Escaping the Corporate – why Investment Banking is the Devil’s Work

"I Quit!" I wish it could have been as dramatic as that, but it went off more smoothly. I think it is only because Investment Banks realize that maintaining an alumni network will win them goodwill and business. Unlike NYC, of course, where leaving is a sign of disloyalty and is punished by a 30-minutes-until-you-need-to-vacate-the-premises routine. The escape has been made, ladies and gentlemen, and there is no turning back. To all my friends and former colleagues, this article on The Ten Reasons You Should Never Get A Job by Steve Pavlina will give you some perspective. So now that I'm gone, I want to document life on the other side. The ups, the downs, the ins, the outs, and pretty much whatever the hell I want to write about. Before I get to talking about how tough it is to start a business from scratch (my next post . . . maybe, it's not like I have a boss now), let me give one last perspective on my time as a banker . . . . .

 

Investment banks have created a recruiting system that lures smart, well intentioned, college students in, and traps them so they cannot leave. A combination of a turbo-charged lifestyle jump (high salary) and what I like to call the "prestige factor" explain most of this trap:

1. Senior level corporate employees regularly direct campus recruiting sessions and convince the young crowd that their "work culture is collegial" and that you can "grow with the firm" - or any other number of soft lies that divert attention away from the 80-100 hour weeks you will be working. These great sound bytes trick you into thinking that these firms have a jovial, cushy, and fun culture. At the junior level you will have no part of a "collegial" work atmosphere, neither will you "grow iwth the firm" unless it is wider. You work all the time and don't have a say how long or why.
2. Junior level corporate employees realize how bad life is their first year out of college. They will maintain the illusion that the senior level employees set because the only thing they have left is this "prestige factor." Imagine, after working like a monkey for weeks with no respect from your colleagues, you show up to a campus recruiting event where 200 eager young students are looking at you thinking you are a god. Honestly, it's the little things that matter, right?
3. The “Asian” factor. For some reason, Asians (typically FOB's) tend to give bankers some sort of superhuman status. The number of times that aunties and uncles (as well as their daughters) have raised their eybrows in delight is quite amazing. It is an ego booster that helps retain "talent."
4. The salary at an Investment bank is probably ~30-50% higher then any other job straight out of school. On a per hour basis, though, it roughly equals out. Also, you adjust to a higher income lifestyle where you have little time to spend a lot of money. Bankers become trapped because they cannot downgrade to a "less pay but more time to spend" lifestyle.

Finally, these two factors create a self-enforcing cycle. The more demand for these positions there are, the more students become attracted to it. Competition breeds competition. It is so smart, it's scary that bankers came up with this.