futurenyustudent

Whatever. I don't want to do investment banking. Investment banking's pretty overrated.

I don't see many hands going up in middle school if you ask who wants to be a lawyer.

tetrishead

The profession of doctor and lawyer are far more overrated than working in investment banking, although in general any industry someone puts up on a pedestal isn't going to live up to a persons' expectations.

Well, I guess that's probably not the best analogy, but they would have gone up in my fifth grade class haha.

wolfpack12

"I don't see many hands going up in middle school if you ask who wants to be a lawyer."

What kind of middle school are you talking about?

Medicine and Law are the two careers that MOST middle schoolers would raise their hands to. Forget investment banking. The majority of middle schoolers don't know what investment banking is.

futurenyustudent

I wonder how many change their minds by high school.

I thought so.

Mentor

Just what did you think?

kmzizzle

hhaa wolfpack, neither do high schoolers and some college students

Luminaire

Not by you it isn't. Your friend is going to be making 2.5 times what you are three years earlier working the same number of hours per week. He'll be MD before you can say 'house'. Nothing beats an I-banker. Nothing.

futurenyustudent

The work's painfully boring, the people you work with and for are insecure, and you work ridiculous hours. I don't envy him. By the way, luminaire, I ranted about that because I was getting depressed about how I work twice as hard as he does, but in the end, I don't envy him. Oh, by the way, I don't want a house. Too much upkeep. I'm gonna go buy myself a nice townhouse in a gated community someplace, where the HOA fee covers all maintenance.

By the way, I actually LIKE studying the law. I don't actually LIKE finance.

kyzan

Don't corporate lawyers make comparable rates to investment bankers? Can any comment on the disparities between the two jobs?

Luminaire

Click FNYS's name and search his post history. Wealth of info on the subject.

tetrishead

If you think "nothing" beats ibanking then you're about as ill-informed as the large, overwhelming majority adults who don't know what investment banking is. I mean, it's actually painful to read this post, because the combination of arrogance and ignorance just feed on each other. I'd rather work at a prop shop, in PE, at a HF, in niche VC, at an elevated position in a consulting firm, as an officer or even as a private, self-employed asset manager/broker for a few wealthy clients. Hell, I'd rather be a forensic accountant or corporate accountant with a tiny consulting firm--Sarbanes-Oxley = billable hours++. So would most other people, which is why those not on a "track" to reach director leave. This is not an industry with a high retention rate. The only retention rate lower in the field of "finance," I would imagine, is the first 3-5 years at the big 4. For most people, IB is a great first job, and they take it for their resume and go into something that is not a horribly painful profession with minimal job security at the bottom and, when normalized for hours worked, is not that much more profitable than most other professions.

Also, becoming an MD isn't easy. Getting to associate isn't easy, and even getting into IB isn't easy. None of this is easy. Anyone who thinks this is easy will fail, just like 99% of the already self-selecting population that tries to enter the field. The industry is cyclical. Most analysts, and even associates, will make less than most software engineers this year because their bonuses hinge on the success of the firm. If certain tax loop holes are "closed" by the government many HF's will find themselves in a difficult situation, and people far more qualified than you will ever be will come looking for other jobs in finance--including IB.
The profession of "lawyer" is overloaded, it's a supply/demand issue. It's a lot harder to become a well-respected, high earning corporate lawyer than it is to get into the "middle management" areas of finance. Being a lawyer, or a doctor, is incredibly demanding. Coming out of a school that's not in the top 10, more than any other professional or graduate school, makes it really tough on any lawyers who want to do something other than be a member of a smaller, private practice. Lawyers have the issue of competition, doctors have the issue of massive debt, declining wages, long hours at the beginning beyond lawyers and those in finance, generally understaffed hospitals and litigious risks.

wolfpack12

"hhaa wolfpack, neither do high schoolers and some college students "

Most adults don't even know what it is. If you tell an adult that you are an investment banker most will assume that you are a stock broker or trader.

FutureNYUStudent, are you in law school now?

And everything that TetrisHead said is pretty much true. Especially about people going into IB for their resumes. IB provides pretty good exit opportunities for jobs that don't suck, b-school and whatnot.

futurenyustudent

wolfpack: I wish. Nope. I'm a lowly undergrad still trying to get good grades and get my LSAT score up so I can GO to a top10 law school.'

I'm minoring in law and society.

Luminaire

Of course it does. I-bankers are amongst the most elite professionals. Their quantitative, qualitative, and interpersonal skills are envied and unmatched. The lowliest MD out-earns and out-sexes the greatest and noblest Medical Doctor.

megaman123

wow dude...chill....You might want to take your head out of whatever I-banker's ass your sucking up to lol. Besides...talk about an inferiority complex... do you really feel the need to talk down on other (equally) deserving careers? Chances are you won't ever make MD, and that lowly medical doctor that you insist on scoffing at will probably save your life, or the life of a loved one. Even though MDs will surely out earn doctors, I know plenty of doctors making 7 figure salaries, and I wouldn't really complain with 7 figures...no need to be greedy.