Finance as a career option: Difference between revisions
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=== Compensation === | === Compensation === | ||
Salaries in investment banking, private equity and hedge funds can be very high: | |||
* Careers in finance [http://www.careers-in-finance.com/ibsal.htm reports] that somebody with ~5 years of experience at an investment bank typically makes ~$450K/year. | * Careers in finance [http://www.careers-in-finance.com/ibsal.htm reports] that somebody with ~5 years of experience at an investment bank typically makes ~$450K/year. | ||
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=== Work-life balance === | === Work-life balance === | ||
The high pay in investment banking is | The high pay in investment banking should be viewed in the context of the grueling hours on the job. [http://www.ibankingfaq.com/category/banking-lifestyle/ According] to IBankingFAQ, "Analysts can routinely expect to work 90-100 hours per week or even more. A typical work day during the week might be 10:00 am until 2:00 am. Analysts will also typically work both days on the weekend. During a particularly busy time [...] it is not uncommon for Analysts to work all night..." [http://www.quora.com/Investment-Banking/What-is-it-like-to-be-a-first-year-analyst-at-an-investment-bank According] to a highly upvoted Quora response "Your physical health will almost certainly suffer. The extent to which it suffers depends on how careful you are with your diet, whether you make time to exercise, how much sleep you get, and how well or poorly you deal with stress. Most people have at least partial burnouts." | ||
Revision as of 02:36, 9 February 2014
Finance is a popular career option amongst graduates from elite universities: with about 20% of Harvard, Princeton and Yale graduates getting jobs in the field. Tyler Cowen has suggested that people with high intelligence have a significant edge in the field.
Compensation
Salaries in investment banking, private equity and hedge funds can be very high:
- Careers in finance reports that somebody with ~5 years of experience at an investment bank typically makes ~$450K/year.
- In 2006, Richard Rusczyk at Art of Problem Solving [1] wrote "While it's not expected that you'll make a million dollars in year 5, neither is it impossible. If you're not making at least middle six-digits by year 6-8 as a quant in a hedge fund, then something has gone very wrong for you."
- Some of the most wealthy people in the world, such as George Soros (net worth $23 billion) and James Simons (net worth 11.7 billion) made their money in these fields.
Work-life balance
The high pay in investment banking should be viewed in the context of the grueling hours on the job. According to IBankingFAQ, "Analysts can routinely expect to work 90-100 hours per week or even more. A typical work day during the week might be 10:00 am until 2:00 am. Analysts will also typically work both days on the weekend. During a particularly busy time [...] it is not uncommon for Analysts to work all night..." According to a highly upvoted Quora response "Your physical health will almost certainly suffer. The extent to which it suffers depends on how careful you are with your diet, whether you make time to exercise, how much sleep you get, and how well or poorly you deal with stress. Most people have at least partial burnouts."