<p>So many posters on CC seem to be looking at colleges with thier eye on which one can help them get a career in Investment Banking (I-banking). But with the turmoil on wall street, bubbles over in tech stocks and real estate, and much of Americas capital being sucked overseas by oil and negative balance of trade is it possible that Wall Street will no longer have the opportunities and financial allure for the next generation that it had for the last. During the 70's, Investment Banking was not considered nearly as compelling on college campuses as it is today.</p>
<p>One of the things that modern financial observers have noted is that without some sort of "Racket" such as junk bonds, CDO's , private equity buyouts, tech stock "pump and dump" or quant driven derivative ploys the opportunities for wall street firms to make outsized profits that drive outsized compensation are limited. Many of the firms on wall street today are not just reeling from writeoff's but also from the fact that they have no current lucrative income streams. When wall street goes back to it's roots of raising capital for real business will it still be the career mecca that it is today. </p>
<p>Are many of todays students in for a big suprise preparing for wall street careers that may never come?</p>
<p>No. It has been a trend of international capitalism to attempt to separate the manufacturing process from the process of accruing wealth by constructing various financial instruments and systems to facilitate the parasitic acquisition of money. The trend will only continue in the future, regardless of how untenable it may currently appear; certainly, there may be a brief pause in such speculative activities by corporations, but the incentive of greed will soon prove overpowering.</p>
<p>right now there is definitely a stagnation in the i-banking field in terms of new hires out of college -- however, i think as the markets start to adjust themselves and trends move upwards, you will see a strong re-emergence in this profession</p>
<p>I think most professors and career counselors are telling their students the same things. Ibanking will probably never be the same but it will recover somewhat. Also, Wall Street has more than one type of job and the same goes for high paying jobs. For example consultants, traders, analysts, ops, etc. You can have a Wall St. career as long as you are not focused on just Ibanking.</p>
<p>However, just like the golden age of CS before 2000, some people believe Ibanking is the same. It will recover but perhaps never to the same stature as before. Interesting article: UPDATE</a> 2-Citi cutting investment bank jobs this week-sources | Industries | Financial Services | Reuters</p>