<p>First of all - I never understood (and still don't) understand why everyone has a fetish for IBanking. I'm trying to find out why people are so interested in this area.</p>
<p>From the people I've talked to, here are the reasons they gave me:</p>
<p>1) Peer pressure. A lot of kids on campus want to go on Wall Street.</p>
<p>2) Sounds cool. i.e. "Goldman Sachs" sounds prestigious.</p>
<p>3) Money
- but they don't take into account the hours. Assuming an IBanker makes 100K, works 45 weeks a year, 80 hours a week (conservative estimate), the hourly salary is only about $28. Seriously? The only reason why the salary seems high is due to the long hours.</p>
<p>So for all of you who want to go into IBanking - why are you doing it?</p>
<p>p.s. I'm not trying to discredit the profession. Just trying to find out people are dying to get an internship at BBs.</p>
<p>I’m quantitatively strong enough to become an engineer but have no interest in physics or any science. No interest in science means I could never become a doctor. I am good with words but dislike the subject of english and intensive reading and writing that would be required to become a lawyer. </p>
<p>I want to make bank bro, what other career is there? But the subject of Finance and business in general is interesting enough for me to pursue the field anyway.</p>
<p>The reasons I’ve been hearing and considering:</p>
<p>-Money
-Better chances at getting into top B-school (though a lot are weening off of finance admits)
-Exit Ops… I mean, what can’t you do? You could go to s&t, hedge funds, private equity, plus a lot more… not that easy when you start off as a trader
-prestige</p>
<p>Honestly, I’d rather go for trading because:</p>
<p>-fewer hours
-I find the whole thing very interesting
-pay is close
-higher potential upside if you’re real good at what you do
… but there’s not many exit ops besides for maybe equity research and hedge funds</p>
<p>I’d rather go for consulting because:</p>
<p>-fewer hours (though probably the same when you account for traveling?)
-Almost the same exit ops as IB except for less placement into PE
-I believe that it gives you a better sense of how businesses are run than IB
-I think MBB consultants have an even better chance at getting into top B-schools… and I’d rather be an entrepreneur, trader, or c-level executive in a company than stay in IB and do that type of stuff.<br>
-still great exit ops</p>
<p>I’m ultimately going into banking because my father is a retired banker and my uncle works in banking. You could basically say that A. I’m following in their footsteps or B. I’m using their connections to break into the field because I’m to lazy to pick another career. In the long run, I want to own a private equity firm or a REIT and want to use banking as leverage to A. gain capital to start such firm and B. gain experience in the finance industry.</p>
<p>@ JamieBrown No…
You are sadly mistaken if you think you’ll ever be making anywhere near $2,000,000 even as an md. Also, the odds of ever making it to md are slim to none. The vast majority of those who start off in banking will never break $500,000. </p>
<p>@
Status/Respect/Prestige
Challenging work-not that monotonous(hopefully) </p>
<p>hahahaha, definitely not as an analyst/associate.</p>
<p>Imo, the reason why everyone wants to go into banking is 3 fold.</p>
<ol>
<li>If you’re at a top school, it’s what everyone else is doing. For those at non targets, it’s what people at top schools are doing.</li>
<li>Gives you 2 more years to think about what you want to do before actually deciding. </li>
<li>People are used to following a set path and have been for a long time. Keeps the structure going.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think we should clarify that if you are an MD, your base salary will NOT be $2,000,000. It will be anywhere between $300,000 to $800,000 (lower end for boutiques and bad economy -higher for bulge-brackets or MDs that can pull in deals. Most will fall somewhere in between). The difference between your base salary and the $2,000,000 will be your bonus.</p>
<p>@astonmartinDBS I think what angryelf meant (and correct me if I am wrong) is that the majority of people that are in banking for the money ONLY will have burned out by/before their 3rd year as an analyst and be recruited elsewhere or go back to school for a career change/MBA. </p>
<p>And I do agree with you, in that yes, by the time you are 30, you should have at least reached VP (if not a higher end Associate) in which your base+bonus should equal out to $500,000.</p>
<p>@astonmartin Only a very small portion of people who start off as an analysts make it that long. If you do, than yes, you will make more than $500,000 /w bonus. </p>
<p>"Angryelf: You are sadly mistaken if you think you’ll ever be making anywhere near $2,000,000 even as an md. Also, the odds of ever making it to md are slim to none. The vast majority of those who start off in banking will never break $500,000. "</p>
<p>It is true that very rarely do analysts stay at one place all the way to MD, but MD compensation is quite high - not warren buffet high, but high nonetheless.</p>