<p>im in my junior year of civil engineering at lamar university and ive been thinking about pursuing a career in investment banking. i plan on getting my degree and working as a civil engineer for a few years since ive already done internships and believe it will be the easiest way to get into the job market, then try to make a transition into ib maybe in mergers and acquisitions, . what i want to know is, is it realistic to think i can do this and:
-work less than 70 hrs a week (even if its at a small boutique)
-make 200k total compensation in my first 1-3 yrs
-make 300-600k long term
this is in order by importance to me. im not willing to have a poor lifestyle just for money.</p>
<p>jrw, the only way to transition into M&A from civil engineering is to get an MBA - and the MBA should be from one of the better schools.</p>
<p>Do you know anyone in a boutique bank? I-bankers either love the work and don’t care about the hours; or love the money and accept except the hours as a trade off. If you don’t like the work and the money is not a real motivator then why do you want to be an I-banker?</p>
<p>Given that you are coming from a unique background, if you even broke into IB, it would probably be a boutique with a strong industrial growth focus or the like and you would be coming in as an analyst. Furthermore, one of the only ways for you to break in would be to prove that you’ve got a wealth of accounting and finance knowledge to go along with your engineering background - at this stage, you do not seem to possess that. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, you will probably have to go to business school in order to break into IB especially considering you are planning to go into engineering first (meaning you will lose your straight out of undergrad shot). That said, entering IB post B school will allow you to join up as an associate.</p>
<p>Regarding your goals - as an associate, you will be able to make all in over $200k (assuming bonuses are decent- associate 1st year pay is in the $100 to $130k range) within your first 3 years, and including vesting bonuses (stock options and deferred cash payments), you will definitely be making your target long term range going forward. That said, you first and possibly most important goal of less than 70 hrs per week is not terribly feasible. You will definitely have weeks when you are working in the 70s, but also weeks in the 80s, 90s and occasionally 100s depending on your group as a new associate. </p>
<p>Working in the smallest boutiques will probably cut your average hours down closer to the 70 mark, but will also cut your pay - and the really small boutiques will not be paying the same the bigger shops and BBs - therefore, in order to get close to option 1, you will probably miss your other points (whether by a narrow margin or a wider margin). </p>
<p>PM me if you have any other questions and good luck.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>tortfeaser, i dont know anyone in any time of ib so i dont have a whole lot of knowledge about it except for what i have read. i believe i would be a mixture of both the situations you cited. i can see myself loving the job but not enough to not have time for my family. the money is definitely a motivator though. i just assumed that i could make a trade by going to a smaller firm for less money and less hours worked.</p>
<p>@BankonBanking</p>
<p>Where do are you getting those numbers? If I look on GlassDoor.com and the salaries posted by Goldman Sachs employees they’re not as much money as you cite:</p>
<p>[Goldman</a> Sachs Salaries | Glassdoor.com](<a href=“http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Goldman-Sachs-Salaries-E2800.htm]Goldman”>http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Goldman-Sachs-Salaries-E2800.htm)</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>alvarez16,
i think those are just base salaries and dont include bonuses.</p>
<p>No, if you look closely at them they break it down into base salary, bonuses, stock bonuses, commission, etc. They then come up with an average “total compensation/pay”.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>that’s because there are tons of ****ty back office jobs at goldman, the salaries in M&A, Levfin, TMT, S&T are much higher than operations or credit analyst</p>
<p>Do people in IB ACTUALLY work 100 hour weeks? How is that even possible? Even if you work all 7 days of the week, that’s over 14 hours a day… That translates to getting to work at 8:00AM and leaving at 10:PM for 7 straight days.</p>
<p>I understand there may be some days where you’re in the office till midnight or even past that, but I can’t imagine that happening every day of the week including weekends.</p>
<p>Along these same lines, as an analyst do you get paid a fixed salary plus bonuses or are you able to make overtime for all these extra hours?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It is the norm for bankers to work 14+ hour days, including a steady diet of all nighters.</p>
<p>You don’t get paid overtime because overtime does not exist.</p>
<p>Your bonuses varies, so ‘better’ analysts get paid more than ‘worse’ ones.</p>
<p>Everybody asks about hours and what not - take a look at this article on banker hours - [Banker</a> Hours and More](<a href=“Bankonbanking.com”>Bankonbanking.com) - while occasionally bankers work 100+ hours in a week, it isn’t every week - it is as needed - for example, when a big deal hits a speed bump or is being pushed to the close. It is, however, normal to work 70-80 hours in a week.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>I have read that article and I read through the blog of the banker that posted his day-day for a week.</p>
<p>So saying I graduate from undergrad and I get hired as an analyst right out of college, I will be working 70-80 per week on average to start off? At the same time, from what I’ve read, I can expect a 70-80K base plus a nice bonus?</p>
<p>70-80 hour weeks is a lot but attainable, by working 14 hour days, I’m assuming 7-9 or 9-11 during the week. On the other hand, 100 hours turn into 14+hour days Monday-Sunday.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I’m at the end of 15 hours right now and I’m self employed. Not a banker though.</p>
<p>More like 60k base and a fluctuating salary depending on how ‘good’ you are. Considering taxes and cost of living expensive in places like NYC, you’re not making that much considering how much you work.</p>
<p>Investment Banking isn’t for everyone. You definitely need a type A personality.</p>