hours--or with finishing up something that nobody else can do as well as you think (or know) you can--for example, a merger deal for $4 billion, or a global installation of a system that will track data across 17 countries in real time--or figuring out how to catch auto accident cheats (that was one of my favorites--closing down a ring of 84 in Washington, D.C.), or making fixes to the Space Shuttle after the Challenger accident.</p>
<p>Stuff like that--or building $100 million airplanes--and then watching them fly away when completed. You can get a real sense of satisfaction (as well as make some bucks) when you do something you know benefits others.</p>
<p>P.S. I've been involved in all of the above--kind of a life history of some of my jobs.</p>